Embedded Solar Power Regulation for Colour Identification IC Design

[[abstract]]傳統的色彩辨識方式，對量測物投射一個標準光源，標準光源通常是白光或外界的自然光，感測器則是分別用紅、綠、藍三種不同色感的感測器來取得反射光波的三原色基本成份；其控制方式大多仰賴微處理器為主要架構，並實現其色彩辨識之演算法。為了降低成本、簡化電路架構，與縮小系統面積，提出了一新型色彩辨識方法。新架構僅僅只需以一個光亮度感測器，就取代了傳統架構中的三個單色感測器，投射的白光源改成紅、綠、藍三個獨立光源，這樣的紅、綠、藍發光二極體(RGB-LEDs)不僅可以提供不同顏色之發光源，而且也可利用此特性，使得色彩辨識的方法更為簡單，其控制方式以電路取代微處理器，這樣不僅簡化了複雜的架構也節省人力撰寫程式，最後更將此色彩辨識電路積體化。 由於現今能源缺乏，而太陽能源又是取之不盡用之不竭的再生能源，故論文中將以此能源作為系統電源。因為太陽能電源容易受環境的溫度與照度影響，造成輸出電壓不穩定，為了解決此問題，設計了電源管理晶片，並藉由回授機制，調整輸出的脈波寬度調變訊號，進而得到所需要的穩定電壓。另外為了進一步監控太陽能源電壓，也設計了類比數位轉換器晶片，將太陽能電源轉換成數位訊號，並透過微處理器的處理，進一步將電壓值顯示於液晶顯示器上。 本論文主要貢獻在於提出一新的色彩辨識架構，並將此架構與電源管理晶片整合，最後更加入類比數位轉換晶片監控太陽能電源，使之成為功能完整且只需少數外加元件之系統晶片，並於今年三月透過台積電2P4M 0.35μm CMOS全客戶化製程，將此系統積體化，使得系統在縮小面積上更為顯著。碩論中，總共下了三顆晶片，分別為色彩辨識晶片、內嵌電源管理功能之色彩辨識系統晶片與類比數位轉換晶片，而其面積與功耗分別為 、11.12mW； 、22.02mW； 、4.6892 mW。[[abstract]]In traditional colour identification systems, discrimination is usually achieved by illuminating the object under test with a standard light source, and then using three separate detectors to determine the relative intensity values for red, green and blue. The standard light source can be natural light or white light. The detection and discrimination algorithms used in such systems are typically computationally intensive, and rely mainly on microprocessor based architectures. The motivation of this research is to develop an alternative low cost, low complexity and miniaturized hardware implementation for colour discrimination. The proposed architecture uses a single light intensity sensor in conjunction with a single full colour LED. The full colour LED periodically illuminates the object under test with red, green and blue light and detection is achieved by sampling the relative intensity values of the reflected light. Further, with the proposed design architecture, the need for a microcontroller with a detection algorithm is removed. Faced with the energy crisis, applications using renewable sources of energy such as solar power have been increasingly appealing. In this thesis, we consider the application of solar power. Solar power typically is under environmental influence, and as a result may not provide ideal system operation specifications. The greatest of these concerns is the unstable voltage sourced as a result of environmental changes. To compensate for environmental effects, a specialized power regulator IC is designed, using feedback control, to adjust the duty cycle of the PWM signal. The principle in output voltage observation is to first convert the source voltage at the output of the solar panel into a digital signal, and performing some signal processing before being displayed on an LCD panel. The contribution of this project is to present a novel colour identification architecture, and designing a specialized power system to be integrated into the colour identification system. Control techniques are also implemented to stabilize power output of the solar cells. The final product requires very few additional external components. As of March 2008 the designed system has been fabricated and miniaturized through the TSMC 0.35μm 2P4M 3.3V/5V Mixed Signal CMOS process. In the project, three integrated circuits were produced. These are the Colour Identification IC, the Embedded Power Regulation Functionality IC and the ADC IC. Other sizes and power ratings for the designed ICs are 、11.12mW； 、22.02mW； 、4.6892 mW