CN109155121B

CN109155121B - System and method for displaying messages in a column-by-column format through an array of LEDs connected to a circuit of a compressor

Info

Publication number: CN109155121B
Application number: CN201780030215.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 查尔斯·E·格林
Original assignee: Emerson Climate Technologies Inc
Current assignee: Copeland LP
Priority date: 2016-04-15
Filing date: 2017-04-14
Publication date: 2021-09-17
Anticipated expiration: 2037-04-14
Also published as: MX2018012627A; WO2017181080A1; CN109155121A

Abstract

An indication system is provided that includes an evaluation module, a messaging module, and a display. The evaluation module generates a message based on a parameter of the compressor or the drive. A message transfer module: generating a message based on the parameters; generating a glyph string based on the message; selecting a predetermined number of glyphs in a glyph string; generating column data for the selected glyph; and generating a packet including the column data. The display module generates an output signal based on the packet. The display includes an array of LEDs, does not include a transistor, and illuminates the LEDs based on the output signal. The display module is configured to generate output signals to illuminate one or more of the LEDs in a column-by-column format such that power is provided to only one column of the LED array at any one time.

Description

System and method for displaying messages in a column-by-column format through an array of LEDs connected to a circuit of a compressor

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application is PCT international application No. 15/430,978 of U.S. application No. 4/13, 2017. This application claims benefit from earlier filing date and priority from U.S. provisional application No. 62/323,519 filed on 2016, 4, 15 and U.S. provisional application No. 62/323,607 filed on 2016, 4, 15. The entire disclosure of the above-referenced application is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a system for displaying messages regarding the operation of a compressor system.

Background

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Compressors are used in a wide variety of industrial and residential applications, including but not limited to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The electric motor is used to power and/or actuate components of the compressor. A control system for controlling operation of an electric motor of a compressor may include a driver. The driver may include: a Power Factor Correction (PFC) circuit; filters, such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) filters and dc filters; an inverter power circuit; a processor and other circuit components.

A Power Factor Correction (PFC) circuit provides power factor correction between an input Alternating Current (AC) and a generated Direct Current (DC). Power factor is an indicator of the relationship between current and voltage in a circuit, or how efficiently the circuit uses active power compared to reactive power stored and returned to the power supply. The power factor may be expressed as a value between 0 and 1. The power factor may be equal to the ratio of the actual electrical power consumed by the circuit relative to the Root Mean Square (RMS) value of the product of the current and voltage of the circuit. As this ratio increases, the power factor approaches 1. The PFC circuit may be implemented to increase the power factor of the driver to increase the amount of active power used by the circuit compared to the amount of reactive power stored by the circuit and returned to the power supply.

The inverter power circuit may convert the DC power to AC power (e.g., 3-phase AC power) to drive a motor of the compressor. The processor controls operation of the driver including operation of the PFC circuit and the inverter power circuit.

Disclosure of Invention

An indication system is provided that includes an evaluation module, a messaging module, a display module, and a display. The evaluation module is configured to generate a message based on a parameter of the compressor or a driver of the compressor. The messaging module is configured to: generating a first message based on the parameter; generating a glyph string based on the first message; selecting a predetermined number of glyphs in a glyph string; generating column data for the selected predetermined number of glyphs; and generating a packet including the column data. The display module is configured to: (i) receive a packet via an interface, and (ii) generate an output signal based on the packet. The display includes an array of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). The display does not include transistors. The display is configured to receive the output signal and to illuminate the LEDs of the display based on the output signal. The display module is configured to generate output signals to light one or more of the LEDs of the display in a column-by-column format such that power is provided to only one column of the LED array at any one time.

In other features, a method of operating an indication system is provided. The method comprises the following steps: generating a message based on a parameter of the compressor or a driver of the compressor; generating a first message at a messaging module based on the parameter; generating a glyph string based on the first message; selecting a predetermined number of glyphs in a glyph string; generating column data for the selected predetermined number of glyphs; and generating a packet including the column data. The method further comprises the following steps: receiving a packet at a display module via an interface; generating an output signal based on the packet; and receiving the output signal at the display and illuminating an LED array of the display based on the output signal, wherein the display does not include a transistor. An output signal is generated to light one or more of the LEDs of the display in a column-by-column format such that power is provided to only one column of the LED array at any one time.

Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description, claims, and drawings. The detailed description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary refrigeration system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the compressor motor drive of FIG. 1;

fig. 3A is a block diagram of an exemplary implementation of the Power Factor Correction (PFC) circuit of fig. 2;

fig. 3B is a block diagram of another exemplary implementation of the PFC circuit of fig. 2;

fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an indication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a display module and display according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a messaging module and a display module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of operating a messaging module of an indication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of operating a display module of the indicator system.

In the drawings, reference numbers may be reused to identify similar and/or identical elements.

Detailed Description

Refrigeration system

Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary refrigeration system 100 including a compressor 102, a condenser 104, an expansion valve 106, and an evaporator 108. In accordance with the principles of the present disclosure, the refrigeration system 100 may include additional and/or alternative components such as a reversing valve or a filter dryer. Additionally, the present disclosure is applicable to other types of refrigeration systems, including but not limited to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), heat pump, refrigeration, and chiller systems.

The compressor 102 receives refrigerant in vapor form and compresses the refrigerant. The compressor 102 provides pressurized refrigerant in vapor form to the condenser 104. The compressor 102 includes an electric motor that drives a pump. For example only, the pump of compressor 102 may include a scroll compressor and/or a reciprocating compressor.

All or a portion of the pressurized refrigerant is converted to liquid form within the condenser 104. The condenser 104 transfers heat away from the refrigerant, thereby cooling the refrigerant. When the refrigerant vapor is cooled to a temperature less than the saturation temperature, the refrigerant is converted to a liquid (or liquefied) refrigerant. The condenser 104 may include an electric fan to increase the rate of heat transfer away from the refrigerant.

The condenser 104 provides refrigerant to an evaporator 108 via an expansion valve 106. The expansion valve 106 controls the flow rate at which refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator 108. The expansion valve 106 may comprise a thermostatic expansion valve or may be electronically controlled by, for example, the system controller 130. The pressure drop caused by expansion valve 106 may cause a portion of the liquefied refrigerant to convert back to vapor form. In this manner, the evaporator 108 may receive a mixture of refrigerant vapor and liquefied refrigerant.

The refrigerant absorbs heat in the evaporator 108. The liquid refrigerant is converted to vapor form when heated to a temperature greater than the saturation temperature of the refrigerant. The evaporator 108 may include an electric fan that increases the heat transfer rate of the refrigerant.

The utility 120 provides power to the refrigeration system 100. For example only, utility 120 may be at approximately 230 volts root mean square (V)_RMS) Single phase Alternating Current (AC) power is provided. In other implementations, the utility 120 may provide approximately 400V at a line frequency of, for example, 50Hz or 60Hz_RMS、480V_RMSOr 600V_RMSThe three-phase AC power of (1). At a three-phase AC power nominal value of 600V_RMSIn the case of (3), the actual available voltage of the power may be 575V_RMS。

The utility 120 may provide AC power to the system controller 130 via an AC line that includes two or more conductors. AC power may also be provided to the drive 132 via an AC line. The system controller 130 controls the refrigeration system 100. For example only, the system controller 130 may control the refrigeration system 100 based on user input and/or parameters measured by various sensors (not shown). The sensors may include pressure sensors, temperature sensors, current sensors, voltage sensors, and the like. The sensors may also include feedback information from the drive control, such as motor current or torque, via a serial data bus or other suitable data bus.

The user interface 134 provides user input to the system controller 130. The user interface 134 may additionally or alternatively provide user input directly to the driver 132. The user input may include, for example, a desired temperature, a request for operation of the fan (e.g., a request for continued operation of the evaporator fan), and/or other suitable input. The user interface 134 may take the form of a thermostat, and some or all of the functions of the system controller (including, for example, actuating a heat source) may be incorporated into the thermostat.

The system controller 130 may control the operation of the fan of the condenser 104, the fan of the evaporator 108, and the expansion valve 106. The driver 132 may control the compressor 102 based on commands from the system controller 130. For example only, the system controller 130 may instruct the driver 132 to operate the motor of the compressor 102 at a speed or to operate the compressor 102 at a capacity. In various implementations, the driver 132 may also control a condenser fan.

The thermistor 140 is thermally coupled to the refrigerant line exiting the compressor 102 that delivers refrigerant vapor to the condenser 104. Thus, the available resistance of thermistor 140 varies with the Discharge Line Temperature (DLT) of compressor 102. As described in more detail, the driver 132 monitors the resistance of the thermistor 140 to determine the temperature of the refrigerant exiting the compressor 102.

DLT may be used to control the compressor 102, for example, by changing the capacity of the compressor 102, and may also be used to detect faults. For example, if the DLT exceeds a threshold, the driver 132 may de-energize the compressor 102 to prevent damage to the compressor 102.

Driver

In fig. 2, an exemplary implementation of the driver 132 includes an electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter and protection circuit 204 that receives power from the AC line. The EMI filter and protection circuit 204 reduces EMI that may otherwise be injected from the driver 132 back onto the AC line. The EMI filter and protection circuit 204 may also remove or reduce EMI from the AC line. In addition, the EMI filter and protection circuit 204 prevents electrical surges and/or other types of electrical surges and dips that may be caused by lightning, for example.

The charging circuit 208 controls the power provided from the EMI filter and protection circuit 204 to the Power Factor Correction (PFC) circuit 212. For example, when the driver 132 is initially powered up, the charging circuit 208 may place a series resistor between the EMI filter and protection circuit 204 and the PFC circuit 212 to reduce the amount of current inrush. These current or power spikes may cause premature failure of various components.

After the initial charge is complete, the charging circuit 208 may close the relay that bypasses the current limiting resistor. For example, the control module 220 may provide a relay control signal to a relay within the charging circuit 208. In various implementations, the control module 220 may assert the relay control signal to bypass the current limiting resistor after a predetermined period of time after startup or based on closed loop feedback indicating that charging is near completion.

The PFC circuit 212 converts the input AC power into DC power. PFC circuit 212 may not be limited to PFC functions-e.g., PFC circuit 212 may also perform voltage conversion functions, e.g., as a boost circuit and/or a buck circuit. In some implementations, the PFC circuit 212 may be replaced by a non-PFC voltage converter. The DC power may have a voltage ripple that is reduced by the filter capacitor 224. The filter capacitance 224 may include one or more capacitors arranged in parallel and connected to the DC bus. PFC circuit 212 may attempt to draw current from the AC line in a sinusoidal pattern that matches the sinusoidal pattern of the input voltage. At sine wave alignment, the power factor approaches 1, which represents maximum efficiency and minimum required load on the AC line.

PFC circuit 212 includes one or more switches controlled by control module 220 using one or more signals labeled power switch control. Control module 220 determines the power switch control signal based on the measured voltage of the DC bus, the measured current in PFC circuit 212, the AC line voltage, one or more temperatures of PFC circuit 212, and the measured state of the power switches in PFC circuit 212. Where a use example of the measured values is provided, the control module 220 may determine the power switch control signal based on an estimated voltage of the DC bus, an estimated current in the PFC circuit 212, an estimated AC line voltage, an estimated temperature or temperatures of the PFC circuit 212, and/or an estimated or expected state of the power switches in the PFC circuit 212. In various implementations, the AC line voltage is measured or estimated after the EMI filter and protection circuit 204 but before the charging circuit 208.

The control module 220 is powered by a DC-DC power supply 228, the DC-DC power supply 228 providing a voltage suitable for the logic of the control module 220, such as 3.3 volts, 2.5 volts, and the like. DC-DC power supply 228 may also provide DC power for operating switching and inverter power circuitry 232 of PFC circuit 212. For example only, the voltage may be a higher voltage than the voltage used for digital logic, with 15 volts being one example.

Inverter power circuit 232 also receives power switch control signals from control module 220. In response to the power switch control signals, switches within the inverter power circuit 232 cause current to flow in the various windings of the motor 236 of the compressor 102. The control module 220 may receive measurements or estimates of the motor current for each winding of the motor 236 or each branch of the inverter power circuit 232. The control module 220 may also receive a temperature indication from the inverter power circuit 232.

For example only, the temperature received from inverter power circuit 232 and the temperature received from PFC circuit 212 are for fault purposes only. In other words, once the temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold, a fault is declared and the drive 132 is powered down or operated with reduced performance. For example, the driver 132 may operate at a reduced performance and if the temperature does not decrease at a predetermined rate, the driver 132 transitions to an off state.

The control module 220 may also receive an indication of the discharge line temperature from the compressor 102 using the thermistor 140. The isolation circuit 260 may provide a pulse width modulated representation of the resistance of the thermistor 140 to the control module 220. The isolation circuit 260 may include galvanic isolation such that there is no electrical connection between the thermistor 140 and the control module 220.

The isolation circuit 260 may also receive a protection input indicative of a fault, such as a high pressure cutoff or a low pressure cutoff, where pressure refers to refrigerant pressure. If any of the protection inputs indicate a fault, and in some implementations, if any of the protection inputs become disconnected from the isolation circuit 260, the isolation circuit 260 stops sending the PWM temperature signal to the control module 220. Accordingly, the control module 220 may infer from the absence of the PWM signal that a protection input has been received. In response, the control module 220 may shut down the driver 132.

The control module 220 controls an integrated display 264 that may include a grid of LEDs, which may be tri-color LEDs, and/or a single LED package. The control module 220 may provide status information, such as firmware version and error information, using the integrated display 264. The control module 220 communicates with external devices, such as the system controller 130 of fig. 1, using the communication transceiver 268. For example only, the communication transceiver 268 may conform to an RS-485 or RS-232 serial bus standard or a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus standard.

PFC circuit

In fig. 3A, PFC circuit 300 is one implementation of PFC circuit 212 of fig. 2. The PFC circuit 300 includes a rectifier 304 that converts the input AC to pulsed DC. In various implementations, the rectifier 304 includes a full-wave diode bridge. The DC output of the rectifier 304 is across the first and second terminals. A first terminal is connected to inductor 308 and a second terminal is connected to current sensor 312. An opposite end of the inductor 308 is connected to a node common to the inductor 308, an anode of the diode 316, and a first terminal of the switch 320.

The PFC circuit 300 produces a DC bus with a first terminal connected to the cathode of the diode 316 and a second terminal connected to the second output terminal of the rectifier 304 via the current sensor 312. Thus, the current sensor 312 may sense the current within the switch 320 as well as the current in the DC bus and the current in the inductor 308. The second terminal of the DC bus is also connected to the second terminal of switch 320.

The driver 324 receives the power switch control signal from the control module 220 of fig. 2 and rapidly charges or discharges the control terminal of the switch 320. For example, the switch 320 may be a field effect transistor with a gate terminal as a control terminal. More specifically, switch 320 may be a power Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET), such as an STW38N65M5 power MOSFET from STMicroelectronics. In response to the power switch control signal, the driver 324 charges or discharges a capacitance at the gate of the field effect transistor.

The switch monitoring circuit 328 measures whether the switch is on or off. This closed loop control enables the control module 220 to determine whether the switch 320 has reacted to a command provided by the power switch control signal, and may also be used to determine how long it takes for the switch 320 to respond to the control signal. The measured switch state is output from the switch monitoring circuit 328 back to the control module 220. The control module 220 may update its control of the power switch control signal to compensate for the delay in turning on and/or off the switch 320.

In fig. 3A, the inductor, switch 320, and diode 316 are arranged in a boost configuration. In short, switch 320 closes, causing the current through inductor 308 to increase. Switch 320 is then turned off, but the current through inductor 308 cannot change instantaneously because the voltage across the inductor is proportional to the derivative of the current. The voltage across the inductor 308 becomes negative, meaning that the end of the inductor 308 connected to the anode of the diode 316 experiences a voltage increase above the voltage output from the rectifier 304.

Once the voltage at the anode of the diode 316 increases above the turn-on voltage of the diode 316, current through the inductor 308 may be fed through the diode 316 to the DC bus. The current through inductor 308 decreases and then switch 320 closes again, causing the current through inductor 308 to increase.

In various implementations, the switch 320 may be turned on until the current sensor 312 determines that a predetermined threshold of current has been exceeded. At this time, the switch 320 is turned off for a specified period of time. The specified time period may be adaptive, varying as the voltage of the DC bus and the voltage input of the AC vary. However, the off time (when the switch 320 is off) is a fixed value. Once the time equal to the specified value has elapsed, the switch 320 is turned back on again and the process is repeated. The off time may be fixed or variable. In case the off-time is variable, the off-time may be limited to at least a predetermined minimum off-time.

To reduce the physical size and component cost of the PFC circuit 300, the inductance of the inductor 308 (which may be the largest contributor to the physical size of the PFC circuit 300) may be reduced. However, with lower inductance, the inductor 308 will saturate faster. Therefore, the switch 320 will have to operate faster. Although faster and lower are relative terms, current power switch controls operate in the range of 10 khz to 20 khz switching frequencies. In the present application, the switching frequency of the switch 320 may be increased to greater than 50 khz, greater than 100 khz, or greater than 200 khz. For example, the switching frequency of the switch may be controlled to about 200 kilohertz.

Thus, switch 320 is selected to allow faster switching and to have low switching losses. With faster switching, the inductance of inductor 308 may be smaller. Additionally, the diode 316 may need to be fast. Silicon carbide diodes may have fast response times. For example, diode 316 may be a STPSC2006CW silicon carbide dual diode package from STMicroelectronics.

To accurately drive the switch 320 when operating at higher speeds, the control strategy must similarly be accelerated. For example only, the control module 220 may include a plurality of devices, such as a microcontroller configured to perform more involved calculations and an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or PLD (programmable logic device) configured to monitor and respond to inputs in near real-time. In this context, near real-time means that the measured time resolution and time delay in response to the input of the FPGA or PLD are negligible compared to the physical time scale of interest. For faster switching speeds, the near real-time response of the FPGA/PLD may introduce non-negligible delays. In such a case, the delays of the FPGA/PLD and the drive circuit can be measured and compensated. For example, if the turn off of the switch occurs later than needed due to a delay, the turn off may be indicated earlier to compensate for the delay.

The bypass rectifier 340 is connected in parallel with the rectifier 304 at the AC line input. A second output terminal of bypass rectifier 340 is connected to second terminal rectifier 304. However, the first output terminal of the bypass rectifier 340 is connected to the cathode of the diode 316.

Thus, in the event that the PFC circuit 300 is not operating to boost the DC bus voltage, the bypass rectifier 340 will be activated when the line-to-line voltage of the AC input exceeds the voltage across the DC bus. In these cases, the bypass rectifier 340 diverts current without passing through the diode 316. Since inductor 308 is small and switch 320 switches quickly, diode 316 is also selected to exhibit a fast switching time. Thus, the diode 316 may be poorly tolerant of high currents and, therefore, selectively shunts current around the diode 316 through the bypass rectifier 340.

Additionally, the current path through the rectifier 304 and diode 316 experiences three diode drops or two diode drops and a switch drop, while the path through the bypass rectifier 340 experiences only two diode drops. Where the single phase AC input in fig. 3A is associated with a boost converter topology, the present disclosure also contemplates a buck converter topology or a buck-boost converter topology.

In fig. 3B, a buck converter topology with a three-phase AC input signal is shown. Note that the principles of the present disclosure are also applicable to boost converter or buck-boost converter topologies used with three-phase AC inputs. PFC circuit 350 represents another implementation of PFC circuit 212 of fig. 2.

The three-phase rectifier 354 receives three-phase AC and produces pulsed DC across the first and second terminals. The switch 358 is connected between the first terminal of the three-phase rectifier 354 and the common node. The common node is connected to the inductor 366 and the cathode of the power diode 370.

The anode of the power diode 370 is connected to the second terminal of the three-phase rectifier 354. The opposite terminal of the inductor 366 establishes one terminal of the DC bus, while the second output of the three-phase rectifier 354 establishes the other terminal of the DC bus. In the configuration shown in fig. 3B, switch 358, inductor 366, and diode 370 are configured in a buck topology.

The current sensor 362 is connected in series between the anode of the diode 370 and the DC bus. In other implementations, the current sensor 362 may be positioned in series with the inductor 366. In other implementations, the current sensor 362 may be positioned in series with the switch 358. In other implementations, the current sensor 362 may be located in series between the anode of the diode 370 and the second output of the three-phase rectifier 354. The current sensor 362 measures the current through the inductor 366 and the current through the DC bus and provides a current signal indicative of the amount of current.

The driver 374 drives the control terminal of the switch 358 based on a power switch control signal from the control module 220 in fig. 2. The switch monitoring circuit 378 detects whether the switch 358 has been opened or closed and reports the switch status to the control module 220. Due to the position of the current sensor 362, with the switch 358 open, the current sensor 362 will measure approximately zero current.

Fig. 4 shows an indication system 400, the indication system 400 including a messaging module 402, a display module 404, a display 406, and one or more Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). Although shown separately, the display module 404 may be implemented as part of the messaging module 402 and/or the display 406 may be driven directly from the messaging module 402. A single tri-color LED408 is shown having three diodes (identified as R, G, B for the corresponding red, green, and blue light emitted from the three diodes). The messaging module 402 may include and/or be implemented as a microprocessor. The messaging module 402 and/or the display module 404 may be implemented in the control module 220 of fig. 2. The control module 220, messaging module 402, and/or display module 404 may be implemented as one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs).

The messaging module 402 generates a message for display on the display 406. The message may be transmitted to the display module 404 via the interface 410. The interface 410 may include: serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus(ii) a A parallel bus; the wireless (e.g.,

) A transceiver; a multi-master, multi-slave, single-ended, serial computer bus (e.g.,

a bus) and/or other communication interfaces. The interface 410 may include a predetermined number of signal lines X. As an example, the interface 410 may include 4 signal lines. The 4 signal lines may include: a Serial Clock (SCLK) signal line; a master output/slave input (MOSI) signal line; a master input/slave output (MISO) signal line; and selecting from

And a signal line. The message for display 406 may be sent, for example, via the MOSI signal line of interface 410. As an example, a message may comprise 16-bit packets, wherein each of the packets comprises: a read/write bit; 3 control bits and 12 data bits (one bit for each row and column of display 406). The read/write bit may be set low when data is read from the display module 404. The 3 control bits may be set based on the different tasks being performed. The messaging module 402 via 3 control bits may: instruct the display module 404 to display a certain message on the display 406; the indication display module 404 generates an indication signal via the LED 408; indicating a next column to loop to display 406; indicating that there is an error or the like in sending the data to the display module 404. The read/write bit may be set high when the message is displayed. The message may also include Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) data for error correction of the data transmitted to the display module 404.

The messaging module 402 may also generate an indication signal and/or a lighting pattern for the LED 408. The illumination pattern may include a color pattern, an illumination period, a flashing pattern (e.g., a frequency pattern and/or a duty cycle pattern), etc., for providing different indications via the LEDs 408. If more than one LED is included, a lighting pattern for each of the LEDs may be generated. The lighting pattern may also be provided from the messaging module 402 to the display module 404 via one or more signal lines of the interface 410.

The display module 404 may include and/or be implemented as an FPGA. In one embodiment, the display module 404 is implemented as an FPGA having a predetermined low gate count (e.g., 240 to 2210 logic elements) and/or is capable of processing a predetermined number of bytes of data (e.g., 240 bytes of data) low. In one embodiment, the display module 404 has 570 logic elements. The display module 404 generates signals to display data on the display 406. These signals are provided to the display 406 via a display (or second) interface 412. The display interface 412 may include, for example, 12 signal lines, as further described below with reference to fig. 5. In one embodiment, the FPGA of the display module 404 cannot process store 35 bits (one bit for each LED of a 5 x 7 array of LEDs of the display 406) and scan the LED array to display the corresponding glyph. To this end, the messaging module 402 generates column data that is forwarded to the display module 404 so that the display module 404 may then simply generate an output signal based on the column data. Display 406 may have any number of rows and columns of LEDs. The display module 404 may display characters on any number of LEDs. The messaging module 402 and the display module 404 may operate in multiple modes, where a first mode includes using most of the characters for all of the LED displays, and where a second mode includes using only a portion (or subset) of the LEDs of the display 406 and displaying only one or more types of characters (e.g., displaying only numbers). While in the second mode, some of the LEDs of display 406 may not be used.

The display module 404 may also: receive a message for the LED408 from the messaging module 402; and/or generate an indication signal for LED 408. In one embodiment, the display module 404 generates the indication signal for the LED408 without and/or independently of receiving the signal for the LED408 from the messaging module 402.

The lighting pattern on the LED408 may correspond to the type of message displayed on the display 406. The user or technician may compare the indicator signal generated on the LED408 to the message displayed on the display 406 to determine whether the indicator signal is consistent with the displayed message. As an example, if the indicator signal of LED408 indicates that message data has been received for display 406 and that display 406 is displaying a message, the indicator signal is consistent with the message being displayed. For example, there may be inconsistencies in the following cases: the indication signal of the LED408 indicates that there is an error or fault and the display 406 displays a message corresponding to no error or fault; or the indicator signal indicates that there is no error or fault and that the display 406 is displaying an error or fault.

The LED408 may be used to indicate: there is a failure in receiving message data for the display from the messaging module 402; there is a fault in the operation of the display 406 and/or the LEDs 408 of the display 406; there is an error in messaging the data received for display 406; and/or there is a fault in the control lines of the display 406. The display 406 may be used to indicate: there is a fault in receiving an indication signal for the LED408 from the messaging module 402; there is a fault in the operation of the LED 408; and/or a fault in sending an indication signal to the LED 408.

The control module 250, messaging module 402, and/or display module 404 may monitor and/or receive various parameters. Various parameters may be associated with the compressor 102 and/or the driver 132 of fig. 2. The parameters may include: AC input and/or output voltage; a DC voltage; a bus voltage; voltage and/or current provided to the compressor 102; electrical current provided to, through, and/or output from the modules, circuits, devices, or components of the driver 132; (ii) temperature; and/or other detected and/or monitored parameters. The messaging module 402 and/or the display module 404 may generate the disclosed message and the indicator signal based on the parameters.

The messages displayed on display 406 may include status messages, error and/or failure messages, diagnostic information, software version messages, and/or other messages associated with: operation of the driver 132; modules, devices, and/or components of the driver 132; and/or operation of compressor 102. The status message may indicate: the state of the driver 132; the status of the modules, devices, and/or components of the drive 132; and/or the state of the compressor 102. This may include indicating whether one or more of the compressor 102, the driver 132, a module of the driver 132, a device of the driver 132, and a component of the driver 132 is in an ON (ON) state or an OFF (OFF) state. The status message may indicate a voltage, current level, and/or amount of power provided to, drawn from, and/or output from one or more of the compressor 102, the driver 132, a module of the driver 132, a device of the driver 132, and a component of the driver 132. The diagnostic messages may indicate parameter values generated based on diagnostic tests initiated and/or performed by the control module 250. The diagnostic test may be initiated manually by a technician or automatically by the control module 250 and/or the messaging module 402. If manually initiated, the control module 250 and/or the messaging module 402 may receive an input signal requesting that a diagnostic test be performed. The control module 250 and/or messaging module 402 may generate one or more resulting diagnostic messages and/or indication signals and indicate the diagnostic messages and indication signals on the display 406 and LEDs 408.

The indication signal generated using the LED408 may include: providing a flashing green light at a predetermined frequency if there are no errors and/or faults; providing a red light when there is an error and/or malfunction with driver 132, control module 250, messaging module 402, display module 404, and/or other modules, devices, and/or components; and providing a flashing red light, a flashing blue light, and/or other flashing colored lights to indicate the type of error, the type of fault, or a diagnostic code. The control module 250, messaging module 402, and/or display module 404 may control the number of blinks within a predetermined period of time; the color of the flickering light; a pattern of different colors that light up; the frequency of the flicker; and/or other lighting patterns provided corresponding to the error, fault type, and diagnostic code being indicated. The diagnostic code may correspond to a diagnostic message displayed on the display 406. If the LED408 provides a green light or is OFF for an extended period of time, this may indicate that the messaging module 402 is in a locked state and/or experiencing an electrical and/or code problem. A predetermined lighting pattern may be provided to indicate: no data, glyphs, and/or messages are received from the messaging module 402; and/or the data, glyphs, and/or messages are invalid. A glyph refers to a character or symbol in a predetermined set of characters or symbols that may be displayed on the display 406 as part of a message. The predetermined set of characters or symbols may comprise American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) characters.

The diodes of the LEDs 408 may be connected in parallel via respective signal lines connected to the display module 404. The anode of the diode may be connected to a power supply providing a supply voltage Vs. The cathodes of the diodes are connected to respective terminals of the display module 404. The light emitted from the diodes is combined to provide a single ignition source. Thus, the LEDs 408 may emit different colors and/or color patterns to provide different indication signals.

Fig. 5 shows an example of the display module 404 and an example of the display 406 of fig. 4. As shown, the display module 404' includes 12 output ports; one output port is included for each row or column of display 406'. The output ports may be directly connected to ROW and column control lines ROW 1-ROW 5 and COL 1-COL 7 of display 406'. In the example shown, display 406' includes 5 rows and 7 columns of LEDs. Although a certain number of rows and columns are shown, display 406' may include a different number of rows and columns. The number of rows and columns shown in fig. 5 are suitable for a display module implemented as an FPGA, for example, having 240, 570 or a suitable number of logic elements.

The display 406' includes resistors R1 through R5 for each input of a respective row of the LED array. In the example shown, the display 406' includes 35 LEDs: 7 LEDs per row and 5 LEDs per column. The anodes of the LEDs in each row are connected to the output of a respective one of the resistors of that row. The cathodes of the LEDs in each column are connected to a respective one of the output ports for that column of display modules 404'.

Display 406' includes an array of LEDs and does not include transistors. The appropriate LEDs are provided with a signal column by column for a predetermined period of time, and the current allowed through the LEDs then decays over time. Unlike the state of the cells in a conventional display with an array of cells, in which each cell has a corresponding transistor, the state of the LEDs in display 406' is not maintained. In a conventional display having an array of cells with respective transistors, the state of the transistors remains unchanged until changed by the processor. The operation of display 406' allows the LEDs to be illuminated using less power and fewer corresponding signal lines than is associated with conventional displays. For example, for an array with 7 columns and 5 rows, there are 12 signal lines for 35 LEDs, rather than a single line for each LED.

The display module 404 'may display the portions of the glyph on the display 406' in a column-by-column manner and in a reverse column manner from right to left. For example, the rightmost column (or last column) receives the first leftmost portion of the glyph before receiving other columns of the same first portion. The first part moves to the left and the next part of the glyph is provided to the last column. This process continues for each glyph of the message being displayed until the last portion of the last glyph of the message is displayed in the first column of the display 406'. The message may be displayed iteratively.

The display module 404' may cycle through the columns at a predetermined refresh rate. For example, the display module 404' may cycle through the columns at a rate of 1,000 columns per second (referred to as a 1,000 kilohertz (kHz) scan). In other words, each column may cycle about 143 times per second. The refreshing of the display may not change which LEDs are currently illuminated. This may include providing a new portion of the glyph to the appropriate column of the display 406' and/or refreshing a previously displayed portion. Power is saved by refreshing the display column by column rather than refreshing all columns simultaneously, so that 1/7 for the time period associated with lighting that LED provides power to each LED that is lit rather than 7/7 for the time period. Further, to increase the brightness of the LEDs and not consume additional power, a predetermined amount of current (e.g., 7 milliamps (mA)) may be provided to 1/7 for a time period for each LED that is lit, rather than 1mA for the entire time period.

The rate at which glyphs move across the display 406' is slower than the refresh rate. By way of example, the glyph may move across the display 406' at a rate of 8 to 10 columns per second. Thus, each portion of the displayed character may move from one column to the next every approximately 1/10 seconds.

The display module 404 'may display a predetermined number of glyphs and/or a predetermined portion of glyphs on the display 406' at any time. Each portion of the glyph refers to a column of portions to be displayed through the display 406'. In the example shown, the display module 404' may display: 2 glyphs (each glyph is associated with 5 x 3 LEDs of the array with a blank (or dark non-lit) column between the two glyphs: or a simple 2 glyph (each glyph is associated with 5 x 3 or 5 x 4 LEDs in the array with no blank (black non-lit) column between the two glyphs.) at any time, portions of 2 glyphs or 3 glyphs can be displayed.

Fig. 6 illustrates the messaging module 402 and the display module 404 of fig. 4. The messaging module 402 includes an evaluation module 440, a string generator 450, a string queue 452, a multi-glyph selector 454, a multi-glyph queue 456, a glyph-to-column converter 458, a column queue 460, a forward-and-refresh module 462, and a memory 464. The evaluation module 440 monitors the above-described parameters associated with the compressor 102 of fig. 1, the driver 132 of fig. 2, the modules, equipment, and components of the driver 132 (some of which are shown in fig. 3). The evaluation module 440 may also perform the diagnostic tests and/or receive data associated with the diagnostic tests. The evaluation module may generate messages and/or indicator signals for the display 406 and/or the LEDs 408 disclosed herein based on the parameter and/or diagnostic data. The message and/or the indication signal may be stored in the memory 464. Alternatively, the evaluation module 440 may access the memory 464 to select one of the pre-stored messages that is appropriate for the currently indicated event. A message 470 representing the message and the indication signal is shown in fig. 6.

The evaluation module 440 may control the operation and/or timing of the

modules

450, 454, 458, and 462. The timing may be based on clocks of one or more timers. The timer may be implemented as a timing module. In the illustrated example, a load (or first) timer 480 and a refresh (or second) timer 482 are shown, with

respective clocks

484, 486. The load timer 480 controls a first rate at which portions of the glyph are transferred from column to column of the display 406. First clock 484 may be, for example, an 8Hz to 10Hz clock. The refresh timer 482 controls a second rate at which the columns of the display 406 are refreshed and/or updated. Second clock 486 may be, for example, a 1Hz clock. Although the refresh timer 482 and the second clock 486 are shown as part of the messaging module 402, the refresh timer 482 and the second clock 486 may be included in the display module 404, and the display module 404 may refresh the state of the LEDs of the display 406 based on the output of the refresh timer 482. In one embodiment, the display module 404 does not include a timer.

Evaluation module 440 may store parameter data 490, status information 492, error/fault information 494, diagnostic data 496, software version information 498 in memory 464. The evaluation module 440 may access and/or periodically update this information and data.

The string generator 450 may be implemented as a module and generates a string 500 of one or more glyphs (referred to as a glyph string) based on the message received from the evaluation module 440. The glyph string 500 is stored in a string queue 452. The string queue 452 may be a first-in-first-out (FIFO) queue, where the first glyph provided to the string queue 452 is the first glyph that leaves the string queue 452. The string queue 452 may insert blank glyphs between successive glyphs that are associated with blank column space that will appear between successively displayed glyphs.

The multi-glyph selector 454 may be implemented as a module and may select a predetermined number of glyphs 502 from the string queue 452. In one embodiment, the multi-glyph selector 454 selects the next three glyphs. Portions of up to three glyphs (if implemented as shown in FIG. 5) may be displayed on the display 406. In another embodiment, the multi-glyph selector 454 selects the next two glyphs. In another embodiment, the multiple glyph selector 454 selects one glyph at a time. The selected glyph 502 may be stored in a multi-glyph queue 456. The multi-word queue 456 may be a second FIFO queue. The multi-glyph selector 454 may receive, transmit, and/or output glyphs every predetermined period of time (e.g., 0.4 seconds).

Glyph-to-column converter 458 may be implemented as a module and converts the selected glyph into column data 504. The glyph to column converter 458 may generate an index value to access a 2-byte packet, where the 2-byte packet includes 16 bits: 15 bits and dummy bits associated with the 5 x 3 glyph. As an example, if the numbers 0 to 9, the symbol: starting the process; <, >,? And the letters a through Z are used to generate messages associated with the ASCII decimal values 48 through 90, the message passing module 402 may subtract 48 from the corresponding ASCII decimal value to provide a reduced index value. The display module 404' may be provided with an index value instead of an ASCII decimal value. For example, the index value for the number "0" may be 0 instead of 48. If only the letters A through Z or only the letters A through Z are used as the first entry in the memory table, the messaging module 402 may subtract 65 from the corresponding ASCII decimal value such that the index value for the letter "A" is 0 instead of 65. The index values may be stored as an array or table in memory 464 along with the corresponding 16-bit packet for the glyph. Column data 504 may be stored in column queue 460. The column queue 460 may be a third FIFO queue.

Although the string generator 450, the multi-glyph selector 454, and the glyph-to-column converter 458 are shown as separate items, two or more of these items may be combined. For example, the multi-glyph selector 454 may receive a message from the evaluation module 440, generate a string, and select a predetermined number of glyphs to store in the multi-glyph queue 456. As another example, the glyph-to-column converter 458 may receive a character string from the character string generator 450 and select a predetermined number of glyphs to convert to column data and store the column data in the column queue 460. Similarly, although the string queue 452, the multi-word queue 456, and the queue 460 are shown as separate queues, two or more of these queues may be combined into a single queue.

The forwarding and refresh module 462 may generate column signals based on the column data to send to the display module 404 via the interface 410. The display module 404 may then convert the column signals to output signals to provide the output signals to output ports corresponding to the rows and columns of the display 406. The LEDs of display 406 are lit based on the output signal.

For further defining the structure of the modules of fig. 2-4 and 6, see the methods of fig. 7-8 provided below and the definition of the term "module" provided below.

The systems disclosed herein may operate using a variety of methods, exemplary methods being illustrated in fig. 7-8. In fig. 7, a method of operating a messaging module (e.g., messaging module 402 of fig. 4) of a pointing system (e.g., pointing system 400 of fig. 4) is shown. Although the following tasks are described primarily with respect to the implementations of fig. 4-6, the tasks may be readily modified to apply to other implementations of the present disclosure. The tasks may be performed iteratively.

The method may begin at 600. At 602, the evaluation module 440 monitors the parameters as described above. At 604, the evaluation module 440 may determine a status of one or more of the compressor 102, the driver 132, and/or modules, equipment, and/or components of the driver 132, as described above. The evaluation module 440 may generate status information, status messages, and/or status indication signals, which may be stored in the memory 464 at 605.

At 606, the evaluation module 440 may determine whether an error and/or fault exists and generate error and/or fault information and corresponding messages and/or indication signals, which may be stored at 608 in the memory 464. The error and/or fault information, messages, and indication signals may indicate that the voltage and/or current levels at the input, internal, and/or output of one or more of the compressor 102, the driver 132, and/or the modules, equipment, and/or components of the driver 132 exceed one or more predetermined thresholds within a predetermined period of time. The predetermined threshold and the predetermined period of time may be stored in the memory 464. The error and/or fault information and corresponding message may indicate that the detected temperature of the compressor and/or the driver 132 has exceeded a predetermined temperature. The predetermined temperature may also be stored in the memory 464. Task 610 may be performed after task 608.

At 610, the evaluation module 440 determines whether to perform a diagnostic test. The diagnostic test may be performed periodically, at predetermined times, and/or based on user input. If a diagnostic test is to be performed, then task 612 is performed, otherwise task 616 can be performed.

At 612, the evaluation module 440 performs diagnostic tests on the compressor 102, the driver 132, and/or one or more of the modules, equipment, and/or components of the driver 132. The diagnostic tests may include providing input signals, voltages, and/or current levels to one or more of the compressor 102, the driver 132, and/or one or more of the modules, equipment, and/or components of the driver 132. The diagnostic tests may also include monitoring voltage and/or current levels at the input, internal, and/or output of one or more of the compressor 102, the driver 132, and/or modules, equipment, and/or components of the driver 132. The collected voltage and current level data may be stored and evaluated based on predetermined and stored values to determine: whether there is an error and/or failure; and/or should be maintained on the compressor 102 and/or the drive 132. At 614, the evaluation module 440 stores the results of the diagnostic tests in the memory 464. The results of task 612, which may indicate and/or be evaluated to determine the presence of errors and/or faults, may also be stored in memory 464.

At 616, the evaluation module 440 may access the software version information 498. The software version information may indicate a version of software executed by control module 250, evaluation module 440, and/or by one or more other modules of driver 132.

At 618, the evaluation module 440 generates one or more messages and/or indication signals. The message may be for a display 406 and the indication signal may be for an LED 408. The messages and indication signals may be generated based on parameter data, status information, error and/or fault information, diagnostic data, software version information, and/or other data, messages, and/or signals stored in memory 464. The messages and lighting patterns associated with the indication signals may be stored in the memory 464 and may be selected via, for example, one or more tables, equations, mappings, and/or algorithms stored in the memory 464. For example, a table stored in memory 464 may relate messages and lighting patterns or indexes of messages and lighting patterns to parameter data, status information, error and/or fault information, diagnostic data, software version information, and/or other data, messages, and/or signals stored in memory 464.

At 620, the evaluation module 440 and/or the string generator 450 may determine an order of messages and/or indication signals to be displayed and/or indicated via the display 406 and the LEDs 408. The evaluation module 440 and/or the string generator 450 may also determine the frequency of each of the messages and the indication signals. The first message and/or the indication signal may be displayed at a different frequency and/or for a different duration than the second message and/or the indication signal. The indication signal corresponding to the message may be indicated during the same period of time that the message is displayed. The order, frequency, and timing of the messages and/or indicator signals may be based on the priority of the messages and/or indicator signals. The priority (or value) of the message and/or the indication signal may be stored in a table in memory 464. The high priority messages and/or indicator signals may indicate a longer period of time and/or more frequently than the low priority messages and/or indicator signals.

At 621, the indication signal is forwarded to the display module 404 to be indicated via the LED408 based on the determined order, frequency, duration, and timing. This may account for any delays associated with performing tasks 622 through 632. Task 620 may be performed while performing tasks 621-632.

At 622, string generator 450 generates a glyph string for the generated or selected message based on the determined order, frequency, duration, and timing. At 623, a string of glyphs may be stored in the string queue 452.

At 624, the multi-glyph selector 454 selects the next predetermined number of glyphs 502 from the string queue 452. The selected glyph 502 can be for the string currently being displayed and/or the string to be displayed. By way of example, the predetermined number of glyphs 502 may correspond to the number of glyphs (e.g., 2 or 3) displayed at any time on the display 406. At 626, the multi-glyph selector 454 may store the selected glyph 502 in a multi-glyph queue 456.

At 628, glyph-to-column converter 458 selects one or more next glyphs and converts them to column data. As an example, the glyph may be partitioned into multiple columns of segmented data for the display 406. For example, a single glyph may be shown on 3 or 4 columns of LEDs of display 406. Each data segment may correspond to lighting one or more LEDs in a single corresponding column of the display 406. Each segment of data may include the state of column (and/or row) control lines for the display 406 (or row and column output signals for the display module 404) to illuminate one or more LEDs in a corresponding column of the display 406. The column data corresponds to signals and/or values for each row. At 630, column data 504 may be stored in column queue 460.

At 632, the forwarding and refresh module 462 forwards and/or converts the next column of data into packets, which are forwarded to the display module 404 via the interface 410. The display module 404 may then generate output signals to control the state of row and column control lines of the display 406. Column data may be provided to display 406 in a column-by-column format such that power is provided to only one or more LEDs of a single column of display 406 at any one time. At any time, power is provided to only one or more LEDs in a single column of display 406. In an alternative embodiment, the row data may be provided to the display 406 in a row-by-row format, such that power is provided to only one or more LEDs of a single row of the display 406 at any one time. The data may be refreshed column-wise or row-wise.

The current provided to the LEDs is allowed to decay over time and the forwarding and refresh module 462 repeatedly cycles through the columns (or rows) of the display 406. Since the human eye holds the image for a period of time, the LEDs in the multiple columns may appear to be illuminated simultaneously. When the LEDs in multiple columns of display 406 are illuminated simultaneously, the refresh pattern of the LEDs may not be apparent to the user's eye due to the refresh rate (e.g., 1 kHz). Column data may be provided to the display 406 column by column at a predetermined loading rate (e.g., 8Hz to 10 Hz). The method may end after performing task 632 or may return to task 602, as shown. The method of FIG. 8 may be performed during task 632.

As can be seen from the above tasks, the messaging module 402 performs most of the tasks when displaying a message. By performing most of the tasks by the messaging module 402 rather than the display module 404, the requirements, complexity, and cost of the display module 404 may be reduced.

Fig. 8 illustrates a method of operating a display module (e.g., display module 404 of fig. 4) of a pointing system (e.g., pointing system 400 of fig. 4). Although the following tasks are described primarily with respect to the implementations of fig. 4-6, the tasks may be readily modified to apply to other implementations of the present disclosure. The tasks may be performed iteratively. Although the following tasks 652 through 660 are shown, one or more of the tasks may not be performed. The display module 404 may be an active and/or intelligent device and performs the tasks described below. The display module 404 may transmit, initiate, and/or generate an indication signal and provide the indication signal to the LED408 independent of any signal of the messaging module 402 and/or without receiving any signal from the messaging module 402.

The method may begin at 650. At 652, the display module 404 determines whether the column data received from the messaging module is valid. This may include determining whether the column data is associated with illuminating only one or more LEDs from a single column. If the column data is associated with illuminating LEDs in multiple columns simultaneously, the column data may be deemed invalid. As another example, the column data may be deemed invalid if the column data does not allow any LEDs to be lit within a predetermined period of time. If valid, then task 654 is performed, otherwise task 662 is performed.

At 654, the display module 404 may determine whether the indication signal has been successfully received from the messaging module 402. Task 656 may be performed if the indication signal has been received, otherwise task 660 may be performed.

At 656, if not provided in the indication signal, the display module 404 may determine a lighting pattern for the indication signal. The display module 404 may generate a lighting pattern signal to light the LED408 according to the lighting pattern. The lighting pattern may be generated based on data provided in the indication signal. At 658, an indication signal and/or a lighting pattern signal may be provided to the LED 408. The indication signal and/or the illumination pattern signal may be an affirmative state and/or a diagnostic signal.

Tasks

656 and 658 may be performed independently of receiving an indication signal from messaging module 402. At 660, the display module 404 displays the message on the display 406, as described above.

At 662, the display module 404 may determine whether an indication signal has been successfully received from the messaging module 402. Task 664 may be performed if the indication signal has been received, otherwise task 670 may be performed.

At 664, the display module 404 may generate an error indication signal and/or an error lighting pattern for the invalid column data. At 666, the display module 404 may determine a lighting pattern for the received indication signal if not already provided in the received indication signal. At 668, the display module 404 may indicate the error indication signal and the received indication signal via the LED 408.

At 670, the display module 404 may generate an error indication signal due to not receiving a valid message and/or indication signal from the messaging module 402 and/or not receiving a message and/or indication signal from the messaging module 402 within a predetermined period of time. At 672, the display module 404 may display an error indication signal via the LED 408. Task 652 may be performed after each of

tasks

660, 668, 672.

The above-described tasks of fig. 7-8 are intended to be illustrative examples; the tasks may be performed sequentially, synchronously, simultaneously, continuously, during overlapping time periods, or in a different order depending on the application. Further, depending on the implementation and/or order of events, no task may be performed or skipped.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. The broad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples, the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent upon a study of the drawings, the specification, and the following claims. It should be understood that one or more steps of the method may be performed in a different order (or simultaneously) without altering the principles of the present disclosure. Furthermore, although each embodiment is described above as having certain features, any one or more of those features described in relation to any embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented in and/or in combination with the features of any other embodiment, even if that combination is not explicitly described. In other words, the described embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and the interchange of one or more embodiments with each other remains within the scope of the present disclosure.

Various terms are used to describe spatial and functional relationships between elements (e.g., between modules, circuit elements, semiconductor layers, etc.), including "connected," joined, "" coupled, "" adjacent, "" immediately adjacent, "" on top, "" above, "" below, "and" disposed. Unless explicitly described as "direct", when a relationship between a first element and a second element is described in the above disclosure, the relationship may be a direct relationship in which there are no other intermediate elements between the first element and the second element, but may also be an indirect relationship in which there are (spatially or functionally) one or more intermediate elements between the first element and the second element. As used herein, the phrase "at least one of A, B and C" should be interpreted to mean logic (a or B or C) using a non-exclusive logical or, and should not be interpreted to mean "at least one of a, at least one of B, and at least one of C.

In the drawings, the direction of arrows, indicated by arrows, generally illustrate the flow of information (e.g., data or instructions) of interest for the description. For example, when element a and element B exchange various information but the information transmitted from element a to element B is related to the description, an arrow may point from element a to element B. The one-way arrow does not imply that no other information is transmitted from element B to element a. Further, for information sent from element a to element B, element B may send a request for the information or an acknowledgement of receipt of the information to element a.

In this application, including the following definitions, the term "module" or the term "controller" may be replaced by the term "circuit". The term "module" may refer to, be part of, or include the following: an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); digital, analog, or hybrid analog/digital discrete circuits; digital, analog, or hybrid analog/digital integrated circuits; a combinational logic circuit; a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA); processor circuitry (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes code; memory circuitry (shared, dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the processor circuitry; other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality; or a combination of some or all of the above, for example in a system on a chip.

A module may include one or more interface circuits. In some examples, the interface circuit may include a wired or wireless interface to a Local Area Network (LAN), the internet, a Wide Area Network (WAN), or a combination thereof. The functionality of any given module of the present disclosure may be distributed among multiple modules connected via interface circuits. For example, multiple modules may allow load balancing. In other examples, a server (also referred to as a remote or cloud) module may implement some functionality on behalf of a client module.

Some or all of the hardware features of the module may be defined using languages for hardware description such as IEEE standard 1364-. A hardware description language may be used to fabricate and/or program hardware circuits. In some implementations, some or all of the features of the module can be defined by a language such as IEEE 1666-.

The term code, as used above, may include software, firmware, and/or microcode, and may refer to programs, routines, functions, classes, data structures, and/or objects. The term shared processor circuit includes a single processor circuit that executes some or all code from multiple modules. The term group processor circuit includes a processor circuit that executes some or all code from one or more modules in conjunction with additional processor circuits. References to multiple processor circuits include multiple processor circuits on separate dies, multiple processor circuits on a single die, multiple cores of a single processor circuit, multiple threads of a single processor circuit, or a combination of the above. The term shared memory circuit includes a single memory circuit that stores some or all code from multiple modules. The term group memory circuit includes memory circuits that store some or all of the code from one or more modules in conjunction with additional memory.

The term memory circuit is a subset of the term computer readable medium. As used herein, the term computer-readable medium does not include transitory electrical or transitory electromagnetic signals propagating through a medium (e.g., on a carrier wave); the term computer readable medium may therefore be considered tangible and non-transitory. Non-limiting examples of non-transitory computer-readable media are non-volatile memory circuits (e.g., flash memory circuits, erasable programmable read-only memory circuits, or mask read-only memory circuits), volatile memory circuits (e.g., static random access memory circuits or dynamic random access memory circuits), magnetic storage media (e.g., analog or digital tapes or hard drives), and optical storage media (e.g., CD, DVD, or blu-ray disc).

The apparatus and methods described herein may be partially or completely implemented by a special purpose computer created by configuring a general purpose computer to perform one or more specific functions implemented in a computer program. The functional blocks and flowchart elements described above are used as software specifications, which may be compiled into a computer program by routine work of a skilled technician or programmer.

The computer program includes processor-executable instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium. The computer program may also comprise or rely on stored data. The computer programs may include a Basic Input Output System (BIOS) that interacts with the hardware of the special purpose computer, a device driver that interacts with specific devices of the special purpose computer, one or more operating systems, user applications, background services, background applications, and the like.

The computer program may include: (i) descriptive text to be parsed, such as HTML (hypertext markup language), XML (extensible markup language), or JSON (JavaScript object notation); (ii) assembly code, (iii) object code generated by a compiler from source code, (iv) source code for execution by an interpreter, (v) source code for compilation and execution by a just-in-time compiler, and the like. By way of example only, source code may be written using a syntax according to a language including: C. c + +, C #, Objective-C, Swift, Haskell, Go, SQL, R, Lisp,

Fortran、Perl、Pascal、Curl、OCaml、

HTML5 (HyperText markup language version 5), Ada, ASP (dynamic Server Page), PHP (PHP: HyperText preprocessor), Scala, Eiffel, Smalltalk, Erlang, Ruby, Ada, Adp, Adam, Adb, Adp, Adam, Adp, Adb, Adp, Adam, Adp, and P, and Adp, and,

Visual

Lua, MATLAB, SIMULINK and

unless the phrase "means for. · is used" to recite an element explicitly or in the context of a method claim using the phrase "operation for. · or" step for.. unless otherwise stated, the elements recited in the claims are not intended to be means plus function elements within the meaning of 35 u.s.c.112 (f).

Claims

1. An indicating system comprising:

an evaluation module configured to generate a message based on a parameter of a compressor or a driver of the compressor;

a messaging module configured to

Generating a first message based on the parameter,

generating a glyph string based on the first message,

a predetermined number of glyphs are selected in the glyph string,

generating column data for the selected predetermined number of glyphs, an

Generating a packet comprising the column data;

a display module configured to: (i) receive the packet via an interface, and (ii) generate an output signal based on the packet; and

a display comprising a light emitting diode array (LED), wherein the display does not comprise a transistor, wherein the display is configured to receive the output signal and to illuminate the LED of the display based on the output signal, an

Wherein the display module is configured to generate the output signals to illuminate one or more of the LEDs of the display in a column-by-column format such that power is provided to only one column of the LED array at any one time.

2. The indicating system as defined in claim 1, further comprising an LED separate from the display,

wherein the display module is configured to provide an indication signal to the LED separate from the display.

3. The indicating system as defined in claim 2, wherein the indication signal indicates an error or fault with respect to the compressor or a drive of the compressor.

4. The indication system of claim 2, wherein the indication signal indicates an error or fault corresponding to the first message.

5. The indication system of claim 2, wherein the messaging module is configured to initiate the indication signal.

6. The indication system of claim 2, wherein the display module is configured to initiate the indication signal.

7. The indicating system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

the messaging module is configured to generate a first indication signal based on a status of the compressor or a driver of the compressor; and

the display module is configured to:

it is determined whether the column data is valid or not,

generating a second indication signal if said column data is invalid, an

Providing the first and second indication signals to an LED separate from the display.

8. The indication system of claim 1, wherein the messaging module comprises a processor.

9. The indicating system as defined in claim 1, wherein the display module comprises a field programmable gate array.

10. The indicating system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

the messaging module is implemented as a processor; and

the display module is implemented as a field programmable gate array.

11. The indicating system as defined in claim 10, wherein:

the LED array is a 5 × 7 LED array; and

the display module is configured to display a portion of up to 3 glyphs on the LED array at any one time.

12. The indicating system as defined in claim 10, wherein:

the field programmable gate array has 240 or 570 logic elements;

the display module refreshes the states of the LEDs in the LED array at a refresh rate of 1000 kHz; and

the display module provides the column data to the display column by column at a predetermined duty cycle of 8Hz to 10 Hz.

13. The indication system of claim 1, wherein the messaging module comprises:

a string generator configured to: (i) generating the glyph string based on the first message, and (ii) storing the glyph string in a first-in-first-out queue;

a multi-font selector configured to: (i) selecting a predetermined number of glyphs in the glyph string, and (ii) storing the predetermined number of glyphs in a second first-in-first-out queue;

a glyph-to-column converter configured to: (i) generating the column data for the selected predetermined number of glyphs, and (ii) storing the column data in a third first-in-first-out queue; and

a forwarding module configured to: (i) generate the packet including the column data, and (ii) forward the packet to the display module.

14. The indicating system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

the messaging module is configured to: (i) generating a plurality of messages based on parameter data, status information, error or fault information, diagnostic data, and software version information, and (ii) generating a packet comprising the plurality of messages, wherein the plurality of messages comprises the first message, and wherein the parameter data, the status information, the error or fault information, the diagnostic data, and the software version information correspond to operation of the compressor or a drive of the compressor; and

the display module is configured to generate a plurality of output signals for a row control line and a column control line of the display based on the packet to display the plurality of messages in a predetermined order.

15. A method of operating an indicator system, the method comprising:

generating a message based on a parameter of a compressor or a driver of the compressor;

generating a first message at a messaging module based on the parameter;

generating a glyph string based on the first message;

selecting a predetermined number of glyphs in the glyph string;

generating column data for the selected predetermined number of glyphs;

generating a packet comprising the column data;

receiving the packet at a display module via an interface;

generating an output signal based on the packet; and

receiving the output signal at a display and illuminating a Light Emitting Diode (LED) array of the display based on the output signal, wherein the display does not include a transistor,

wherein the output signal is generated to light one or more of the LEDs of the display in a column-by-column format such that power is provided to only one column of the LED array at any one time.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising providing an indication signal to an LED separate from the display, wherein the indication signal indicates an error with respect to the compressor, a driver of the compressor, or the first message, and wherein the indication signal is initiated at the messaging module or the display module.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating a first indication signal at the messaging module based on a state of the compressor or a driver of the compressor;

determining, at the display module, whether the column data is valid;

generating a second indication signal if the column data is invalid; and

18. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the messaging module is implemented as a processor;

the display module is implemented as a field programmable gate array;

the LED array is a 5 × 7 LED array; and

19. The method of claim 18, wherein:

the field programmable gate array has 240 or 570 logic elements;

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating a plurality of messages based on the parameter data, the status information, the error or fault information, the diagnostic data, and the software version information;

generating a package comprising the plurality of messages, wherein the plurality of messages comprises the first message, and wherein the parameter data, the status information, the error or fault information, the diagnostic data, and the software version information correspond to operation of the compressor or a driver of the compressor; and

forwarding the plurality of messages to be displayed on the display in a predetermined order based on the packet.