Driving Wave Form Research Articles

Low-Power Driving Waveform Design for Improving the Display Effect of Electrophoretic Electronic Paper.

To address the high power consumption associated with image refresh operations in EPDs, this paper proposes a low-power driving waveform that reduces the refresh power of EPDs by lowering the system's peak power. Compared to traditional waveforms, this waveform first activates the particles before erasing them, thus reducing voltage polarity changes. Additionally, it introduces a specific duration of 0 V voltage during the activation phase based on the physical characteristics of the electrophoretic particles to reduce the voltage span. Finally, a particular duration of 0 V voltage is introduced during the erasure phase to minimize the voltage span while ensuring the stability and consistency of the reference gray scale. The experimental results demonstrate that, in standard power tests, the new driving waveform reduces the power fluctuation value by 1.33% and the energy fluctuation value by 37.24% compared to the traditional driving waveform. This reduction in refresh power also mitigates screen flicker and ghosting phenomena.

A STM Driving Waveform Design Method Based on Active Damping for Ultrasound Mid-Air Haptics

A STM Driving Waveform Design Method Based on Active Damping for Ultrasound Mid-Air Haptics

Stability Study of Multi-Level Grayscales Based on Driving Waveforms for Electrowetting Displays.

Electrowetting Display (EWD) is a new reflective display with an outstanding performance of color video playback. However, some problems still exist and affect its performance. For instance, oil backflow, oil splitting, and charge trapping phenomena may occur during the driving process of EWDs, which would decrease its stability of multi-level grayscales. Therefore, an efficient driving waveform was proposed to solve these disadvantages. It consisted of a driving stage and a stabilizing stage. First, an exponential function waveform was used in the driving stage for driving the EWDs quickly. Then, an alternating current (AC) pulse signal waveform was used in the stabilizing stage to release the trapped positive charges of the insulating layer to improve display stability. A set of four level grayscale driving waveforms were designed by using the proposed method, and it was used in comparative experiments. The experiments showed that the proposed driving waveform could mitigate oil backflow and splitting effects. Compared to a traditional driving waveform, the luminance stability was increased by 8.9%, 5.9%, 10.9%, and 11.6% for the four level grayscales after 12 s, respectively.

A Driving Waveform with a Narrow Falling and High-Voltage Reset Structure for Improving the Stability of Electrowetting Displays

An electrowetting display (EWD) is a new reflective display device with the advantages of paper display, high reflectivity, and fast response times. However, the display performance of EWDs has been restricted by oil film splitting and luminance oscillation. Therefore, a new driving waveform based on a falling slope function and a high-voltage, square-wave reset signal is proposed to solve these defects. It consists of a shrinkage stage and a stabilizing stage. First, the oil film of a pixel can be quickly ruptured by applying a falling slope function during the shrinkage stage according to the oil film-splitting theory. Then, a direct current (DC) voltage is applied to promote the complete fusion of the dispersed oil films by analyzing the voltage characteristic curves of EWDs. Finally, a high-voltage, square-wave reset signal is applied during the stabilizing stage to reduce luminance oscillations and suppress oil film backflow. Experimental results show that the average luminance was increased by 6.5% compared with a PWM driving waveform. The display stability of EWDs was improved by 89.1% compared with a driving waveform with a rising gradient.

Toward Suppressing Charge Trapping Based on a Combined Driving Waveform with an AC Reset Signal for Electro-Fluidic Displays.

Digital microfluidic technology based on the principle of electrowetting is developing rapidly. As an extension of this technology, electro-fluidic displays (EFDs) have gradually become a novel type of display devices, whose grayscales can be displayed by controlling oil film in pixels with a microelectromechanical system (MEMS). Nevertheless, charge trapping can occur during EFDs' driving process, which will produce the leakage current and seriously affect the performance of EFDs. Thus, an efficient driving waveform was proposed to resolve these defects in EFDs. It consisted of a driving stage and a stabilizing stage. Firstly, the response time of oil film was shortened by applying an overdriving voltage in the driving stage according to the principle of the electrowetting. Then, a direct current (DC) voltage was designed to display a target luminance by analyzing leakage current-voltage curves and a dielectric loss factor. Finally, an alternating current (AC) reset signal was applied in the stabilizing stage to suppress the charge trapping effect. The experiment results indicated that compared with a driving waveform with a reset signal and a combined driving waveform, the average luminance was improved by 3.4% and 9.7%, and the response time was reduced by 29.63% and 51.54%, respectively.

Inhibiting Oil Splitting and Backflow in Electrowetting Displays by Designing a Power Function Driving Waveform

Electrowetting display (EWD) is one of the latest and most promising reflective displays. However, some defects are easily caused in a driving process. For example, the aperture ratio of pixels can be reduced due to oil splitting, and the grayscale cannot be stabilized due to charge trapping. These defects can be effectively solved by designing driving waveforms for EWDs. So, a power function driving waveform was proposed in this paper, which consisted of an oil splitting suppression stage, a direct current (DC) driving stage and an oil stabilization stage. Firstly, the relationships among luminance values, power constants and driving time were measured. An optimal oil splitting suppression stage was obtained, which could effectively inhibit oil splitting. Then, the response time could be reduced by a DC voltage in the DC driving stage. Finally, a voltage slope was tested during the oil stabilization stage, which was used to counteract voltage created by the charge trapping. The experimental results showed that compared with a linear function waveform, the response time could be shortened by 16.1%, and the luminance value could be increased by 3.8%. The aperture ratio and oil stability of EWD can be effectively improved by these findings, thereby increasing its potential application in the display field.

Toward Suppressing Oil Backflow Based on a Combined Driving Waveform for Electrowetting Displays.

Electrowetting display (EWD) is a new type of paper-like reflective display based on colored oil, which has gradually become one of the most potential electronic papers with low power consumption, fast response, and full color. However, oil backflow can occur in EWDs, which makes it difficult to maintain a stable aperture ratio. In order to improve the stability of the aperture ratio of EWDs, a new driving waveform was proposed based on analyzing the phenomenon of oil backflow. The driving waveform was composed of a shrinking stage and a driving stage. Firstly, a threshold voltage of oil splitting was calculated by analyzing the luminance curve of EWDs, which were driven by different direct current (DC) voltages. Then, an exponential function waveform, which increased from the threshold voltage, was applied to suppress oil splitting. Finally, a periodic signal combined with a reset signal with a DC signal was applied during the driving stage to maintain a stable aperture ratio display. Experimental results showed that the charge trapping effect could be effectively prevented by the proposed driving waveform. Compared with an exponential function waveform, the average luminance value was increased by 28.29%, and the grayscale stability was increased by 13.76%. Compared to a linear function waveform, the aperture ratio was increased by 10.44% and the response time was reduced by 20.27%.

A Fast-Response Driving Waveform Design Based on High-Frequency Voltage for Three-Color Electrophoretic Displays.

Three-color electrophoretic displays (EPDs) have the characteristics of colorful display, reflection display, low power consumption, and flexible display. However, due to the addition of red particles, response time of three-color EPDs is increased. In this paper, we proposed a new driving waveform based on high-frequency voltage optimization and electrophoresis theory, which was used to shorten the response time. The proposed driving waveform was composed of an activation stage, a new red driving stage, and a black or white driving stage. The response time of particles was effectively reduced by removing an erasing stage. In the design process, the velocity of particles in non-polar solvents was analyzed by Newton’s second law and Stokes law. Next, an optimal duration and an optimal frequency of the activation stage were obtained to reduce ghost images and improve particle activity. Then, an optimal voltage which can effectively drive red particles was tested to reduce the response time of red particles. Experimental results showed that compared with a traditional driving waveform, the proposed driving waveform had a better performance. Response times of black particles, white particles and red particles were shortened by 40%, 47.8% and 44.9%, respectively.

Design Method of Equivalent Driving Waveform Based on Electrowetting Response Characteristics

As a new reflective display technology, electrowetting displays (EWDs) have many important characteristics, such as high reflectivity, low power consumption, and paper-like display. However, the contact angle hysteresis, which is the inconsistency between the advancing contact angle and the receding contact angle of oil droplet movement, seriously affects the response speed of EWDs in the driving process. According to the hysteresis phenomenon of contact angle in an oil switch motion with the action of interface tension, the brightness curve of EWDs in the process of pixel switching by different driving voltages was tested in this paper, and driving voltage was changed from 30 to 100 V at the same time. Then, in order to reduce the influence of the hysteresis effect, an equivalent driving waveform design method with overdriving voltage was proposed, and the overvoltage was set to 100 V according to the hysteresis effect and driving characteristic of EWDs. Experimental results showed that the response rising time of EWDs was reduced to 21 ms by using the proposed driving waveform, and the response performance of EWDs can be effectively improved.

An Electrophoretic Display Driving Waveform Design for Reducing a Flicker and a Driving Time Based on the Fusion Optimization of Driving Stages

The speed of updating an image is very important for an electrophoretic display (EPD) application, but the flicker which can be produced among the process of updating an image is a main factor of affecting reading comfort for human eyes. In this paper, a new driving waveform, which was based on DC balance, was proposed to reduce the number of flicker and decrease the driving time for updating an image. Firstly, we studied properties of particles in the EPD, and the stages in the driving waveform were fused according to the driving properties of the particles. Secondly, an accurate reference was formed in the driving waveform for writing a new image, and the particle activity was guaranteed at the same time. Lastly, the driving waveform was downloaded to a real EPD waveform look-up table and the performance was compared with traditional driving waveforms. Experimental results showed that the proposed driving waveform could reduce flicker effectively and shorten the driving time by 25%, and an accurate white reference gray scale was obtained for displaying high quality images.

Simulation of Asymmetric Electrode to Improve Discharge Stability in AC PDP with Single Driving Waveform

Simulation of Asymmetric Electrode to Improve Discharge Stability in AC PDP with Single Driving Waveform

Intelligent Adjustment of Printhead Driving Waveform Parameters for 3D Electronic Printing

In practical applications of 3D electronic printing, a major challenge is to adjust the printhead for a high print resolution and accuracy. However, an exhausting manual selective process inevitably wastes a lot of time. Therefore, in this paper, we proposed a new intelligent adjustment method, which adopts artificial bee colony algorithm to optimize the printhead driving waveform parameters for getting the desired printhead state. Experimental results show that this method can quickly and accuracy find out the suitable combination of driving waveform parameters to meet the needs of applications.

Control of Jet by Original Driving Waveform of the Coaxial Type DBD Plasma Actuator

Control of Jet by Original Driving Waveform of the Coaxial Type DBD Plasma Actuator

Research of Ultrasound-Mediated Transdermal Drug Delivery System Using Cymbal-Type Piezoelectric Composite Transducer

Transdermal drug delivery (TDD) implemented by especially low-frequency ultrasound is generally known as sonophoresis or phonophoresis which has drawn considerable wide attention. However, TDD has not yet achieved its full potential as an alternative to conventional drug delivery methods due to its bulky instruments. In this paper, a cymbal-type piezoelectric composite transducer (CPCT) which has advantages over a traditional ultrasound generator in weight, flexibility, and power consumption, is used as a substitute ultrasonicator to realize TDD. First, theoretical research on a CPCT based on the finite element analysis was carried out according to which a series of applicable CPCTs with bandwidths of 20 kHz to 100 kHz were elaborated. Second, a TDD experimental setup was built with previously fabricated CPCTs aimed at the administration of glucose. Finally, the TDD performance of glucose molecule transport in porcine skin was measured in vitro by quantifying the concentration of glucose, and the time variation curves were subsequently obtained. During the experiment, the driving wave form, frequency, and power consumption of the transducers were selected as the main elements which determined the efficacy of glucose delivery. The results indicate that the effectiveness of the CPCT-based delivery is constrained more by the frequency and intensity of ultrasound rather than the driving waveform. The light-weight, flexibility, and low-power consumption of a CPCT can potentially achieve effective TDD.

플라즈마 디스플레이 패널에서 선형적 계조 표현을 위한 유지 구동파형의 연구

교류형 플라즈마 디스플레이(AC PDP)의 유지기간 동안 강방전과 약방전을 발생시킬 수 있는 파형을 인가하여 계조의 선형성을 향상시키기 위한 새로운 유지 구동파형과 그의 구현 방법이 제안된다. AC PDP의 계조를 표현하기 위한 구동방법은 하나의 TV 프레임 내에 여러 개의 서브필드를 조합하는 것이며 각 서브필드 내의 휘도는 유지 펄스 개수의 차이에 의해 결정된다. 유지기간 동안 유지 펄스들이 인가되면 똑같은 크기의 강한 플라즈마 방전만 발생하므로 이상적으로 선형적 계조 표현이 용이해 보이지만, 각 서브필드 내에는 계조 표현과 상관없는 기입 방전과 첫 번째 유지 방전이 매번 발생하기 때문에 사실상 선형적 계조 표현이 어려워진다. 그러므로 유지기간 동안 유지 파형의 모양을 변형시켜서 강방전 대신 일부분 약방전도 발생시키는 새로운 유지 구동 파형을 적용하여 계조 표현을 선형에 가깝도록 개선하였다.

Modification of a Driving Waveform in an AC Plasma Display Panel With Sc-doped MgO Protecting Layer

In this paper, the change in addressing characteristics of an AC Plasma display panel with Sc-doped MgO protecting layer are investigated with the variation of operation temperature, addressing waiting time, and scan voltage level during address period using ramp addressing pulse. The addressing voltage in the cell which is addressed long time after reset period is higher but showed narrower distribution of addressing discharge event than other cell. This phenomenon is assumed as a result of the increased wall voltage loss and the enhancement of priming effect due to the electron emission from the Sc-doped MgO protecting layer. A modification of driving waveform for scan electrode is suggested to minimize the wall voltage loss and utilize the priming effect due to the electron emission from the protecting layer, and the improvement in addressing characteristics is presented.

Letter: Driving waveforms based on powder charge for a quick‐response liquid‐powder display

Abstract— A driving waveform based on the powder charge of a quick‐response liquid‐powder display (QR‐LPD®) was investigated. The charging mechanisms for contact charging and triboelectric charging determine the powder charge of a QR‐LPD®. In this letter, driving waveforms containing both charging mechanisms are used for driving a QR‐LPD®. As the experimental results indicate, the charge of the powder accumulates according to the image refresh times. The waveform of a pixel voltage with a slight frictional charge achieves a better contrast ratio for a QR‐LPD®.

Effective tunneling coefficient of a coupled double-well system modulated by anharmonic periodic potentials

We numerically study coherent tunneling oscillations of the particles between two levels in a double-well potential in the presence of anharmonic periodic potentials. Extremely short driving pulses modify the tunneling coefficient to ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{\mathit{eff}}=\ensuremath{\kappa}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{cos}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}A$, where $\ensuremath{\kappa}$ is the bare tunneling coefficient without the driving field and $A$ is the pulse area of the driving wave form. The modulation amplitude of the ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{\mathit{eff}}$ gradually decreases as the driving wave form becomes broad and is given by ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{\mathit{eff}}=\ensuremath{\kappa}{J}_{0}(A)$ for the sinusoidal modulation, where ${J}_{0}(x)$ denotes the ordinary Bessel function of order zero. Theoretical derivation of the effective tunneling coefficient ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{\mathit{eff}}=\ensuremath{\kappa}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{cos}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}A$ is also shown for a periodic $\ensuremath{\delta}$ kick with alternating sign by means of the transfer matrix formula.

Reliability of a MEMS Actuator Improved by Spring Corner Designs and Reshaped Driving Waveforms.

In this paper, we report spring corner designs and driving waveforms to improve the reliability for a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) actuator. In order to prevent the stiction problems, no stopper or damping absorber is adopted. Therefore, an actuator could travel long distance by electromagnetic force without any object in moving path to absorb excess momentum. Due to long displacement and large mass, springs of MEMS actuators tend to crack from weak points with high stress concentration and this situation degrades reliability performance. Stress distribution over different spring designs were simulated and a serpentine spring with circular and wide corner design was chosen due to its low stress concentration. This design has smaller stress concentration versus displacement. Furthermore, the resonant frequencies are removed from the driving waveform based on the analysis of discrete Fourier transfer function. The reshaped waveform not only shortens actuator switching time, but also ensures that the spring is in a small displacement region without overshooting so that the maximum stress is kept below 200 MPa. The experimental results show that the MEMS device designed by theses principles can survive 500 g (gravity acceleration) shock test and pass 150 million switching cycles without failure.

Envelope pulsed ultrasonic distance measurement system based upon amplitude modulation and phase modulation

A novel microcomputer-based ultrasonic distance measurement system is presented. This study proposes an efficient algorithm which combines both the amplitude modulation (AM) and the phase modulation (PM) of the pulse-echo technique. The proposed system can reduce error caused by inertia delay and amplitude attenuation effect when using the AM and PM envelope square wave form (APESW). The APESW ultrasonic driving wave form causes a phase inversion phenomenon in the relative wave form of the receiver. The phase inversion phenomenon sufficiently identifies the "measurement pulse" in the received wave forms, which can be used for accurate time-of-flight (TOF) measurement. In addition, combining a countertechnique to compute the phase shifts of the last cycle for TOF, the presented system can obtain distance resolution of 0.1% of the wavelength corresponding to the 40 kHz frequency of the ultrasonic wave. The standard uncertainty of the proposed distance measurement system is found to be 0.2 mm at a range of 50-500 mm. The APESW signal generator and phase detector of this measuring system are designed on a complex programmable logic device, which is used to govern the TOF measurement and send the data to a personal computer for distance calibration and examination. The main advantages of this APESW system are high resolution, low cost, narrow bandwidth requirement, and ease of implementation.