SMS Method Overview

PIE 04 3 SMS 5529-05.df (2004)

The Simultaneous Multiple Surfaces design method (SMS) is a powerful method in nonimaging optics and is a proprietary and patented technology of Light Prescription Innovators (LPI). The first embodiments had either linear or rotational symmetry and found applications in photovoltaic concentrators, illumination optics and optical communications. SMS design devices perform close to the thermodynamic limit, are compact and simple, features that are especially beneficial for use with today’s high brightness LEDs. R&D to extend the method to include 3D “free form” geometries started at the turn of the century (2000) and culminated in the filing of several key patents in 2003. SMS 3D controls the light emitted by an extended light source much better than single free form surface designs, while reaching very high efficiencies. The first application for 3D SMS was in the design of solid state automotive headlamps.