Controllable lighting system with a second communication protocol and appliances for this purpose

• US 20040245943A1
• Filed: 05/12/2004
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Optotronic GmbH (Inventronics (Hangzhou), Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft Fur Elektrische Gluhlampen mbH (Ams-Osram AG)
• Inventors: Huber, Andreas
• Granted Patent: US 7,042,173 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 315/291
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 41/295 with semiconductor devices and specially adapted for lamps with preheating electrodes, e.g. for fluorescent lamps
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/18 via data-bus transmission

Abstract

The invention relates to an electronic ballast and to a controller which drives this ballast, in which two communication protocols are provided for the digital drive.

Claims

1. An electronic ballast for a lamp, in which the operation of the lamp can be controlled by a digital drive for the ballast by means of a communication protocol,

wherein the ballast is designed to be driven digitally by means of at least two communication protocols.

2. The appliance as claimed in claim 1, which, on reception of drive signals, can determine the communication protocol to which the drive signals correspond, and can evaluate the drive signals in accordance with the determined communication protocol.

5. The appliance as claimed in claim 1, in which the first and the second communication protocol have an identical start bit.

6. The appliance as claimed in claim 1, in which the first and the second communication protocol have different word lengths.

7. The appliance as claimed in claim 1, in which the first and the second communication protocol have different stop bits.

8. The appliance as claimed in claim 1, in which the first and the second communication protocol are biphase-coded.

9. A lighting system having an electronic ballast for a lamp, in which the operation of the lamp can be controlled by a digital drive for the ballast by means of a communication protocol, wherein the ballast is designed to be driven digitally by means of at least two communication protocols, in conjunction with one of claims 5 to 8 as well a controller as claimed in claim 5.

11. A method for the programming of appliances as claimed in claim 1, in which the content of a memory for the electronic ballast is read and/or written to by means of the second communication protocol.

3. A controller for controlling electronic ballasts for lamps, which controller can control the operation of the lamp by digitally driving the ballast by means of a communication protocol, wherein the controller is designed to be driven digitally by means of a second communication protocol.

4. The appliance as claimed in claim 3, which can simultaneously transmit drive signals in accordance with the first communication protocol and drive signals in accordance with the second communication protocol.

10. A lighting system having a controller as claimed in claim 3.

12. The appliance as claimed in claim 3, in which the first and the second communication protocol have different word lengths.

13. The appliance as claimed in claim 3, in which the first and the second communication protocol have different stop bits.

14. The appliance as claimed in claim 3, in which the first and the second communication protocol are biphase-coded.