POWER LINE COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING CONTROL
First Claim
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1. A transmitter apparatus for communicating with a ballast or driver through at least one power connection in a lighting system, comprising:
- a first terminal coupled with a first output of an AC power source;
a second terminal coupled with a first power connection, the first power connection being coupled with at least one lighting ballast or driver;
a switching circuit coupled between the first terminal and the second terminal, the switching circuit operable according to a switching control signal to selectively electrically couple the first terminal to the second terminal in a first state and to electrically decouple the first terminal from the second terminal in a second state;
a transmit controller operative in a transmit mode to transmit a binary message including a plurality of bits via the first power connection to the at least one lighting ballast or driver, the transmit controller being operative to transmit bits of a first binary state by providing the switching control signal to selectively place the switching circuit in the second state for a predetermined time period to interrupt provision of power from the AC power source to the at least one lighting ballast or driver in at least one portion of select AC input cycles.
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Abstract
A transmitter apparatus and a ballast/driver receiver apparatus are presented for transmitting control information through a lighting system power line connection to a ballast or driver in which the transmitter selectively interrupts power delivery in select AC line power cycles to indicate data of a first binary state an uninterrupted power cycles indicate a second binary state with the receiver decoding the message data bits of different binary states based at least partially on the interruptions.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A transmitter apparatus for communicating with a ballast or driver through at least one power connection in a lighting system, comprising:
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a first terminal coupled with a first output of an AC power source; a second terminal coupled with a first power connection, the first power connection being coupled with at least one lighting ballast or driver; a switching circuit coupled between the first terminal and the second terminal, the switching circuit operable according to a switching control signal to selectively electrically couple the first terminal to the second terminal in a first state and to electrically decouple the first terminal from the second terminal in a second state; a transmit controller operative in a transmit mode to transmit a binary message including a plurality of bits via the first power connection to the at least one lighting ballast or driver, the transmit controller being operative to transmit bits of a first binary state by providing the switching control signal to selectively place the switching circuit in the second state for a predetermined time period to interrupt provision of power from the AC power source to the at least one lighting ballast or driver in at least one portion of select AC input cycles. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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2. The transmitter apparatus of claim I, the transmit controller being operative to transmit bits of a second binary state by providing the switching control signal to maintain the switching circuit in the first state to allow provision of power from the AC power source to the at least one lighting ballast or driver.
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19. A method for communicating with a ballast or driver through at least one power connection in a lighting system, the method comprising:
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connecting a switching circuit between a first output of an AC power source and a first power connection coupled with at least one lighting ballast or driver; and using the switching circuit, transmitting a binary message including a plurality of bits via the first power connection to the at least one lighting ballast or driver with bits of a first binary state being transmitted by interrupting provision of power from the AC power source to the at least one lighting ballast or driver for a predetermined time period in at least one portion of select AC input cycles. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A lighting system ballast or driver apparatus, comprising:
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a main power conversion system operatively coupled with a plurality of lighting system power connections, the main power conversion system comprising; at least one power conversion component operative to selectively convert power received from the lighting system power connections to provide power to at least one light source, and a ballast or driver controller operative to control operation of the at least one power conversion component; and a receiver operatively coupled with at least one lighting system power connection to detect interruptions of a predetermined time period in at least one portion of AC cycles in power received from the least one lighting system power connection, the receiver comprising a receiver controller operative to decode message data bits of different binary states based at least partially on the interruptions and to provide decoded message data to the ballast or driver controller. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification