Systems and methods for low-power lamp compatibility with a trailing-edge dimmer and an electronic transformer
In accordance with these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, a system and method for providing compatibility between a load and a secondary winding of an electronic transformer driven by a trailing-edge dimmer may include predicting based on an electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a high-resistance state of the trailing-edge dimmer, wherein the high-resistance state occurs when the trailing-edge dimmer begins phase-cutting an alternating current voltage signal and operating the load in a high-current mode for a period of time immediately prior to the estimated occurrence of the high-resistance state.
1. A lighting apparatus comprising:
a controller to provide compatibility between a load and a secondary winding of an electronic transformer driven by a trailing-edge dimmer, wherein the controller is configured to:
predict based on an electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a high-resistance state of the trailing-edge dimmer, wherein the high-resistance state occurs when the trailing-edge dimmer begins phase-cutting an alternating current voltage signal; and
operate in a high-current mode for a period of time immediately prior to the estimated occurrence of the high-resistance state.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , the controller further configured to operate in a low-impedance mode immediately after the estimated occurrence of the high-resistance state.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , the controller further configured to:
predict based on the electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a trigger event of the electronic transformer, the trigger event corresponding to a rise in an output voltage of the dimmer; and
operate in a high-impedance mode immediately after the estimated occurrence of the trigger event and immediately prior to the high-current mode.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 , the controller further configured to operate in a low-impedance mode immediately prior to the estimated occurrence of the high-resistance state.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , the controller further configured to sequentially and cyclically operate in the high-current mode, the low-impedance mode, and the high-impedance mode.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine a target amount of energy to be delivered to the load during a particular operation in the high-current mode, the target amount of energy based on a control setting of the dimmer.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , the controller configured to:
determine an estimated delivered amount of energy actually delivered to the load during the particular operation in the high-current mode;
calculate an error based on the difference between the target amount of energy and the estimated delivered amount of energy; and
in a subsequent operation in the high-current mode occurring after the particular operation in the high-current mode, determine a second target amount of energy to be delivered to the load during the subsequent operation in the high-current mode, the second target amount of energy based on the error and the control setting of the dimmer.
8. The apparatus of claim 6 , the controller further configured to:
predict based on the electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a trigger event of the electronic transformer;
operate in a high-impedance mode immediately after the estimated occurrence of the trigger event and immediately prior to the high-current mode; and
estimate the control setting of the dimmer based on an aggregate duration of the high-current mode and the high-impedance mode.
9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to, for each n-th operation of the high-current mode:
predict based on the electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a trigger event of the electronic transformer; and
operate in the high-current mode from the estimated occurrence of the trigger event to the estimated occurrence of the high-impedance mode.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein n is an odd positive integer.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , the period of time based on a control setting of the dimmer.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 , the controller further configured to:
predict based on the electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a trigger event of the electronic transformer;
operate in a high-impedance mode immediately after the estimated occurrence of the trigger event and immediately prior to the high-current mode; and
estimate the control setting of the dimmer based on an aggregate duration of the high-current mode and the high-impedance mode.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the load comprises a lamp.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the lamp comprises a light-emitting diode lamp.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the lamp comprises a lamp having a multifaceted reflector form factor.
16. A method of using a controller for providing compatibility between a load and a secondary winding of an electronic transformer driven by a trailing-edge dimmer comprising:
predicting based on an electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a high-resistance state of the trailing-edge dimmer, wherein the high-resistance state occurs when the trailing-edge dimmer begins phase-cutting an alternating current voltage signal; and
operating the load in a high-current mode for a period of time immediately prior to the estimated occurrence of the high-resistance state.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising operating in a low-impedance mode immediately after the estimated occurrence of the high-resistance state.
18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
predicting based on the electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a trigger event of the electronic transformer, the trigger event corresponding to a rise in an output voltage of the dimmer; and
operating the load in a high-impedance mode immediately after the estimated occurrence of the trigger event and immediately prior to the high-current mode.
19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising operating the load in a low-impedance mode immediately prior to the estimated occurrence of the high-resistance state.
20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising sequentially and cyclically operating the load in the high-current mode, the low-impedance mode, and the high-impedance mode.
21. The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining a target amount of energy to be delivered to the load during a particular operation in the high-current mode, the target amount of energy based on a control setting of the dimmer.
22. The method of claim 21 , further comprising:
determining an estimated delivered amount of energy actually delivered to the load during the particular operation in the high-current mode;
calculating an error based on the difference between the target amount of energy and the estimated delivered amount of energy; and
in a subsequent operation in the high-current mode occurring after the particular operation in the high-current mode, determining a second target amount of energy to be delivered to the load during the subsequent operation in the high-current mode, the second target amount of energy based on the error and the control setting of the dimmer.
23. The method of claim 21 , further comprising:
predicting based on the electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a trigger event of the electronic transformer;
operating the load in a high-impedance mode immediately after the estimated occurrence of the trigger event and immediately prior to the high-current mode; and
estimating the control setting of the dimmer based on an aggregate duration of the high-current mode and the high-impedance mode.
24. The method of claim 21 , further comprising, for each n-th operation of the high-current mode:
predicting based on the electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a trigger event of the electronic transformer; and
operating the load in the high-current mode from the estimated occurrence of the trigger event to the estimated occurrence of the high-impedance mode.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein n is an odd positive integer.
26. The method of claim 16 , the period of time based on a control setting of the dimmer.
27. The method of claim 26 , further comprising:
predicting based on the electronic transformer secondary signal an estimated occurrence of a trigger event of the electronic transformer;
operating the load in a high-impedance mode immediately after the estimated occurrence of the trigger event and immediately prior to the high-current mode; and
estimating the control setting of the dimmer based on an aggregate duration of the high-current mode and the high-impedance mode.
28. The method of claim 16 , wherein the load comprises a lamp.
29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the lamp comprises a light-emitting diode lamp.
30. The method of claim 28 , wherein the lamp comprises a multifaceted reflector form factor.