SIGNAL-LEVEL BASED CONTROL OF POWER GRID LOAD SYSTEMS

摘要

The present invention relates to a load control system in which a power cable of a DC or AC is used for on/off control and dimming of connected load devices without adding significant hardware structure. The control is achieved through a change in the DC or AC bus voltage. A grid controller can perform on/off control and dimming for an entire group of connected load devices by changing the bus voltage. Connected load devices that do understand or want to make use of this feature will be unaffected. In order to reduce the effects of voltage drop, a calibration procedure is provided. The calibration procedure first triggers the connected load devices into a calibration mode and then initiates a number of predefined output level commands that allow the load devices to build an individual correction for the undesired voltage drop.

主权项

1. An apparatus for controlling power supply via a power grid system to at least one load device, said apparatus being adapted to measure a signal level of said power supply at an output of a grid controller and to change said signal level within a first predetermined range between a minimum allowed signal level and a maximum allowed signal level of said power grid system by influencing a control loop for controlling said signal level based on a received control command, so as to signal said control command to said at least one load device, wherein said apparatus is adapted to trigger a calibration mode by changing said signal level to a value of a second predetermined range located above or below said first predetermined range.