DIGITAL ELECTRONIC BALLAST CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD

摘要

A ballast control (10) may include a digital controlled oscillator (11) to provide a precise and consistent oscillation frequency for switching a half-bridge circuit in the electronic ballast. The ballast control (10) may include a digital memory device (15) for storing ballast control operational parameters. A controller (12) cap access the digital memory to retrieve parameter values and applies them to various ballast control components. A counter (16) in the ballast control counts a number of events, and provides a signal when a predetermined count is reached to contribute to identifying fault conditions. The controller (12) may contain one or more timers to time duration's related to events in the electronic ballast, such as the initiation of an ignition current The digital nature of the ballast control permits a wide degree of flexibility in providing operational set points and reacting to conditions in the electronic ballast and simplifies the ballast control.