Minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface

Abstract

A Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) receives power from a high voltage power circuit when in a standby mode. The DALI remains in a standby mode until signal activity on a DALI bus is detected, or the DALI may periodically switch from the standby mode to an active mode so as to sample any activity on the DALI bus. If no activity is detected then the DALI returns to the standby mode. If DALI bus activity is detected then the DALI remains in the active mode. The DALI receives power from a power controller when in the active mode. The DALI remains in the active mode so long as the power controller is supplying power to an electrical device.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates generally to control and status of building lighting and power systems, and more particularly to a minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI).BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION TECHNOLOGY[0002] The demands imposed on lighting systems have changed considerably in recent years. Heretofore, switching individual or groups of luminaries on and off used to be sufficient, however, the focus for today and in the future will be on dynamic lighting. Energy conservation, more flexibility of use, increased life and reduced maintenance costs of lighting systems require lighting scene control. To create lighting scenes, luminaries generally are assigned to a plurality of groups. In addition, an end user preferably wants the option of controlling his or her luminaries. If installations having this type of flexibility are integrated into a building management system, there is also a need for simple check-back of operational status as we...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention relates to a system, method, and apparatus for minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) when an associated DALI compliant device is off or inactive. The invention provides a solution for reducing standby power in DALI by using a standby mode and an active mode. The power source for the DALI may be a high resistance voltage dropping resistor or a low power step down transformer. The DALI uses less current when in the standby mode, and the very low current requirements of the DALI draw minimal power from the AC line voltage power source even though the voltage drop across the voltage dropping resistor is substantial. The invention helps to minimize standby power in DALI and improve energy efficiency in building management systems.

Problems solved by technology

However, the DALI hardware interface requires a power source for monitoring address and control information on the DALI bus even when the associated ballast and power controller are off.

A separate power supply for each DALI hardware interface requires space and may amount to a significant percentage of the cost of the DALI hardware interface.

Also, having to continuously supply power to each DALI hardware interface amounts to a significant amount of power in a building having hundreds of light figures.

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