Patent ID: 6734641
Filing Date: 2004-05-11
Classification: H02M,H05B,Y02B,Y10S

Abstract:
A device for turning on light with a communication function, comprising:an inverter generating a high-frequency current from a commercial AC voltage supplied from a lamp line and supplying the current to a discharge tube to be lighted; and a communication interface communicating with external units via the lamp line, wherein said inverter comprises: DC voltage generating means for generating a DC voltage from the commercial AC voltage supplied from the lamp line; switching means for switching the generated DC voltage and for supplying the high-frequency current to said discharge tube via a resonance circuit including a capacitor connected in parallel with said discharge tube; and driving circuit means for controlling the switching of said switching means based on a signal supplied from external sources, and wherein said communication interface comprises: filter means for extracting from the commercial AC voltage an analog signal including lighting control information and superposed on the commercial AC voltage; means for generating a digital control signal sending at least one of switching start information, switching stop information, and switching frequency information to said driving circuit means based on information from said filter means; and lighting control means for sending the digital control signal to said driving circuit means.