Patent ID: 8410630

Claim:
A powerline communication control system for controlling a lighting fixture, comprising: a master controller, comprising: a conventional dimmer interface configured to interconnect with a plurality of different conventional dimmer controllers; a lighting control processor in communication with the dimmer interface, the lighting control processor generates a lighting unit command output in a lighting unit system command format in response to an indication of a user-adjusted setting of any interconnected plurality of different conventional dimmer controllers received from the conventional dimmer interface; and a power distribution system interface in communication with the lighting control processor and configured to interconnect with a power distribution system, the power distribution system interface superimposes the lighting unit system command output onto the power distribution system when connected thereto; and a plurality of lighting fixture controllers, each controller comprising: a command receiving interface configured to interconnect with the power distribution system, the command receiving interface separates the lighting unit system command output from the power distribution system when connected thereto; a slave control processor in communication with the command receiving interface and converts the received lighting unit system command output into a corresponding lighting unit control command; and a lighting unit interface for providing the lighting unit control command to its respective lighting unit to control the respective lighting unit in response to the user-adjusted setting of any one of the interconnected conventional dimmers.