Patent ID: 8624523

Claim:
A control apparatus adapted for use with a dimmer, the dimmer comprising a variable impedance and an interface operable to change the variable impedance, the variable impedance in series with a capacitor coupled between a connection node and a reference ground, the control apparatus comprising: a signal generation circuit coupled to the dimmer at the connection node and operable to generate an output signal whose period is dictated at least in part by the impedance of the variable impedance; a lighting controller operable: to receive the output signal from the signal generation circuit; detect a first period of the output signal when the interface of the dimmer is adjusted to a first extreme value by a user; detect a second period of the output signal when the interface of the dimmer is adjusted to a second extreme value by a user; and control an aspect of light output from a lighting apparatus based at least partially on the period of the output signal relative to the first and second periods.