Patent ID: 7508142

Claim:
A ballast control circuit for driving at least one gas discharge lamp comprises: a high side driver operable to provide a high side driving signal to a high side switch of a half bridge controlled by the ballast control circuit, wherein the high side driving signal indicates a preferred duty cycle for the high side switch; a low side driver operable to provide a low side driving signal to a low side switch of the half bridge, wherein the low side driving signal indicates a preferred duty cycle for the low side switch; a dead time control circuit operable to provide a dead time signal that indicates a dead time during which both the high side and low side switches are turned OFF, wherein the dead time is set based on a value of an external dead time resistor; and dimming circuitry operable to selectively dim the at least one gas discharge lamp, wherein the dimming circuitry dims the at least one gas discharge lamp based on a comparison between a dimming input and a voltage at a first timing pin of the ballast control circuit.