Patent ID: 8670956

Claim:
A method for monitoring the operating state of a lighting system, comprising: acquiring test data from a plurality of operating components of the lighting system at a plurality of different operating states of the lighting system, whereby a set of test data is acquired for each operating state of the lighting system; constructing a model of the lighting system using said plurality of test data sets; acquiring runtime data from the lighting system; and applying the runtime data to the model of the lighting system, wherein the model of the lighting system is operable to output operating state data responsive to input of operating data, whereby the operating state data indicates an operating health of the lighting system, wherein the step of acquiring test data includes selecting the plurality of operating components of the lighting system to include an illumination ballast unit comprising a processor, the illumination ballast unit having a first input coupled to a cabin inter communication data system for receiving commands for setting power delivered to at least one of a plurality of light emitting elements, a second input coupled to a power supply for receiving power and an output coupled to the at least one of the plurality of the light emitting elements, and includes selecting from a group of test data consisting of a command signal supplied to the first input, a current supplied to the second input, a voltage supplied at the second input, a temperature of the processor, a power consumption of the processor, and a temperature of the illumination ballast unit.