Patent ID: 7088059

Claim:
An illumination control circuit comprising: a controlling module having one or more analog output signals producing output control voltages each individually variable within a range of values; one or more intensity modules receiving said analog output signals of said controlling module to control one or more illumination sources; wherein said intensity modules are controlled according to said analog output signals of said controlling module to vary the intensity of said illumination sources in proportion to the voltage level of said analog output signals, and additionally in response to a pulsing of said analog output signals between any two or more discrete voltage levels; and wherein said controlling module comprises: a microcontroller having an input/output port and one or more output signals; said output signals of said microcontroller each having a first state and a second state; one or more digital-to-analog converters each having as an input the input/output port from said microcontroller, and each having an output signal; one or more switching devices each having as a first input the output signal from one of said digital-to-analog converters and each having as a second input one of said output signals from said microcontroller, and each having an analog output signal; wherein each of said analog output signals from each of said switching devices is controlled according to the output signal from one of said digital-to-analog converters when the corresponding output signal of said microcontroller is in its first state, and each of said analog output signals is connected to ground when the corresponding output signal of said microcontroller is in its second state.