# US 11,122,657 B2 · High performance dimming based on dimmer slew-rate > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,122,657 B2 - Document ID: US11122657B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/905,407 - Filed: 2020-06-18 - Published: 2020-12-31 - Granted: 2021-09-14 - Earliest claimed: 2019-06-26 - Assignees: Err Power, LLC - Applicants: Erp Power, LLC - Inventors: Steven C. Krattiger - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11122657B2 ## CPC - H05B 45/325: Pulse-width modulation [PWM] - H05B 45/10: Controlling the intensity of the light - H05B 47/16: by timing means - Y02B 20/40: Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection - H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS ## Abstract A method of controlling a power supply electrically coupled to a dimmer, the method including receiving a plurality of pulse-width-modulated (PWM) pulses corresponding to one or more dimmer levels of the dimmer, generating a first sample value and a second sample value of a plurality of sample values corresponding to duty cycles of the plurality of PWM pulses, determining a rate of change of the one or more dimmer levels based on the first and second sample values, comparing the rate of change with a threshold value to identify a mode of operation of the power supply, and generating a control signal for transmission to the power supply based on the identified mode of operation. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of controlling a power supply electrically coupled to a dimmer, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of pulse-width-modulated (PWM) pulses corresponding to one or more dimmer levels of the dimmer; generating a first sample value and a second sample value of a plurality of sample values corresponding to duty cycles of the plurality of PWM pulses; determining a rate of change of the one or more dimmer levels based on the first and second sample values; comparing the rate of change with a threshold value to identify a mode of operation of the power supply; and generating a control signal for transmission to the power supply based on the identified mode of operation. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a modified AC input signal from the dimmer; and generating a PWM signal based on the modified AC input signal, the PWM signal comprising the plurality of PWM pulses. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the duty cycles of the plurality of PWM pulses corresponds to the one or more dimmer levels. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold value is a value from 3% to 7.5% of a maximum dimmer level per millisecond. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing the rate of change with the threshold value comprises: determining that an absolute value of the rate of change is less than or equal to the threshold value; and identifying the mode of operation as a slow-transition mode. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the generating the control signal comprises: setting a step-rate of the control signal to a first value. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the first value is from 10 steps/mS to 100 steps/mS. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing the rate of change with the threshold value comprises: determining that an absolute value of the rate of change is greater than the threshold value; and identifying the mode of operation as a rapid-response mode. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the generating the control signal comprises: setting a step-rate of the control signal to a second value. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the second value is from 500 steps/mS to 2000 steps/mS. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the control signal comprises a plurality of PWM control pulses, and wherein the generating the control signal comprises: identifying a slew-rate corresponding to the identified mode of operation; determining duty cycles of the plurality of PWM control pulses based on the slew-rate and the plurality of sample values; and generating the plurality of PWM pulses with the determined duty cycles. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the power supply is configured to adjust a light intensity of a light source based on the control signal. ### Claim 13 A power supply controller coupled to a power supply, the power supply controller comprising: a processor; and a processor memory local to the processor, wherein the processor memory has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform: receiving a plurality of pulse-width-modulated (PWM) pulses corresponding to one or more dimmer levels; generating a first sample value and a second sample value of a plurality of sample values corresponding to duty cycles of the plurality of PWM pulses; determining a rate of change of the one or more dimmer levels based on the first and second sample values; comparing the rate of change with a threshold value to identify a mode of operation of the power supply; and generating a control signal for transmission to the power supply based on the identified mode of operation. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The power supply controller of claim 13, wherein the threshold value is a value from 3% to 7.5% of a maximum dimmer level per millisecond. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The power supply controller of claim 13, wherein the comparing the rate of change with the threshold value comprises: determining that an absolute value of the rate of change is less than or equal to the threshold value; and identifying the mode of operation as a slow-transition mode. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The power supply controller of claim 15, wherein the generating the control signal comprises: setting a step-rate of the control signal to a first value. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The power supply controller of claim 13, wherein the comparing the rate of change with the threshold value comprises: determining that an absolute value of the rate of change is greater than the threshold value; and identifying the mode of operation as a rapid-response mode. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The power supply controller of claim 17, wherein the generating the control signal comprises: setting a step-rate of the control signal to a second value. ### Claim 19 A power supply system coupled to a dimmer and a light source, the power supply system comprising: a pulse-width-modulated (PWM) converter configured to receive a modified AC input signal from the dimmer, and to generate a PWM signal based on the modified AC input signal, the PWM signal comprising a plurality of PWM pulses; and a power supply controller is configured to perform: receiving a plurality of PWM pulses corresponding to one or more dimmer levels of the dimmer; generating a first sample value and a second sample value of a plurality of sample values corresponding to duty cycles of the plurality of PWM pulses; determining a rate of change of the one or more dimmer levels based on the first and second sample values; comparing the rate of change with a threshold value to identify a mode of operation of the power supply system; and generating a control signal based on the identified mode of operation. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The power supply system of claim 19, further comprising: a power supply configured to drive the light source based on the control signal.