Method and system for operating a gas discharge lamp

Abstract

In an application of a gas discharge lamp (La) arranged at a relatively large distance from its driving lamp driver circuit, parasitic capacitances (CGR,1, CGR,2) between the wiring (W1, W2) and ground may result in a current flowing to other parts of the lamp driver circuit, which may result in incorrect operation of the lamp driver circuit. In particular, if the gas discharge lamp is ignited using a resonant circuit for generating a relatively high ignition voltage such incorrect operation may result. In accordance with the present invention, a first alternating voltage is generated at a first lamp terminal (O1) and a second alternating voltage is generated at a second lamp terminal (O2), such that the voltage across the lamp terminals is equal to the sum of the first and the second alternating voltages. Thereto, a resonant inductance of the resonant circuit is embodied as a first and a second inductor (L1a, L1b), each coupled to a respective lamp terminal of the gas discharge lamp.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.