Software controlled electronic dimming ballast

An electronic dimming ballast comprising:

• an inverter circuit for supplying current to a lamp;
• and
• a dimming control circuit comprising a controller circuit, a dimming control signal input that receives a dimming control signal representative of the desired lamp dimming level, a lamp dimming level feedback signal input that receives a lamp dimming level feedback signal representative of an existing lamp dimming level, and an inverter control signal output that outputs an inverter control signal having a pulse width and frequency that causes the inverter circuit to supply the lamp with sufficient current to cause the lamp to have a desired lamp dimming level;
• the controller circuit comprising lamp dimming level control software functional to cause the dimming control circuit to incrementally modulate the pulse width and frequency of the inverter control signal based on the dimming control signal and the lamp dimming level feedback signal.