Lighting control device for controlling dimming, lighting device including a control device, and method of controlling lighting

A lighting control circuit comprising:

• means for generating a first voltage level signal corresponding to a selected one of at least two different types of dimming signals, the types of dimming signals comprising at least two of an alternating current (AC) phase cut dimming signal, a direct current (DC) voltage level dimming signal or a pulse-width modulated (PWM) dimming signal;
• means for generating a waveform generator periodic waveform;
• and
• means for comparing the waveform generator periodic waveform with the first voltage level signal to generate a comparator waveform having a comparator duty cycle corresponding to a dimming level of the selected one of at least two different types of dimming signals and a frequency corresponding to a frequency of the waveform generator periodic waveform.

A method of controlling lighting, comprising:

• generating a first voltage level signal based on a selected one of at least two different types of dimming signals, the types of dimming signals comprising at least two of an alternating current (AC) phase cut dimming signal, a direct current (DC) voltage level dimming signal or a pulse-width modulated (PWM) dimming signal;
• generating a waveform generator periodic waveform;
• and
• comparing the waveform generator periodic wavefonn with the first voltage level signal to generate a comparator waveform having a comparator duty cycle corresponding to a dimming level of the one of the at least two different input dimming signals and a frequency corresponding to a frequency of the waveform generator periodic waveform.

A lighting control circuit comprising:

• a dimming level detection circuit,
• a waveform generator;
• and
• a comparator circuit,
• the dimming level detection circuit configured to generate voltage level signals based on received input dimming signals of at least two types selected from among (1) phase cut AC type dimming signals, (2) voltage level type dimming signals and (3) PWM type dimming signals,
• the waveform generator configured to output a waveform generator periodic waveform, and
• the comparator circuit configured to generate a comparator waveform having (a) a comparator duty cycle based on a proportion of time during which an instantaneous voltage of the voltage level signals exceeds an instantaneous voltage level of the waveform generator periodic waveform, and (b) a frequency corresponding to a frequency of the waveform generator periodic waveform.