Resonate driver for solid state light sources

A method of driving a solid state light source, comprising:

• receiving an AC input voltage;
• converting, within a rectifier circuit, the received AC input voltage to an unregulated DC voltage;
• generating a resonate AC signal within an inverter circuit from the unregulated DC voltage, wherein generating comprises:
• receiving a first gate control signal and a second gate control signal;
• and
• opening and closing a first switch and a second switch of the inverter circuit based on the received first gate control signal and the received second gate control signal, respectively;
• controlling the generation of the resonate AC signal within the inverter circuit in response to a first signal representative of the unregulated DC voltage and a second signal representative of current through the inverter circuit;
• coupling the resonate AC signal to a primary winding and a secondary winding of a transformer, wherein the transformer is connected to the inverter circuit;
• converting the coupled resonate AC signal to a regulated DC output;
• and
• outputting, via an output stage circuit, the regulated DC output to drive the solid state light source.

A solid state light source assembly comprising:

• a housing;
• a solid state light source disposed within the housing;
• and
• a driver circuit disposed within the housing, the driver circuit comprising:
• a rectifier circuit configured to receive an AC input voltage and provide an unregulated DC voltage;
• an inverter circuit having a first and a second switch, the inverter circuit further configured to receive a first and a second gate control signal to open and close the first and the second switch, respectively, to generate a resonate AC signal from the unregulated DC voltage;
• a transformer comprising:
• a primary winding coupled to the inverter circuit;
• a secondary winding configured to be coupled, through an output stage circuit, to the solid state light source;
• and
• a feedback winding;
• a power factor correction circuit configured to control the inverter circuit in response to a first signal representative of the unregulated DC voltage and a second signal representative of current through the inverter circuit;
• and
• a frequency control circuit configured to generate the first and the second gate control signals to control a switching frequency of the inverter circuit in response to a third signal representative of current though the output stage circuit and a fourth signal representative of current through the feedback winding.