A Novel Constant Power Control Circuit for HID Electronic Ballast

This paper presents a constant power control circuit for a three-stage high-intensity discharge (HID) electronic ballast. The three-stage electronic ballast is composed of a boost pre-regulator to achieve a high power factor, a DC/DC buck converter to regulate lamp current with constant lamp power, and a full-bridge inverter to drive the HID lamp with a low-frequency ac squarewave current. The buck converter operating in current mode utilizes current sense level-shift technique to achieve constant power output. The proposed constant power control circuit is easily designed and implemented for the three-stage HID electronic ballast. Finally, a laboratory prototype of a 70 W HID electronic ballast is implemented. The measured results show that the proposed ballast can be applied for various HID lamps with low lamp power variation (less than 0.6%).     

Acoustic-resonance-free electronic ballast for automotive HID lamps

A novel cost-effective and acoustic-resonance-free electronic ballast used to drive automotive high intensity discharging (HID) lamps that utilise a constant lamp power control scheme is proposed. The presented ballast is comprised of a buck-boost flyback converter to provide negative DC voltages and a half-bridge-type inverter to supply the lamp with low-frequency, square-wave AC voltage/ current. Owing to its low-frequency operation, no acoustic resonance occurs on the automotive HID lamps. Design guidelines and experimental results are demonstrated for a 35 Wautomotive HID lamp prototype ballast operating at 400 Hz switching frequency with battery input DC voltage of 12 V.     

Novel Automotive High Intensity Discharge(HID) Lamps with Electronic Ballasts

A new scheme of automotive high intensity discharge(HID) lamps with electronic ballasts is proposed. The design of the proposed ballast and some experimental results are presented. The proposed scheme is consisted of the high frequency DC-DC converter and the low frequency DC-AC inverter. This system separates the input voltage of the ignitor from DC link voltage using auxiliary winding, then it could use the lower voltage rating power devices for HID lamp ballast system and reduce the size of HID lamp ballast. The proposed ballast controller using micro-controller unit(MCU) controls the frequency to operate the DC-DC converter in critical conduction mode, which reduces the noise of the circuit and improves the efficiency by 2%~4%.     

数模双环路HID安定器的设计

HID氙气灯必须工作在恒定功率条件下,通常采用功率误差检测环路来实现。在分析了35 W车用HID氙气灯工作特性和市场上HID氙气灯安定器设计特点的基础上,提出了一种新颖的HID安定器的设计方案,其特点是同时采用了数字和模拟两个功率误差检测环路。实验表明,采用以此结构设计的安定器既保证了很好的瞬态特性,又保证了进入稳态后输出功率的稳定性。     

Design and analysis of automotive high intensity discharge lamp ballast using micro controller unit

A new scheme of the automotive high intensity discharge (HID) lamp ballast systems is proposed. The proposed scheme is consisted of the high frequency DC-DC converter and the low frequency DC-AC inverter as same as conventional HID ballast system. However this system separates the input voltage of the ignitor from DC link voltage using auxiliary winding, which results in the use of the lower voltage rating power devices for HID lamp ballast system compared with conventional system. As a result, proposed system has a lower cost or a higher efficiency. For the improvement of the efficiency, the proposed ballast controller using micro-controller unit (MCU), controls the frequency to operate the DC-DC converter in critical conduction mode. This paper presents the design and analysis of the proposed ballast and some experimental results.     

Low-cost high power-density electronic ballast for automotive HIDlamp

A low-cost high-efficiency high power-density electronic ballast for 35 W automotive high intensity discharge (HID) is presented along with the results of theoretical computations and experimental tests. The ballast circuits is based on a 100 kHz resonant inverter, a half-wave rectifier and a 400 Hz operated square-wave inverter. The converter operates at zero turn on losses, nearly zero turn off losses, and at a reduced electromagnetic interference level. The ballast circuit is designed to prevent inappropriate operations due to the acoustic resonances. The lamp voltage waveform has limited dv/dt and no DC component contributing to a long operating life of the lamp. A breadboard of the electronic ballast was designed and experimentally tested on a 35 W lamp, for a DC input voltage ranging from 9 V to 16 V. The electronic ballast performs all the features required to turn-on, warm-up and drive at the steady state a 35 W HID lamp and operates at a maximum steady state efficiency η=84%,     

Novel Design of HID Lamp Electronic Ballast for Automotive Systems

This paper presents a high intensity discharge（HID） lamp for automotive illumination. A novel type of ballast for HID is proposed without an acoustic resonance. The system consists of high frequency DC/DC converter,DC/AC inverter（SLA2403M）, high voltage igniter and a microcontroller unit（MCU）. The proposed ballast controls the complex start-up process and constant power process by programming on the rnicrocontroller. It is verified that experimental results agree well with the calculated ones. The ballast features such functions as failure protection, line under-voltage, line over-voltage, output short circuit and disconnection protections.     

一种数字控制HID灯电子镇流器的研制

介绍了一种单片机数字控制车用前照明高强度气体放电灯（high intensity discharge，HID）电子镇流器。镇流器系统主要由高频DC／DC开关电源、DC／AC逆变器、高压启动电路和单片机控制电路组成。它通过单片机软件编程，实现精确的数字控制，确保HID灯启动复杂的时序控制和恒功率控制过程，而且可以很好地处理各种故障模式，具有输入过压／欠压保护，输入反接保护，输出短路、开路保护等功能。     

A high-frequency electronic ballast for HID lamps based on aλ/4-long distributed constant line

A novel type of solid-state ballast, which operates in the megahertz-range frequency, is presented in this paper. A circuit composed of a voltage-source half-bridge inverter, a distributed constant line and a parallel LC resonant circuit has been developed for this purpose. The high-intensity discharge (HID) lamp is connected to the output terminal of the inverter through the distributed constant line. Here, since the length of the line is adjusted to 1/4 of the propagation wavelength λ (λ/4 condition), the output voltage of the voltage-source inverter can be converted to a current source on the load side. Therefore, the ballast can supply not only high voltage to the HID lamp for initiating discharge, but also stable current to it during discharge condition. The modification of the proposed circuit is also proposed in order to expand the operating frequency without increasing the undesirable harmonic current. The experimental results from a prototype system verify the theoretical procedure     

35 W集成控制型HID镇流器的设计

设计了一种基于集成芯片控制的HID灯镇流器。该镇流器集成了对恒功率、电流采样、温度补偿、斜坡补偿部分的控制,同时改进了采样电路,有效提高了调制信号的占空比。镇流器电路拓扑结构简单,降低了成本,效率达到80.3%,可靠性高,无声谐振现象。     

Design and Implementation of a Single-Stage High-Frequency HID Lamp Electronic Ballast

We present a single-stage electronic ballast with a high power factor feature for driving high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps. A new frequency-modulation technique is proposed to eliminate the acoustic resonance problem in HID lamps under high-frequency operation. The proposed method has the merits of simple circuit and low cost; thus, it is suitable for use in commercial applications. The conducted emission caused by the high-frequency electronic ballast can be also effectively reduced. The operating principles and design considerations of the proposed electronic ballast are analyzed and discussed in detail. A 35-W laboratory prototype is designed and implemented. Simulation and experimental waveforms are given to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. The results are satisfactory.     

Electronic Ballast Control IC With Digital Phase Control and Lamp Current Regulation

A digital control architecture is presented for electronic ballasts that provides a phase sweep for reliable, soft lamp ignition and a smooth transition to lamp current regulation mode. The controller is based on an inner phase loop for fast regulation of the resonant tank operating point and an outer current loop for lamp current regulation. The inner loop operates on a simple digital control law that computes the required gate timing relative to the inductor current positive zero crossing. Phase control provides reliable drive of the resonant converter in the presence of large dynamic changes in the load impedance during lamp ignition and warm up and natural tracking of component variations with temperature and time. The primarily digital approach provides programmability for broad application, insensitivity to process and temperature variations, realization in low cost CMOS processes and few external components. Experimental results are presented for an integrated ballast controller fabricated in a 0.8 mum CMOS process used in a 400 W, 150 kHz HID electronic ballast.     

An analysis into the dimming control and characteristic of discharge lamps

This paper provides some qualitative insights into, and a quantitative analysis of, the interrelationship between the ballast circuit parameters and the physical processes inside the lamp arc under dimming conditions. Qualitative explanation is supported by experimental observations on the dimming characteristics of fluorescent and high-intensity-discharge (HID) lamps. This understanding enables engineers to choose the right combination of dimming technique and electronic ballast topology for different types of discharge lamps. Verified by experiments, the fundamental approximation technique is used to characterize the frequency-control and voltage-control dimming technique for series-loaded and parallel-load resonant circuits.     

Small-signal analysis of a low-cost power control for LCC series-parallel inverters with resonant current mode control for HID lamps

In this paper, a low-cost power control for LCC series-parallel inverters with resonant current mode control for high intensity discharge (HID) lamps is presented. These resonant inverters require controlling the power supplied to the lamp in order to avoid exceeding the maximum lamp power recommended by the lamp manufacturer. The classical control method measures the lamp voltage and current and they are multiplied analogically, obtaining the lamp power consumption measure. This control circuitry results very complex due to the lamp voltage and current wide variations range during ignition and discharge processes. Assuming a regulated input dc voltage (bus voltage) provided by the power factor correction (PFC) pre-regulator and an inverter constant efficiency along the lamp aging, the lamp power consumption may be estimated and regulated properly measuring the inverter average input current. Also, the small-signal analysis performed allows obtaining the small-signal resonant inverter input impedance and studying the connection stability between PFC pre-regulator and inverter. The inverter small-signal analysis has been performed and an electronic ballast prototype for 250-W HPS lamps has been implemented and tested verifying the low-cost lamp power control method proposed.     

Analysis and experimental results of a single-stagehigh-power-factor electronic ballast based on flyback converter

A new single-stage high-power-factor electronic ballast based on a flyback converter is presented in this paper. The ballast is able to supply a fluorescent lamp assuring a high-input power factor for the utility line. Other features are lamp power regulation against line voltage variations and low lamp current crest factor, both assuring long lamp life. The ballast is analyzed at steady-state operation, and design equations and characteristics are obtained. Also, a procedure for the ballast design is presented. Finally, simulation and experimental results from a laboratory prototype are shown     

New charge pump power-factor-correction electronic ballast with awide range of line input voltage

A new charge pump power-factor-correction (CPPFC) electronic ballast with a wide range of line input voltage is proposed in this paper. Circuit derivation and DC-bus voltage stress at start-up mode are discussed. The average lamp current control with switching frequency modulation is developed to achieve constant lamp power operation and low-crest factor. The proposed CPPFC electronic ballast is analyzed, implemented, and evaluated. It features continuous line input current, low total harmonic distortion (THD), constant lamp power operation, low-crest factor, and less switching current stress with low-DC-bus voltage stress for the line voltages from 180 to 265 V     

Analysis and design of a high power factor, single-stage electronic ballast for high-intensity discharge lamps

This paper proposes a single-stage electronic ballast for high-intensity discharge lamps. The ballast consists of the integration of a boost converter in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) and a full-bridge LCC resonant inverter. The boost semi-stage working in DCM functions as a power factor corrector and the inverter semi-stage operated above resonance is employed to drive the lamp. The sine-wave approximation is used to design the inverter at steady-state. The proposed electronic ballast can save a controller, reduce size and possibly increase system reliability compared to conventional two-stage system. The proposed ballast is analyzed, simulated and experimentally verified with a 125 W HPS lamp.     

Genetic algorithm optimised high-intensity-discharge lamp model

Based on the physical laws of plasma arc discharge, a simple and user-friendly high-intensity-discharge (HID) lamp model optimised by genetic algorithms has been developed. The proposed model can predict lamp terminal characteristics accurately for both low and high frequency operation. All model parameters can be obtained from simple terminal measurements of the HID lamps without manufacturers' confidential data. The proposed model provides a powerful tool for simulating the electrical behaviour of the HID lamps     

Development of a distributive control scheme for fluorescent lighting based on LonWorks technology

In this paper, a new distributive control system for indoor fluorescent lighting based on LonWorks technology is presented. The system features the following elements: microprocessor-controlled fluorescent lamp electronic ballast, communication system using the power line as communication media, and control software for Windows 95 environment. The electronic ballast has been especially designed to be operated under the proposed distributive control system. Thus, it features high-input power factor, high-frequency lamp supply, lamp power regulation against line voltage variations, dimming capability, and lamp failure detection. With this scheme, a low-cost distributive control system for lighting applications has been achieved, allowing energy and maintenance savings and increase in the reliability of the fluorescent lighting systems.     

基于IR2155 的高压钠灯电子镇流器设计

本文针对高压钠灯电子镇流器设计中，开关损耗大、驱动复杂、启动速度慢等问题，提出一种高性能高压钠灯用电子镇流器电路。该电路成功的应用了L6560校正芯片和IR2155专用半桥驱动芯片，即简化了传统的驱动电路，又实现了变频调节，提高了启动速度，保证了灯功率的稳定。通过频率和辅助元件的设置，半桥逆变电路可工作在软开关状态。同时设计出可靠的、能产生3．5kV电压的启动电路，保证灯在热灯熄灭时，切断触发脉冲，而后自动恢复启动状态。实验结果表明该镇流器性能优良，功率因数大于0．99，启动时间小于2.4min。