LOW LOSS INPUT CHANNEL DETECTION DEVICE FOR A DIRECT CURRENT POWERED LIGHTING SYSTEM

摘要

A device which includes a plurality of input channels selectively connected tothe power source (102) for providingcurrent to the lamp. For each input channel, the device includes acorresponding current sensing component (202, 204) connectedto the input channel, and a corresponding bypass switch (206, 208) connectedin parallel with the current sensing component.Each current sensing component produces a measurable signal as a function ofcurrent that is provided by the correspondinginput channel. The device includes a controller (302) connected to the currentsensing components and the bypass switches. Thecontroller identifies the input channel that is providing current to the lampas a function of the measurable signals and controls thebypass switches based on the identified input channel. Particularly, thecontroller operates each bypass switch in a closed modewhen the corresponding input channel is the identified channel.