EP4642163A1

EP4642163A1 - Apparatus and method for dimming

Info

Publication number: EP4642163A1
Application number: EP25305287.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kun Xiong; Qiming YANG; Huayu Li; Jie Fu; Shangqing LIAO
Original assignee: Schneider Electric Industries SAS
Current assignee: Schneider Electric Industries SAS
Priority date: 2024-04-26
Filing date: 2025-03-04
Publication date: 2025-10-29
Also published as: CN120857334A

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure provide an apparatus and method for dimming. The apparatus includes an on-off control circuit capable of generating a turn-on control signal; and a plurality of dimmers, each dimmer including a dimming control unit, a dimming execution unit, a detection unit and a switch unit, the dimming control unit being coupled to the on-off control circuit to receive the turn-on control signal, the dimming execution unit being connected to the dimming control unit and a live wire, the detection unit being connected to the dimming execution unit and the dimming control unit and being capable of detecting a voltage of the live wire and generating a turn-on indication signal, the switch unit being connected to the live wire, a load and the dimming control unit, the dimming control unit being capable of controlling the switch unit and the dimming execution unit to be turned on.

Description

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of electrical equipment, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for dimming.

BACKGROUND

Currently, a dimmer used for a KNX bus has control manners such as multi-channel and single-channel. The single-channel control manner can control a load with relatively large power, but can only control one group of loads. Although the multi-channel control manner can control multiple groups of loads, power of each group of loads is relatively small. However, in different application scenarios, power of a load that needs to be controlled is unable to be predicted. It can be seen that existing dimming control method is not flexible enough, which may cause mismatch between power of the dimmer of one or more channels and the power of the load. It is therefore desirable to optimize the design.

SUMMARY

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for dimming to at least partially solve the above problems.
In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus for dimming, including: an on-off control circuit connected to a power supply and capable of generating a turn-on control signal; and a plurality of dimmers, each dimmer including a dimming control unit, a dimming execution unit, a detection unit and a switch unit, the dimming control unit being coupled to the on-off control circuit to receive the turn-on control signal, the dimming execution unit being connected to the dimming control unit and a live wire, the detection unit being connected to the dimming execution unit and the dimming control unit, the detection unit being capable of detecting a voltage of the live wire and generating a turn-on indication signal in response to that a magnitude of the voltage of the live wire exceeds a predetermined threshold, the switch unit being connected to the live wire, a load and the dimming control unit, the dimming control unit being capable of controlling the switch unit and the dimming execution unit to be turned on based on the turn-on control signal and the turn-on indication signal, so that a voltage on the live wire is delivered to the load.
According to the apparatus provided by embodiments of the present disclosure, on and off of the plurality of dimmers can be reliably controlled by arranging the on-off control circuit, each dimmer can reliably control on and off of the dimming execution unit by arranging the dimming control unit, and in response to that the magnitude of the voltage of the live wire exceeds the predetermined threshold, the turn-on indication signal can be generated by arranging the detection unit, so that the dimming control unit controls the switch unit and the dimming execution unit to be sequentially turned on, and then each dimmer simultaneously delivers the voltage on the live wire to the load, so that the plurality of dimmers can jointly control a group of loads with relatively large power.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes a plurality of isolators, an end of each isolator is connected to the on-off control circuit and the other end is connected to one of the plurality of dimmers. In such embodiments, by arranging the isolators between the on-off control circuit and the plurality of dimmers, an electrical signal of the on-off control circuit and electrical signals between the plurality of dimmers can be reliably isolated.
In some embodiments, the dimming control unit of each dimmer is connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of isolators, and the dimming control unit is capable of generating an on-off indication signal for indicating whether the switch unit and the dimming execution unit are turned on or off. In such embodiments, the on-off control circuit can determine an on-off state of each dimmer based on the on-off indication signal.
In some embodiments, the on-off control circuit includes: a communication unit connected to the power supply and capable of generating a communication signal; an on-off control unit connected to the communication unit and capable of generating the turn-on control signal based on the communication signal; and an AND gate circuit, an output end of the AND gate circuit being connected to the on-off control unit and an input end of the AND gate circuit being connected to the plurality of dimmers, the AND gate circuit being capable of receiving a plurality of on-off indication signals and generating a status indication signal based on the plurality of on-off indication signals. In such embodiments, by adopting the AND gate circuit, the on-off indication signals generated by the plurality of dimmers can be received, so that the on-off control circuit can simultaneously detect on-off states of the plurality of dimmers.
In some embodiments, the dimming execution unit includes a plurality of driving units connected to the corresponding dimming control unit, and being capable of generating a driving signal under control of the dimming control unit. In such embodiments, by adopting the driving units, the driving signal can be reliably generated under the control of the dimming control unit.
In some embodiments, the dimming execution unit further includes a plurality of MOS transistors connected in series between the live wire and the switch unit, a gate of each MOS transistor is connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of driving units, and each MOS transistor is capable of being turned on and off under control of the driving signal. In such embodiments, the MOS transistors can be reliably turned on and off under the control of the driving signal.
In some embodiments, the number of the plurality of driving units is two, and the number of the plurality of MOS transistors is two.
In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for dimming, including: generating a turn-on control signal by an on-off control circuit; receiving the turn-on control signal by a dimming control unit of a dimmer; detecting a voltage of a live wire by a detection unit of the dimmer and generating a turn-on indication signal in response to that a magnitude of the voltage of the live wire exceeds a predetermined threshold; and controlling, by the dimming control unit of the dimmer, a switch unit and a dimming execution unit to be turned on based on the turn-on control signal and the turn-on indication signal, so that a voltage on the live wire is delivered to a load.
In some embodiments, the method further includes: generating, by the dimming control unit, an on-off indication signal for indicating whether the switch unit and the dimming execution unit are turned on or off.
In some embodiments, generating the turn-on control signal by the on-off control circuit includes: generating a communication signal by a communication unit; generating, by an on-off control unit, the turn-on control signal based on the communication signal; and receiving a plurality of on-off indication signals by an AND gate circuit and generating a status indication signal based on the plurality of on-off indication signals.
In some embodiments, the method further includes: generating a driving signal by a plurality of driving units under control of the dimming control unit.
In some embodiments, the method further includes: causing each of a plurality of MOS transistors to be turned on and off under control of the driving signal.
In some embodiments, the number of the plurality of driving units is two, and the number of the plurality of MOS transistors is two.
In some embodiments, the number of dimmers is plural, and the dimming control unit of a plurality of dimmers is capable of synchronously controlling the corresponding switch unit and the dimming execution unit to be turned on based on the turn-on control signal and the turn-on indication signal, so that the voltage on the live wire is delivered to the load.
It should be understood that content described in the summary is not intended to limit key features or important features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to limit a scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will be readily understood from following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent with reference to following detailed description taken in conjunction with drawings. In the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for dimming according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic circuit diagram of an apparatus for dimming according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a process of dimming according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method for dimming according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Description of Reference Numerals:

10	on-off control circuit;	20	dimmer;
21	dimming control unit;	22	dimming execution unit;
23	detection unit;	24	switch unit;
30	isolator;	11	communication unit;
12	on-off control unit;	13	AND gate circuit;
221	driving unit;	222	MOS transistor;
100	load;	200	live wire.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to drawings. Although embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to make the present disclosure more thorough and complete, and can fully convey a scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.
As used herein, the term "including" and variations thereof means open inclusive, i.e., "including but not limited to". Unless specifically stated, the term "or" means "and/or". The term "based on" means "based at least in part on". The terms "one example embodiment" and "an example embodiment" mean "at least one example embodiment". The term "another embodiment" means "at least one further embodiment". The terms "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or identical objects.
As described above, the existing dimming control method is not flexible enough, which may cause mismatch between the power of the dimmer of one or more channels and the power of the load. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for dimming, in this solution, on and off of a plurality of dimmers can be reliably controlled by arranging an on-off control circuit, each dimmer can reliably control on and off of a dimming execution unit by arranging a dimming control unit, and in response to that a magnitude of a voltage of a live wire exceeds a predetermined threshold, a turn-on indication signal can be generated by arranging a detection unit, so that the dimming control unit controls a switch unit and the dimming execution unit to be sequentially turned on, and then each dimmer simultaneously delivers a voltage on the live wire to a load, so that the plurality of dimmers can jointly control a group of loads with relatively large power. Hereinafter, the principles of the present disclosure will be described in conjunction with FIGS. 1 to 4.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for dimming according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus described herein generally includes an on-off control circuit 10 and a plurality of dimmers 20. The plurality of dimmers 20 are connected to a load 100 and a live wire 200 to regulate an operating state of the load 100 with a voltage on the live wire 200. The on-off control circuit 10 is connected to the plurality of dimmers 20 and a power supply, and is capable of generating a turn-on control signal to control each of the plurality of dimmers 20 to be turned on.
FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic circuit diagram of an apparatus for dimming according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the plurality of dimmers 20 includes a dimming control unit 21, a dimming execution unit 22, a detection unit 23, and a switch unit 24. The dimming control unit 21 is coupled to the on-off control circuit 10 to receive the turn-on control signal. The dimming execution unit 22 is connected to the dimming control unit 21 and the live wire 200. The detection unit 23 is connected to the dimming execution unit 22 and the dimming control unit 21. The detection unit 23 can detect a voltage of the live wire 200 and can generate a turn-on indication signal in response to that a magnitude of the voltage of the live wire 200 exceeds a predetermined threshold. The switch unit 24 is connected to the live wire 200, the load 100 and the dimming control unit 21. The dimming control unit 21 can control the switch unit 24 and the dimming execution unit 22 to be turned on based on the turn-on control signal and the turn-on indication signal, so that the voltage on the live wire 200 is delivered to the load 100.
In an embodiment, in response to that the magnitude of the voltage of the live wire 200 is greater than zero, the detection unit 23 generates the turn-on indication signal, so that the dimming control unit 21 controls the switch unit 24 and the dimming execution unit 22 to be sequentially turned on at this time point. In this way, the switch unit 24 can be turned on before the live wire 200 is turned on, so that no current passes through when a switch contact of the switch unit 24 is closed, thereby protecting the switch contact of the switch unit 24, and improving reliability of turn-on of circuit.
In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of dimmers 20 may be connected to the same live wire 200. In response to that the detection unit 23 of each dimmer 20 detects that the magnitude of the voltage of the live wire 200 exceeds the predetermined threshold, the turn-on indication signal can be simultaneously generated, so that the dimming control unit 21 of each dimmer 20 controls the switch unit 24 and the dimming execution unit 22 to be turned on sequentially at this time point. In this way, the plurality of dimmers 20 can be turned on at the same time point to synchronously deliver a voltage on the live wire 200 to the load 100, thereby jointly powering the same group of loads 100 with relatively large power.
In an embodiment, the on-off control circuit 10 may generate a turn-off control signal. The dimming control unit 21 of each dimmer 20 can control the dimming execution unit 22 and the switch unit 24 to be sequentially turned off in response to receiving the turn-off control signal. In this way, the switch unit 24 can be turned off after a connection with the live wire 200 is disconnected, so that no current passes through when the switch contact of the switch unit 24 is disconnected, thereby protecting the switch contact of the switch unit 24, and improving reliability of turn-off of the circuit.
In an embodiment, the on-off control circuit 10 may provide the turn-on control signal and the turn-off control signal to the plurality of dimmers 20 in a fixed order, so that the plurality of dimmers 20 can power the load 100 based on a fixed timing sequence. The number and duration of the turn-on control signal and the turn-off control signal may be determined according to actual working requirements of the load 100, which is not limited in embodiments of the present disclosure.
In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus may further include a plurality of isolators 30. An end of each isolator 30 is connected to the on-off control circuit 10 and the other end is connected to one of the plurality of dimmers 20. By adopting the isolators, an electrical signal of the on-off control circuit and electrical signals between the plurality of dimmers can be reliably isolated, and stability of electrical signal transmission is improved. It should be understood that, based on teachings given in the present disclosure, those of ordinary skill in the art may conceive of any type of isolator to implement the foregoing functions, and these implementations all fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
With continued reference to FIG. 2, in an embodiment, the dimming control unit 21 of each dimmer 20 is connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of isolators 30. The dimming control unit 21 is capable of generating an on-off indication signal for indicating whether the switch unit 24 and the dimming execution unit 22 are turned on or off. In this way, the on-off control circuit can determine an on-off state of each dimmer based on the on-off indication signal.
In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the on-off control circuit 10 may include a communication unit 11, an on-off control unit 12, and an AND gate circuit 13. The communication unit 11 is connected to a power supply and is capable of generating a communication signal. The on-off control unit 12 is connected to the communication unit 11 and is capable of generating the turn-on control signal or the turn-off control signal based on the communication signal. An output end of the AND gate circuit 13 is connected to the on-off control unit 12 and an input end of the AND gate circuit 13 is connected to the plurality of dimmers 20. The AND gate circuit 13 is capable of receiving a plurality of on-off indication signals and generating a status indication signal based on the plurality of on-off indication signals. In an embodiment, the communication unit 11 may be communicatively connected to an external line to transmit and receive communication signals to communicate with the external line based on a predetermined communication protocol. For example, the communication unit 11 may be connected to a KNX bus and communicate with the KNX bus based on a KNX protocol. It should be understood that the communication unit 11 may be connected to any other type of external line, or may communicate based on any communication protocol, which is not limited in embodiments of the present disclosure.
In an embodiment, the on-off control unit 12 may adopt a microcontroller unit (MCU) to reliably provide the turn-on control signal or the turn-off control signal for the plurality of dimmers 20. It should be understood that, based on the teachings given by the present disclosure, those of ordinary skill in the art may conceive of any type of on-off control unit to implement the foregoing functions, and these implementations all fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
With continued reference to FIG. 2, in an embodiment, the dimming execution unit 22 may include a plurality of driving units 221 and a plurality of MOS transistors 222. The plurality of driving units 221 are connected to the corresponding dimming control unit 21. The plurality of driving units 221 can generate a driving signal under control of the dimming control unit 21. The plurality of MOS transistors 222 are connected in series between the live wire 200 and the switch unit 24. A gate of each of the plurality of MOS transistors 222 is connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of driving units 221. Each MOS transistor 222 is capable of being turned on and off under control of the driving signal. In an embodiment, each driving unit 221 of the plurality of driving units 221 can output a driving voltage with a certain magnitude under the control of the dimming control unit 21 to drive the corresponding MOS transistor 222 to be turned on or off, so as to realize turn-on or turn-off of current on the live wire 200. It should be understood that, based on the teachings given by the present disclosure, those of ordinary skill in the art may conceive that any type of dimming execution unit to implement the foregoing functions, and these implementations all fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the on-off control circuit 10 may simultaneously control two dimmers 20. In other embodiments, the number of the dimmers 20 simultaneously controlled by the on-off control circuit 10 may be more, such as three, four, etc., and these implementations all fall within the scope of the present disclosure. A control method of the plurality of dimmers 20 is similar to a control method of the two dimmers 20 described above as an example, and details are not described herein again.
FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a process 300 of dimming according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, process 300 may be performed at an apparatus as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It should be understood that the process 300 may further include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some (or some) blocks shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.
At block 311, a plurality of dimmers 20 in the apparatus may be connected by wires. In an embodiment, the plurality of dimmers 20 connected by the wires may jointly control the same load 100.
At block 312, an on-off control circuit 10 groups the connected plurality of dimmers 20. In an embodiment, two dimmers 20 of the plurality of dimmers 20 may be grouped such that the two dimmers 20 of this group jointly control the same load 100.
At block 313, the apparatus is powered on and a detection unit 23 is turned on. In an embodiment, the on-off control circuit 10 may control the detection unit 23 to be turned on through a control signal.
At block 314, the detection unit 23 detects a voltage of a live wire.
At block 315, the detection unit 23 determines whether a magnitude of the voltage of the live wire 200 exceeds a predetermined threshold. In response to that the predetermined threshold is exceeded, the process 300 proceeds to block 316. In response to that the predetermined threshold is not exceeded, the process 300 proceeds back to block 311.
At block 316, the detection unit 23 generates a turn-on indication signal.
At block 317, a switch unit 24 and a dimming execution unit 22 are sequentially turned on. In an embodiment, the turn-on control signal generated by the on-off control circuit 10 has a predetermined duty cycle to control the switch unit 24 and the dimming execution unit 22 to be turned on and off with a predetermined timing sequence.
At block 318, a dimming control unit 21 generates an on-off indication signal.
At block 319, the on-off control circuit 10 determines whether states of the dimmers 20 are synchronized by receiving the on-off indication signal. In response to that the states of the dimmers 20 are the same, the process 300 proceeds to a block 320. In response to that the states of the dimmers 20 are different, the process 300 proceeds to a block 321.
At block 320, each dimmer 20 remains turn-on. At block 321, the dimming execution unit 22 and the switch unit 24 are sequentially turned off. At block 322, the apparatus is powered off, and the on-off control circuit 10 generates a turn-off control signal, then the process 300 proceeds to block 321 where the dimming execution unit 22 and the switch unit 24 are sequentially turned off, and the process 300 ends.
Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a method 400 for dimming, as shown in FIG. 4. The method 400 may be performed by the apparatus for dimming described above in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the method 400 includes generating a turn-on control signal by an on-off control circuit 10 at block 410. At block 420, receiving the turn-on control signal by a dimming control unit 21 of a dimmer. At block 430, detecting a voltage of a live wire 200 by a detection unit 23 of the dimmer and generating a turn-on indication signal in response to that a magnitude of the voltage of the live wire 200 exceeds a predetermined threshold. At block 440, controlling, by the dimming control unit 21 of the dimmer, the switch unit 24 and the dimming execution unit 22 to be turned on based on the turn-on control signal and the turn-on indication signal, so that a voltage on the live wire 200 is delivered to a load 100.
In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes: generating, by the dimming control unit 21, an on-off indication signal for indicating whether the switch unit 24 and the dimming execution unit 22 are turned on or off.
In some embodiments, generating the turn-on control signal by the on-off control circuit 10 includes: generating a communication signal by the communication unit 11; generating, by an on-off control unit 12, the turn-on control signal based on the communication signal; and receiving a plurality of on-off indication signals by an AND gate circuit 13 and generating a status indication signal based on the plurality of on-off indication signals.
In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes: generating a driving signal by a plurality of driving units 221 under control of the dimming control unit 21.
In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes: causing each of a plurality of MOS transistors 222 to be turned on and off under control of the driving signal.
In some embodiments, the number of the plurality of driving units 221 is two, and the number of the plurality of MOS transistors 222 is two.
In some embodiments, the number of dimmers 20 is plural, and the dimming control unit 21 of a plurality of dimmers 20 is capable of synchronously controlling the corresponding switch unit 24 and the dimming execution unit 22 to be turned on based on the turn-on control signal and the turn-on indication signal, so that the voltage on the live wire 200 is delivered to the load 100.
Embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, and the above description is exemplary, not exhaustive, and is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the illustrated embodiments. Selection of terms as used herein is intended to best explain principles of embodiments, practical application or technical improvements to market, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims

An apparatus for dimming, characterized by comprising:
an on-off control circuit (10) connected to a power supply and capable of generating a turn-on control signal; and

a plurality of dimmers (20), each dimmer (20) comprising a dimming control unit (21), a dimming execution unit (22), a detection unit (23) and a switch unit (24), the dimming control unit (21) being coupled to the on-off control circuit (10) to receive the turn-on control signal, the dimming execution unit (22) being connected to the dimming control unit (21) and a live wire (200), the detection unit (23) being connected to the dimming execution unit (22) and the dimming control unit (21), the detection unit (23) being capable of detecting a voltage of the live wire (200) and generating a turn-on indication signal in response to that a magnitude of the voltage of the live wire (200) exceeds a predetermined threshold, the switch unit (24) being connected to the live wire (200), a load (100) and the dimming control unit (21), the dimming control unit (21) being capable of controlling the switch unit (24) and the dimming execution unit (22) to be turned on based on the turn-on control signal and the turn-on indication signal, so that a voltage on the live wire (200) is delivered to the load (100).
The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that the apparatus further comprises a plurality of isolators (30), an end of each isolator (30) is connected to the on-off control circuit (10) and the other end is connected to one of the plurality of dimmers (20).
The apparatus of claim 2, characterized in that the dimming control unit (21) of each dimmer (20) is connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of isolators (30), and the dimming control unit (21) is capable of generating an on-off indication signal for indicating whether the switch unit (24) and the dimming execution unit (22) are turned on or off.
The apparatus of claim 3, characterized in that the on-off control circuit (10) comprises:
a communication unit (11) connected to the power supply and capable of generating a communication signal;

an on-off control unit (12) connected to the communication unit (11) and capable of generating the turn-on control signal based on the communication signal; and

an AND gate circuit (13), an output end of the AND gate circuit (13) being connected to the on-off control unit (12) and an input end of the AND gate circuit (13) being connected to the plurality of dimmers (20), the AND gate circuit (13) being capable of receiving a plurality of on-off indication signals and generating a status indication signal based on the plurality of on-off indication signals.
The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the dimming execution unit (22) comprises a plurality of driving units (221) connected to the corresponding dimming control unit (21), and being capable of generating a driving signal under control of the dimming control unit (21).
The apparatus of claim 5, characterized in that the dimming execution unit (22) further comprises a plurality of MOS transistors (222) connected in series between the live wire (200) and the switch unit (24), a gate of each MOS transistor (222) is connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of driving units (221), and each MOS transistor (222) is capable of being turned on and off under control of the driving signal.
The apparatus of claim 6, characterized in that the number of the plurality of driving units (221) is two, and the number of the plurality of MOS transistors (222) is two.
A method for dimming, comprising:
generating a turn-on control signal by an on-off control circuit (10);

receiving the turn-on control signal by a dimming control unit (21) of a dimmer (20);

detecting a voltage of a live wire (200) by a detection unit (23) of the dimmer (20) and generating a turn-on indication signal in response to that a magnitude of the voltage of the live wire (200) exceeds a predetermined threshold; and

controlling, by the dimming control unit (21) of the dimmer (20), a switch unit (24) and a dimming execution unit (22) to be turned on based on the turn-on control signal and the turn-on indication signal, so that a voltage on the live wire (200) is delivered to a load (100).
The method of claim 8, further comprising:
generating, by the dimming control unit (21), an on-off indication signal for indicating whether the switch unit (24) and the dimming execution unit (22) are turned on or off.
The method of claim 9, wherein generating the turn-on control signal by the on-off control circuit (10) comprises:
generating a communication signal by a communication unit (11);

generating, by an on-off control unit (12), the turn-on control signal based on the communication signal; and

receiving a plurality of on-off indication signals by an AND gate circuit (13) and generating a status indication signal based on the plurality of on-off indication signals.
The method of any of claims 8 to 10, further comprising:
generating a driving signal by a plurality of driving units (221) under control of the dimming control unit (21).
The method of claim 11, further comprising:
causing each of a plurality of MOS transistors (222) to be turned on and off under control of the driving signal.
The method of claim 12, wherein the number of the plurality of driving units (221) is two, and the number of the plurality of MOS transistors (222) is two.
The method of any of claims 8 to 13, wherein the number of dimmers (20) is plural, and the dimming control unit (21) of a plurality of dimmers (20) is capable of synchronously controlling the corresponding switch unit (24) and the dimming execution unit (22) to be turned on based on the turn-on control signal and the turn-on indication signal, so that the voltage on the live wire (200) is delivered to the load (100).