A method of powering a controller using an intermediate device with power from an environmental system may include receiving current from a power wire from the environmental system; passing the current from the power wire to a second command wire from the controller; monitoring the current flowing between the power wire and the second command wire while the current is below a threshold indicative of an amount of current used to power the controller from the environmental system; detecting when the current flowing between the power wire and the second command wire exceeds the threshold indicating that the controller is sending a command to the environmental system to perform the function; and sending a command to environmental system using a first command wire from the environmental system after detecting that the current exceeds the threshold.

An apparatus attachable to a luminaire includes circuitry for converting alternating current power into direct current (DC) power and providing a digitally stable ground for operation of a processor-based device. The circuitry includes a transformer isolating a primary side from a secondary side of the circuitry. A switching controller (e.g., a pulse width modulation controller) on the primary side directs a switching circuit to selectively permit current flow through a primary side of the transformer to a first ground node. A secondary winding of the transformer sources a rectified DC output relative to a second ground node that is isolated from the first ground node. In some cases, compensation on the secondary winding side provides isolated feedback to the controller, such as via an optical isolator. The controller directs the switching circuit based at least partially on the feedback and input from an auxiliary winding of the transformer.

A network managing device for handling a data flow comprises a topology generating module, for generating a topology of at least one device of a network, and for determining at least one intelligent electric device (IED) of the at least one device according to the topology; a transmitting module, coupled to the topology generating module, for transmitting a request to a reception-transmission device, wherein the request is for requesting a substation information associated with the at least one IED; a receiving module, coupled to the transmitting module, for receiving the substation information from the reception-transmission device; a shortest path generating module, coupled to the receiving module, for generating a first shortest path of the at least one IED according to the substation information; and a data flow processing module, coupled to the shortest path generating module, for generating a data flow according to the first shortest path.

A load control device may control power delivered from a power source, such as an alternating-current (AC) power source, to at least two electrical loads, such as a lighting load and a motor load. The load control device may include multiple load control circuit, such as a dimmer circuit and a motor drive circuit, for controlling the power delivered to the lighting load and the motor load, respectively. The load control device may adjust the rotational speed of the motor load in a manner so as to minimize acoustic noise generated by the load control device and reduce the amount of time required to adjust the rotational speed of the motor load. The load control device may remain powered when one of the electrical loads (e.g., the lighting load) has been removed (e.g., electrically disconnected or uninstalled) and/or has failed in an open state (has “burnt out” or “blown out”).

A load control device may control power delivered from a power source, such as an alternating-current (AC) power source, to at least two electrical loads, such as a lighting load and a motor load. The load control device may include multiple load control circuit, such as a dimmer circuit and a motor drive circuit, for controlling the power delivered to the lighting load and the motor load, respectively. The load control device may adjust the rotational speed of the motor load in a manner so as to minimize acoustic noise generated by the load control device and reduce the amount of time required to adjust the rotational speed of the motor load. The load control device may remain powered when one of the electrical loads (e.g., the lighting load) has been removed (e.g., electrically disconnected or uninstalled) and/or has failed in an open state (has “burnt out” or “blown out”).

A device includes an input converter, an output converter, and a controller. The input converter is electrically coupled to an electrical meter and an energy production array. The output converter is electrically coupled to the energy production array and a load. The controller is communicatively coupled to the input converter, the output converter, the energy production array, and the load. The input converter and the output converter are positioned between the electrical meter and the load.

A device includes an input converter, an output converter, and a controller. The input converter is electrically coupled to an electrical meter and an energy production array. The output converter is electrically coupled to the energy production array and a load. The controller is communicatively coupled to the input converter, the output converter, the energy production array, and the load. The input converter and the output converter are positioned between the electrical meter and the load.

A wired communication systems, a subscriber device and a method, and more specifically related to initialization and/or update of communication parameters used for communication through the wired communication systems. An access node comprises at least one processor and memory storing instructions that when executed by the at least one processor cause a local transceiver of the access node to transmit signaling data via a subscriber line to a remote transceiver, the signaling data identifying particular symbol positions within a sequence of symbols transmitted over the subscriber line during show-time as being suitable for characterizing a direct communication channel between the local transceiver and the remote transceiver.

A power line communication apparatus includes a first power line communication device disposed at a signal transmit end, a second power line communication device disposed at a signal receive end, a power line, a first magnetic ring disposed at the signal transmit end, and a second magnetic ring disposed at the signal receive end. The second power line communication device receives the modulated signal from the power line. The power line includes a wire for transmitting electric energy and a shield layer that wraps the wire for electromagnetic shielding. The wire and the shield layer separately extend from the signal transmit end to the signal receive end. The first magnetic ring and the second magnetic ring are separately coupled to the shield layer, to suppress inductance attenuation of the magnetic ring and improve reliability of the transmitted modulated signal.

A decoding circuit and a chip are disclosed. The decoding circuit includes, connected in a sequence, a charge/discharge unit, a capacitor and a conversion unit. The charge/discharge unit is able to charge and discharge the capacitor, and a ratio of a total time required to transfer any amount of charge into the capacitor to a total time required to transfer the same amount of charge from the capacitor is a predetermined value. The conversion unit is configured to output a third level when a voltage on the capacitor exceeds a predetermined voltage and to otherwise output a fourth level. This arrangement alleviates the computational burden of an MCU, eliminates any adverse effect of noise in a transmitted signal, allows an extended effective transmission distance when using an HBS protocol and is self-adaptive to signals transmitted at different clock rates, thus solving the problems with the prior art including heavy MCU computational burden, a tradeoff between error correction and transmission distance and insufficient adaptiveness to signals transmitted at different clock rates.