A ripple suppression circuit configured to suppress a current ripple provided to a load by a DC converter, can include: a ripple voltage sampling circuit coupled to output terminals of the DC converter, where the ripple voltage sampling circuit is configured to generate a ripple reference voltage that represents a ripple voltage of an output voltage of the DC converter; and a voltage regulation circuit coupled to the load and the ripple voltage sampling circuit, where the voltage regulation circuit is controllable by the ripple reference voltage such that a voltage across the voltage regulation circuit is consistent with the ripple voltage.

There is provided a boost converter. The boost converter comprises a reactor electrically connected with a power source; a semiconductor module configured to include a plate-like member and a terminal protruded from the plate-like member; a holder portion provided as a frame-like member, arranged to be adjacent to the reactor along either a longitudinal direction of a vehicle or a vehicle width direction, and configured to hold a plurality of the semiconductor modules inside of a frame of the holder portion such that the plurality of semiconductor modules are stacked and pressurized; and a first bus bar arranged to electrically connect the reactor with the terminal and provided with a current sensor that is configured to detect an electric current flowing from the reactor to the semiconductor modules. At least part of the current sensor is provided in the first bus bar such as to be placed inside of a range that is defined by respective ends of the holder portion in an array direction in which the reactor and the holder portion are arranged to be adjacent to each other. This configuration prevents increase of the dimension of the boost converter either in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle or in the vehicle width direction.

A lighting unit having a microcontroller; and a near field communication (NFC)-enabled embedded device comprising NFC shared memory configured to be written to by both an external NFC reader/writer using near field communication and the microcontroller and configured to enable an operation of the lighting unit to be both monitored and controlled using NFC. In this manner, the operation of a lighting unit may be monitored using NFC and controlled by using one of two approaches, such as via a microcontroller within the lighting unit and/or a near field communication, NFC, via the NFC-enabled embedded device; wherein the microcontroller is configured to manage a communication protocol to facilitate communications between the lighting unit and at least one other NFC-enabled device.

A lighting unit having a microcontroller; and a near field communication (NFC)-enabled embedded device comprising NFC shared memory configured to be written to by both an external NFC reader/writer using near field communication and the microcontroller and configured to enable an operation of the lighting unit to be both monitored and controlled using NFC. In this manner, the operation of a lighting unit may be monitored using NFC and controlled by using one of two approaches, such as via a microcontroller within the lighting unit and/or a near field communication, NFC, via the NFC-enabled embedded device; wherein the microcontroller is configured to manage a communication protocol to facilitate communications between the lighting unit and at least one other NFC-enabled device.

A switching converter for supplying power to a load, includes: an output circuit including at least a switching transistor, an inductive element, and a rectifying element configured to rectify a current flowing to the inductive element according to switching of the switching transistor; a control circuit configured to drive the switching transistor; a first capacitor configured to generate a power source voltage for the control circuit between both ends of the first capacitor; a start-up circuit installed between an input line to the switching converter and the first capacitor and configured to charge the first capacitor with an input voltage of the input line; and a discharge circuit configured to discharge the first capacitor when the switching converter is started up.

A discharge lamp lighting device according to an aspect of the invention includes a resonance circuit unit connected to a discharge lamp, a power converting unit configured to convert direct-current power into alternating-current power and supply the alternating-current power to the discharge lamp via the resonance circuit unit, and a control unit configured to supply the alternating-current power having a first frequency for causing resonance of the resonance circuit unit and a second frequency different from the first frequency, to the discharge lamp in a lighting start period from a start of lighting of the discharge lamp to a steady lighting state of the discharge. The second frequency is equal to or higher than 100 kHz.

A discharge lamp lighting device according to an aspect of the invention includes a resonance circuit unit connected to a discharge lamp, a power converting unit configured to convert direct-current power into alternating-current power and supply the alternating-current power to the discharge lamp via the resonance circuit unit, and a control unit configured to supply the alternating-current power having a first frequency for causing resonance of the resonance circuit unit and a second frequency different from the first frequency, to the discharge lamp in a lighting start period from a start of lighting of the discharge lamp to a steady lighting state of the discharge. The second frequency is equal to or higher than 100 kHz.

An LED lighting device includes an auxiliary power supply that supplies power to a control circuit of the LED lighting device that receives an input from a terminal of a light-emitting diode (LED) string of the lighting device that has a substantially lower voltage than the line voltage to which the lighting device is connected. The terminal may be within the LED string, or may be an end of the string. A linear regulator may be operated from the voltage drop across a number of the LEDs in the string so that the energy wasted by the auxiliary power supply is minimized. In other designs, the auxiliary power supply may be intermittently connected in series with the LED string only when needed. The intermittent connection can be used to forward bias a portion of the LED string when the voltage supplied to the LED string is low, increasing overall brightness.

An LED lighting device includes an auxiliary power supply that supplies power to a control circuit of the LED lighting device that receives an input from a terminal of a light-emitting diode (LED) string of the lighting device that has a substantially lower voltage than the line voltage to which the lighting device is connected. The terminal may be within the LED string, or may be an end of the string. A linear regulator may be operated from the voltage drop across a number of the LEDs in the string so that the energy wasted by the auxiliary power supply is minimized. In other designs, the auxiliary power supply may be intermittently connected in series with the LED string only when needed. The intermittent connection can be used to forward bias a portion of the LED string when the voltage supplied to the LED string is low, increasing overall brightness.

A connected light node (CLN) induction light ballast module for powering an induction lamp includes a printed circuit board having components mounted thereon and an earth ground region electrically isolated from a PCB ground region. A heat sink is disposed on a lower layer of the printed circuit board and electrically connected to the earth ground region, wherein a parasitic capacitance occurs between the printed circuit board ground region and the heat sink. A capacitive shield sandwiched by a lower insulating pad and an upper insulating pad is electrically isolated from the heat sink supporting the shield. A damping network electrically connects the capacitive shield to the PCB ground region. Switch-mode power converters are mounted above the upper insulating pad and the shield. The damping network suppresses noise by a parasitic capacitance between the PCB ground region and the heat sink during high frequency power converter operation.