Observer based ceramic HID lamp control

D.H.J. van Casteren, M.A.M. Hendrix and J.L. Duarte

Department of Electrical Engineering
Technical University of Eindhoven
P.O. Box 513
5600MB Eindhoven
The Netherlands
AbstractHigh intensity discharge (HID) lamps are typically
operated at low frequency to avoid damage from acoustic
resonance. Accordingly, an electronic ballast normally comprises
a buck converter to control the lamp current magnitude, and a
bridge to commutate the lamp current at a low frequency. These
functions can be combined in a stacked buck converter [1]. The
resulting system performance depends on the dynamics of the
lamp as well as the ballast, the so-called lamp-ballast interaction
[2]. Competitor lamps, production spread, reduced power
operation and lifetime effects lead to a wide spread in lamp
parameters. Some lamp-ballast combinations tend to be poorly
damped, resulting in oscillatory lamp current. In such a system,
the negative incremental lamp impedance may interact with the
power electronic driver. Furthermore, lamp ageing and reduced
power mode operation both tend to increase re-ignition voltage
overshoot, which in turn may lead to reduced lifetime, or
prematurely extinguishing lamps. Because of considerable nonlinearities, feedback control based on the gas discharge electrical
terminal quantities can improve the lamp-ballast performance
only to a limited extent. Therefore, to bring the electronic HID
lamp-ballast system performance a step further, feedback of the
physical lamp states is proposed in this paper. However, direct
feedback of the physical lamp states is not practical due to either
economic or physical constraints. For this reason, to construct
unmeasured system states using a known set of system states and
parameters, a ceramic metal halide lamp observer is proposed.
The HID lamp observer directly enhances system performance
because it allows more sophisticated control schemes that make
use of physical quantities like the electrode sheath voltage and
cold spot temperature, which heretofore were not accessible. The
ceramic metal halide observer is based on energy balance
equations that include plasma and arc tube wall dynamics.
Finally, simulations and practical measurements are included to
validate the observer based ceramic metal halide lamp control.
Keywords-Ceramic metal halide lamp; ESV observer; HID
dimming; HID lamp control

I.
INTRODUCTION
Global climate change, Kyoto targets, rising energy prices,
energy shortage and pressure to reduce CO2 emissions are
major issues in todays world. High-intensity discharge (HID)
lamps have grown in popularity in recent years because they
maximize energy savings of lighting sources. HID lamps are
widely used in the commercial and industrial sectors to provide
a cost effective illumination.
The metal halide HID lamp transforms electrical energy
into heat and electromagnetic radiation. A considerable part of
the radiation is at visible wavelengths. The arc tube, the

enclosure in which the discharge takes place, can be pictured as

a closed cylindrical container, which contains starting gas,
mercury, metal halide salts and mostly two tungsten electrodes.
HID lamps use a compact arc tube in which the pressure and
temperature are very high. The small arc tube design permits
compact reflector designs with good optical controllability.
The arc tube can be made of quartz, or it can be ceramic.
Ceramic metal halide (CMH) technology was first introduced
in 1994 by Philips to solve many of the problems inherent in
older style quartz metal halide lamps such as high lumen
depreciation, low color rendition, and poor color consistency.
Ceramic lamps provide a high quality, energy efficient and
long-life alternative to incandescent and halogen light sources.
These qualities make CMH lamps [3] ideal for color critical
areas in commercial accent, recessed and track lighting
applications. While still primarily used for indoor lighting
applications, ceramic metal halide is also becoming popular for
high-end outdoor installations. Especially in the last ten years,
their application range has been greatly expanded.
Gas discharge lamps have a negative incremental
impedance and therefore are ideally operated in series with a
current controlled ballast [4]. For electronic HID lamp
operation, low-frequency-square-wave (LFSW) is the most
used method. The operation of high pressure discharge lamps
on high frequency power is hampered by the occurrence of
standing pressure waves, so-called acoustic resonances [5], [6],
which may lead to arc instabilities, light fluctuations and even
arc tube cracking. A LFSW current is, from a circuit point of
view, certainly not the simplest way to drive a HID lamp, but
to operate a variety of existing HID lamps in the market, it is
certainly the option with the smallest risks [7], [8]. The square
wave frequency is preferably chosen higher than the line
frequency, and low enough to prevent those harmonic power
components that excite acoustical resonances. A common
compromise is 70 400Hz.
The lamp-ballast system performance depends on the
dynamics of the lamp as well as the ballast, the so-called lampballast interaction [2]. Deviations in lamp-ballast properties,
e.g. lamp environment, aging of the lamp, production spread of
the lamp as well as the ballast, will affect the photometric
properties. Furthermore, required interchangeability with
competitor lamps and reduced power operation will result in a
widespread in lamp parameters. Some lamp-ballast
combinations tend to be poorly damped, resulting in oscillatory
lamp current. Furthermore, lamp ageing and reduced power
mode operation both tend to increase re-ignition voltage

978-1-4244-2279-1/08/$25.00 2008 IEEE

overshoot, which in turn may lead to reduced lifetime, or

prematurely extinguishing lamps.
Most electronic HID lamp drivers only consist of a slow
power feedback loop. In this case, the lamp-ballast interaction
is optimized for an average lamp behavior. When a small reignition voltage overshoot and over-critical damping is desired
at normal and reduced power operation, additional control
measures are necessary. Because of considerable nonlinearities, feedback control based on the gas discharge
electrical terminal quantities can improve the lamp-ballast
performance only to a limited extent [9]. Therefore, an
intelligent electronic ballast [10] is proposed that derives
physical lamp state signals closely associated with HID arc
discharge physics and related photometric properties to control
HID lamp-ballast system performance.
Due to either economic or physical constraints, feedback of
the physical lamp states is not practical. To construct
unmeasured system states using a known set of system states
and parameters, a ceramic metal halide lamp state observer is
proposed. The lamp observer directly enhances system
performance because it allows more sophisticated control
schemes that make use of real-time physical quantities like the
electrode sheath voltage (ESV) and cold spot temperature,
which heretofore were unavailable. Measured terminal
quantities are used to calculate unmeasured states using a
mathematical description of the physical lamp processes. The
HID lamp representation is based on the energy balance
equations that include plasma and arc tube wall dynamics [11].
Implementation of the proposed lamp observer in real-time is
possible with the powerful microprocessors that nowadays are
available.
The paper is organized as follows: The lamp-ballast
interaction including both plasma small-signal analysis and
electrode behavior is discussed in section II. Subsequently, the
lamp observer structure is described in section III. Practical
measurements with an experimental set-up to verify the
proposed lamp observer are presented in section IV. An
observer based control to enhance the lamp-ballast system
performance is proposed in section V. Finally the conclusions
are presented in section VI.
II.

HID LAMP-BALLAST INTERACTION

This section will provide insight into the dimming process

by describing the relationships of certain discharge parameters
and the requirements of the discharge lamps under dimming
conditions.
HID lamps can be dimmed using step-level or continuousdimming systems. Step-level dimming typically comprises a
constant-wattage autotransformer (CWA) magnetic ballast with
an additional capacitor added to the circuit. Relay switching of
the capacitor results in additional system impedance, which
reduces the lamp current and the wattage. Step-level dimming
can be used to save energy during periods when the illuminated
area is unoccupied but needs to stay lighted for safety and
security reasons. Continuous dimming is ideally suited for
applications where it is advantageous to adapt the lighting
system to a wide range of light-levels to meet various uses.
Continuous dimming is also well suited for daylight harvesting

because it allows the HID lamp output to be tuned to maintain

a constant light-level in the room of concern. Electronic
dimming ballasts for HID lamps can provide continuous
dimming, typically from 100 50% light output for metal
halide and 100 30% light output for high pressure sodium
lamps.
Metal halide lamps operated below the rated power may
experience degradation in service life, efficacy, color and
lumen maintenance, or they may even extinguish. The ratio of
reduction in wattage to reduction in light output is not
proportional. Light output will be reduced further than the
wattage reduction. Furthermore, HID lamps can experience a
color shift during dimming and also a reduction in color
rendering ability.
Recent studies [12] have reported on the possible
consequences of reduced power operation regarding quartz
metal halide lamps and metal halide lamps in ceramic
envelope. Those explorations show that both the decrease in
luminous flux and the change in photometric properties (color
temperature and color rendering) are considerable less for the
ceramic types of lamps. The explanation for this reduced
sensitivity for the reduction of the lamp power can be found in
the fact that the metal halide vapor pressures are considerable
higher in the ceramic lamps compared with the quartz types.
Regarding the other aspects of dimmed operation, the concerns
and limitations for ceramic and quartz metal halide lamps are
similar. Lamp operation at low power can lead to extra
blackening as a result of excessive evaporation or sputtering
from the electrodes. It also appears that, for dimming systems
operating at 50/60Hz, beyond a certain point improper
electrode functioning can provoke visible flickering at the
mains frequency [13].
A. Plasma
In this section a plasma small-signal method is applied to
analyze reduced power operation and power steps between full
and reduced power mode. In this way, we obtain a quantitative
understanding of the processes that determine the properties of
lamp-ballast interaction stability.
A simple representation is used [9] to experimentally model
the HID lamp plasma small-signal electrical behavior. In order
to identify its dynamic parameters the burner is excited with a
small step on the LFSW current. The correlated burner voltage
response can be characterized by its Laplace transform,
incorporating the current step as

sRla +
o

V (s)
H (s ) =
=
I (s)

s+

(1)

with the nominal lamp-impedance Rla0 (), plasma time

constant (sec) and a negative plasma resistance r (). In a
first attempt to explain lamp-ballast interaction, the common
ballast parallel capacitor C (F) can be included and the criterion
for stability in this case becomes

1+

rC

>0

rC

<1 C =

(stability

border ).

(2)

In the present investigation not only steady state behavior

on full or reduced power is studied, also step changes between
full and reduced power are investigated. Therefore, first the
small-signal lamp properties are measured during steady state
for three power levels. Secondly, the small-signal analysis is
performed directly after a large power step from full power to
reduced power and visa versa. The results of measurements
with a Philips CDM 70W/830 HID burner are presented in
Table I and displayed in Fig. 1.
TABLE I.

Steady state

Dynamic

PLASMA DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR (CDM 70W/830)

Power (W)

(sec)

r ()

C (F)

70

85

-9.65

8.8

60

100

-9.69

10.3

50

155

-18.02

8.6

70-60

90

-14.33

6.28

70-50

122

-21.07

5.79

60-70

95

-7.95

11.95

50-70

125

-6.23

20

The steady-state behavior shows uncritical behavior

regarding stability for the measured steady-state power levels,
where full power operation equals the reference. In case of step
dimming where the critical ballast capacitor is calculated for
two magnitude steps in power, a decreasing critical capacitor
value is found. As a result the stability margin becomes smaller
and an under-damped lamp-ballast interaction can occur. In
practice an under-damped system mode can cause large signal
(power) fluctuations and therefore extinguishing of the lamp. In
contrast with restoring from reduced power to full power
operation that result in an increased stability margin, as
displayed in the left graph of Fig. 1.
Steady state

Dynamical

Ccrit [F]

Dynamical

Ccrit [F]

discharge vessel wall. The tungsten deposition during life

comprises two components: that resulting from sputtering at
starting [16], [17], and that resulting from evaporation during
continuous operation [13]. The processes in the plasma sheaths
near the electrodes are responsible for the voltage that drops
across the cathode and anode sheath where their sum equals the
so-called ESV.
Most important in the electrode operation is the tip
temperature, because the cathode mode of operation is strongly
related to it. The current transfer at the cathode side where two
modes can occur, a diffuse mode and a spot mode, is much
more complicated than on the anode side. In case of the diffuse
mode a stable arc attachment covers the entire electrode tip or a
sizeable fraction thereof. Otherwise the less stable spot mode is
characterized by a constricted arc attachment to a very small
area. Recently, in metal halide lamps, an extremely constricted
arc attachment was observed, which was called the super spot
mode [18].
Operating a HID lamp on a designed power level, we can
assume that the electrode tips have an appropriate temperature
for diffuse mode operation. Reduced power operation or
faltering electrodes with deformed surfaces after numerous
operating hours can affect the diffuse mode of operation. Even
the lamp current waveform [19], [20] and burning position [21]
affects the individual electrode temperatures. At the border of
designed performance the cathode tends to switch over from
diffuse mode to spot mode, obeying the principle of minimum
energy [22]. Spot mode attachment is less favorable to lamp
operation because the electrode can become locally overheated,
which causes excessive erosion and arc tube blackening. In
terms of lamp-ballast interaction the re-ignition voltage during
commutation depends on the voltage drop across the plasma
column plus the actual ESV interacting with the ballast. The
ESV will be strongly influenced by the actual electrodeoperating mode [13]. In general the re-ignition voltage should
be as low as possible. It should never reach the OVC (Open
Circuit Voltage) that equals the maximum output voltage of the
lamp driver, otherwise the lamp extinguishes.
Therefore, in the remainder of this paper a method is
proposed to observe the lamp properties continuously during
operation to avoid deleterious lamp operation and improve the
lamp-ballast system performance over life.

Ccrit [F]

III.
50W

70W
Power [W]

70W

50W
Power decrease [W]

50W

70W
Power Increase [W]

Figure 1. Stability border versus steady and dynamic power level

B. Electrode behavior
In the last part of this section the electrode work function
and the related ESV [14], [15] are discussed. Especially for
aged lamps or reduced power mode operation the electrodeinduced phenomena play an important role in lamp-ballast
interaction and can cause light intensity fluctuations
(flickering), re-ignition voltage spikes or even extinguishing of
the lamp. Furthermore, electrode behavior has also a great
influence on the lamp life due to tungsten deposition on the

HID OBSERVER

The feedback principle is an important concept in control

theory. Many different control strategies are based on the
assumption that all internal states of the control object are
available for feedback. In most cases, however, only a few of
the states or some functions of the states can be measured.
These circumstances raise the need for techniques, which
makes it possible to estimate states. Therefore, a model-based
observer is constructed using a nonlinear model of the gas
discharge.
Numerous approaches exist to determine the momentary
electric field strength and related ESV in gas discharges. The
classical method consists of a voltage measurement on
discharges with different lengths but with otherwise identical
properties of the plasma column [23]. Using a linear regression

of plotted voltage versus length, the field strength is obtained

as the slope of this curve and the ESV from an extrapolation to
zero discharge length. However, it is very difficult to determine
the cathode and the anode fall separately by electrical
measurements.
A solution may be a measuring method with langmuirprobes to determine the separate cathode and anode falls of
HID electrodes. The langmuir-probes consist of two tungsten
wires, which are inserted via side arms into the discharge tube
of an experimental lamp [24]. Although serious efforts have
been made to develop electrode voltage measurements
methods, it is still quite difficult to perform measurements with
practical lamps.

HID lamp observer and discharge controller as shown in Fig. 2.

The discharge controller provides a lamp current control action
according to user preferences and the actual HID states.
IV. PRACTICAL MEASUREMENTS
To examine the lamp-ballast interaction during full and
reduced power mode operation a measurement set-up was build
based on a stacked buck converter [1] lamp driver topology. To
capture the time-resolved values of voltage and current signals
the ceramic metal halide lamp terminals were connected with a
storage oscilloscope. Subsequently, the signal processing is
carried out in the MATLAB domain.

Therefore, modeling of the electrode behavior is still a

powerful tool for lamp-ballast interaction. Normally, the
method to determine the ESV uses a one-dimensional timedependent plasma model [15]. This model describes the
column of the AC mercury arc quantitatively and supplies the
discharge voltage without the ESV taken into account. The
difference between the actually measured and calculated lamp
voltage equals the ESV amplitude.
In the realization phase a gray box phase resolved plasma
model is implemented [11]. This means that the elementary
mathematical rules of the physical lamp processes are
embedded including the known model constants. The
remaining parameters can be considered as unknown and need
to be identified. In practice dynamic identification methods
including run-up tracing and pseudo random noise sequence
(PBNS) excitation are applied.
Ilamp

Ulamp

HID lamp

Estimated
plasma
+
voltage

Lamp driver

Plasma model
Estimated
physical
states

Estimated
ESV
User interface

HID lamp observer

Current
set-point

Lamp
status
Discharge
controller

Figure 2.

P controller

Light
level

Observer based HID lamp controller

For the ESV observer part, the most interesting

characteristic of the discharge model is its terminal electrical
impedance, although the plasma model should also provide
physical parameters for the plasma observer part. The latter
parameters can include the plasma temperature, cold spot
temperature and radiated power containing essential
information about the actual discharge condition. Finally,
based on the terminal lamp properties the proposed lamp
observer estimates both electrode and plasma state variables.
The proposed observer based HID lamp controller consists of a

Oscilloscope

PC

Stacked buck
converter

CCD camera
Optical system
YAG burner

Figure 3. Experimental set-up; shown is the arrangement for electrical and

optical measurements

In order to analyze the HID observer state signals in detail

the practical measurement set-up was extended with an optical
system. However, standard polycrystalline alumina discharge
lamp walls are optical diffuse. Therefore, (YAG) discharge
lamps with transparent ceramic arc tubes with identical filling
conditions and electrodes as the standard CDM 73W/830
burner are applied to study the arc attachment and related
electrode operation mode. The arc attachment was observed
with a triggered CCD camera with an exposure time of 960s
and a resolution of 1280 1024. With the selected
magnification factor this leads to a spatial resolution of 2.4m.
Furthermore, the optical system consist of a diaphragm and a
RG630 filter which passes a band of light of wavelengths
greater than about 630nm. The recorded intensity distribution
was transferred to a PC for further processing of the images.
The time of registration was determined by an electronic
trigger signal and could be placed anywhere in the lamp current
cycle. A schematic view of the applied experimental set-up is
shown in Fig. 3.
A. Plasma interaction
The lamp-ballast interaction stability, using the presented
measurement set-up, is analyzed in line with the small-signal
theory as discussed in section II. Therefore, the lamp current is
measured after a large power-step down to investigate the
lamp-ballast interaction stability. The experimental set-up,
where the stacked buck converter consists of a 100nF output
capacitor and Ton control, connected with a new Philips CDM
73W/830 burner, never shows under-damped behavior. This
can be explained by both the relatively small output capacitor
value and the applied Ton control strategy which acts as a

voltage feedback loop [9] with a fixed proportional setting. For

a traditional LFSW three stage driver topology with an output
capacitor of 1F and current control without additional
damping measures, different behavior is observed.

Figure 4. Lamp voltage above (100V/div) and current below (500mA/div)

directly after step dimming, timescale (1ms/div).

In Fig. 4 an oscilloscope measurement is displayed with the

lamp voltage and current immediately after a stepwise power
decrease. The large fluctuations in the lamp voltage and current
result in large power fluctuations and can cause extinguishing
of the lamp.

time the upper electrode tip temperature exceeds that of the

lower electrode because of convection heating of the top
electrode and convection cooling of the bottom one. The
cataphoresis effect vanishes for LFSW operation above 100Hz
[21]. The first measurement is performed with a new CDM
73W/830 burner operated on the rated power level. Processing
the measured lamp voltage and current results in an ESV
estimation as presented in Fig. 5. The sheath voltage shows a
smooth behavior with tiny re-ignition peaks. At the start of
each period half the electrode voltage drop is slightly
increased, familiar with findings for sinusoidal 50Hz current
operation [14]. Finally, it can be stated that both the voltage
drop across the plasma column and the electrode sheaths,
undergo distinct changes during a current cycle and strongly
depend on the operation conditions.
Reducing the power level (Plamp = 35W) for the same
burner used previously results in a quite different phaseresolved ESV behavior, displayed in Fig. 6. The first period
half shows a raised electrode voltage drop amplitude and a
small re-ignition spike. The increased cathode-fall mainly
contributes to the raised ESV level. In contrast, the second
period part has a large re-ignition spike preceded by a foldingback start of a lowered ESV plateau with a minimum directly
after the spike. Very low ESV values especially during the
current rise are ascribed to the anode fall [25] and also
observed for sinusoidal 50Hz metal halide lamp operation [14].
60

50
120

40

ESV

100

30

Voltage

80

20
60

10
40

0
20

1.5

2.5
Sample

3.5

1.5

2.5
Sample

3.5

4
4

x 10

Figure 6. ESV (V) of new vertically operated CDM 73W/830 burner (Plamp =
35W), timescale (200ns/sample)

4
4

x 10

Figure 5. Upper line: absolute lamp voltage (V), middle line: plasma voltage
(V), lower line: ESV (V) of new vertically operated CDM 73W/830 burner
(Plamp = 73W), timescale (200ns/sample)

B. Electrode behavior
In this section the ESV as a characteristic property of the
electrode behavior is studied using the HID lamp observer. The
already introduced measurement set-up is connected with new
and aged Philips CDM 73/830 burners. The vertical oriented
lamps are operated in full and reduced power modes. In this
burning position the individual electrode temperatures can be
influenced by both cataphoresis and convection. Most of the

The observed increased sheath voltage results from the

reduced power setting and therefore lower lamp current. To get
insight in the correlation between the electrode sheath voltage
and lamp current, the sheath power is calculated and displayed
in Fig. 7. Obviously the average power in the first period half
exceeds the second part by several watts. The difference
indicates a change in cathode mode for the successive period
parts. This hypothesis is tested with optical observations in the
remainder of this section.

both the diffuse and the spot mode. For half of the rated power
level (Plamp = 35W) both electrodes are optically and
electrically observed at vertical operation.

14

12

Epower

10

1.5

2.5
Sample

3.5

4
4

x 10

Figure 7. Epower (Electrode sheath power) (W) of new vertically operated

CDM 73W/830 burner (Plamp = 35W), timescale (200ns/sample)

To study the lifetime effects on HID lamps and in particular

the electrode performance degradation caused by erosion and
deformation, the reduced power mode measurement is repeated
with an aged (8000 hour) burner of the same type as previously
applied. The resulting ESV is plotted in Fig. 8.
150

The appearance of the diffuse mode in the cathode phase

occurs at the upper electrode as shown in Fig. 9. The arc
footprint is spread over the appropriately heated electrode tip
surface, in contrast with the lower electrode in Fig. 10 where
clearly the spot mode is observed. In this case the electrode
body has a significantly lower temperature and the arc
contracts to a very small region, where the cathode temperature
under the attachment point is very high (can reach the melting
point of tungsten). A bright plasma ball covering the
attachment region characterizes the contracted arc.

ESV

100

Figure 9. Upper electrode vertically operated YAG burner Plamp = 35W

50

1.5

2.5
Sample

3.5

4
4

x 10

Figure 8. ESV (V) of aged (8000 hour) vertically operated CDM 73W/830
burner (Plamp = 35W), timescale (200ns/sample)

For the aged lamp on reduced power (Plamp = 35W) large reignition spikes in the ESV amplitude are dominant. The spikes
can cause extinguishing because of the peak height and width.
The peak amplitude is direct related with the available OCV
margin, where the peak width coincides with low lamp currents
and therefore very low power operation and lamp cooling. The
lamp under test extinguishes after some time operated on this
low power level. Furthermore, here also the large re-ignition
spike precedes a folding-back start for both period parts.
C. Optical observation
To verify the ESV estimated results, some optical
measurements with a new YAG burner are performed. Camera
observations of the arc attachment on the cathode have shown

Figure 10. Lower electrode vertically operated YAG burner Plamp = 35W

The accompanying ESV plot for the optical measurements

with the YAG burner is given in Fig. 11. In this plot the first
period half correspond with the diffuse mode of the upper
electrode (Fig. 9), were the second period part is in phase with
the spot mode of the lower electrode (Fig. 10). The increased
ESV correlates with diffuse mode and the subsequent decrease
reflects the formation of the observed spot mode. It becomes

clear that the estimated ESV in spot mode is about 10V lower
than in diffuse mode, in accordance with other experimental
findings [14].
60

3.

Light property check. The color temperature and color

rendering are closely related with the cold spot
temperature and constraints are accordingly defined.
Start

50

Lamp status check

40

ESV

Re-ignition check
30

No

Yes

Power + Pstep
No

20

Cathode mode check

Minimum
dimlevel flag

10

Yes
No

5
Sample

Light property check

Power = full power

Yes

Lamp failure
flag

x 10

Figure 11. ESV (V) of vertically operated YAG burner (Plamp = 35W), timescale
(100ns/sample)

From these results it can be stated that the estimated ESV

and the sheath power derived signals provide valuable
information concerning the electrode mode of operation, in
terms of absolute values for minimum sheath power and reignition amplitude.

Yes

Power > Pset

Digital controllers, including both micro controllers and

digital signal processors (DSP) facilitate the application of
advanced control techniques. The superior capacity of data
processing of the nowadays-available digital controllers offers
the possibility to implement the proposed lamp observer,
including a control loop.
A. Power control
The micro controller as displayed in Fig. 2 simultaneously
samples the lamp voltage and current for one complete LFSW
period sequence. Subsequently, the embedded lamp observer
estimates the physical lamp state vectors in time. The digital
lamp controller validates these state vectors according to the
rules in the lamp status check module (Fig. 12). The lamp
status check module consist of

2.

Delay

Power - Pstep

Yes

Power + Pstep

OBSERVER BASED CONTROL

In this last section the HID lamp state estimator of section

III is combined with a digital control algorithm to construct an
intelligent lamp driver. The control algorithm monitors the
estimated lamp states and controls the lamp power accordingly
with respect to the end-user preferences.

1.

Yes

No

Power < Pset - Pstep

V.

No

Re-ignition check, to prevent extinguishing of the lamp.

Border values for the OCV margin, ESV re-ignition peak
and width are monitored.
Cathode mode check. The electrodes are individually
supervised to avoid cathode spot mode operation. In fact,
the estimated electrode power is monitored.

No

Figure 12. Flowchart digital lamp power control

User interface demands regarding light-level define the

power setpoint Pset value of the control loop. Iterative the power
and therefore the lamp current is adapted with steps of size Pstep
accordingly the Pset value, in case the lamp check is passed.
Additionally, a delay block can be enabled to slow down a
power decrease to prevent an under-damped lamp-ballast
mode. The lamp power control accuracy is limited to Pstep to
overcome limit-cycle oscillation problems. The processing
power is directly related to the power update frequency. To
secure optimal lamp operation and user-interface comfort, the
minimum update frequency is set sufficiently high. Lamp
status information can be provided via the user-interface in
terms of a minimum dim level and lamp failure indication. The
dim level range is limited by the status check constraints.
When the requested light-level is lower than the actual limit,
the minimum dim level flag becomes valid. In case this is true
for the full power operation the lamp failure flag turns on.
B. Online identification
In the basic configuration of the observer based controller a
fixed set of parameters is embedded with the lamp model
equations. Therefore, a small deviation between the identified
parameters and actual process parameters can be expected, due
to lifetime effects, production spread, external influences (arc
tube orientation, tightly closed luminaire), etc. In practice this

lead to a reduced accuracy of estimation. The state of the art

configuration comprises an embedded lamp parameter
identification procedure, including run-up tracing and PRNS
excitation. Online identification enhances the accuracy and
enables the tracking of the lamp behavior over life. These
factors provide a digital controlled HID light system with long
lifetime and stability in light technical properties.
W all temperature

[3]

[4]

[5]

1400

1350

Wall temperature [K]

[2]

[6]

1300

[7]

1250

[8]

1200

[9]

1150

1100
20

[10]
30

40

50
60
Input electrical power [W ]

70

80

90

Figure 13. Estimated wall temperature (K) as function of lamp terminal power
(W)

Light technical properties like color temperature and color

rendering depend on the composition of the arc tube fill and
upon the cold spot temperature of the discharge vessel [10]. In
the proposed lamp model the calculated wall temperature
equals the cold spot temperature. Therefore, it is possible to
provide valuable information related with the light quality,
especially during reduced power operation. In Fig. 13 the
estimated wall temperature versus terminal lamp power is
given for the identified CDM 73W/830 burner.
VI.

CONCLUSION

Important issues when operating ceramic metal halide

lamps at reduced power concerning plasma related lamp-ballast
instabilities as well as electrode behavior are discussed. A lamp
observer model has been described that represents the phase
resolved electrode sheath voltage drop and cold spot discharge
temperature. The identification procedure comprises PRNS
perturbations and run-up tracking. Practical measurements
have shown a strong correlation between the estimated ESV,
sheath power derivative, and optical observations. The ceramic
metal halide observer derives physical lamp state signals
closely associated with HID arc discharge physics and related
photometric properties. Therefore, the proposed observer based
control enables an intelligent electronic ballast and enhances
HID lamp-ballast system performance.

[11]

[12]
[13]
[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]
[23]

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is supported by Philips Lighting Electronics.
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