Patent 7642734 was granted and assigned to Osram on January, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Dimming a light source such as a LED over a dimming range (0%-100%) involves adjusting at least one of the intensity (I) and the duty-cycle (DR) of a current flowing through the light source. The dimming range includes at least one portion (L%-H%; 0%-H%) where the light source is fed with a current whose intensity (I) is switched with a given duty cycle (DR) between a non-zero on value and zero, the non-zero on value being a fraction of the rated value (Irated), whereby joint CC and PWM dimming is achieved.