A controller for controlling the illumination state of a light source of solid state lighting devices such as LED or OLED assemblies, is presented. The controller controls the light source according to a plurality of illumination states subject to determine an event of a plurality of events. The controller controls a power converter that converts power derived from an input voltage waveform of line voltage power supply into a drive signal for the light source. The controller determines an event of a plurality of events encoded within the input voltage waveform of the line voltage power supply. A first state processor determines a next illumination state of the plurality of illumination states, based on the determined event and based on the current illumination state. Line voltage Switch event detection is performed while no power is available at the line voltage terminals.