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Bluetooth SIG and DiiA to accelerate IoT-enabled commercial lighting

June 3, 2020 – The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG)—the trade association overseeing Bluetooth technology—and the Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA), the global alliance of Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) companies, announced they are collaborating to accelerate the adoption of IoT-enabled commercial lighting systems.

“Combining Bluetooth mesh with DALI is a natural choice for the commercial lighting industry,” said Paul Drosihn, DiiA general manager. “The combination enables sensor-rich lighting systems and will deliver powerful new IoT capabilities to building managers,” such as automated light-level and colour control, luminaire performance monitoring (e.g. energy usage and predictive maintenance), “as well as enhanced services, such as asset tracking and indoor navigation.”

The image shows one specific implementation of DALI-Bluetooth gateways. Here, a single room contains a network of D4i luminaires connected by Bluetooth mesh. Lighting control is achieved via the intra-luminaire DALI bus, making use of data from onboard sensors. Meantime, the D4i LED drivers are able to store and report a standardized data set—luminaire, energy and diagnostics data—that is available via the Bluetooth mesh network to a connected building management system.

The collaboration will enable the deployment of certified DALI-2 devices and intelligent D4i luminaires with qualified Bluetooth mesh intelligent lighting control networks.

IoT-enabled commercial lighting systems comprise two key components: IoT-enabled luminaires (which include sensors and other devices) and an IoT-enabled lighting control system. DALI-2 from DiiA provides an ecosystem of certified lighting devices, including intelligent D4i luminaires. Bluetooth mesh is an IoT standard for intelligent wireless lighting control networks.

“Commercial building owners around the world are being asked to improve energy efficiency while also enhancing the occupant experience,” said Mark Powell, CEO of Bluetooth SIG. “The IoT-enabled intelligent lighting systems this collaboration enables promise to deliver the exact solution these building owners need.”

“Establishing a standard Bluetooth mesh interface for D4i intelligent luminaries will open up industry opportunity and enable the deployment of even more advanced, interoperable IoT-enabled commercial lighting systems, while ensuring an equivalent light control behavior between both standards,” said Arnulf Rupp, head of standardization at Osram.

The image shows one specific implementation of DALI-Bluetooth gateways. Here, a single room contains a network of D4i luminaires connected by Bluetooth mesh. Lighting control is achieved via the intra-luminaire DALI bus, making use of data from onboard sensors. Meantime, the D4i LED drivers are able to store and report a standardized data set—luminaire, energy and diagnostics data—that is available via the Bluetooth mesh network to a connected building management system.