For more than 35 years, McWong International has developed high-quality lighting controls and related electrical power and protection components. Today, McWong is engineering IoT solutions for the rapidly changing marketplace. With advanced design and manufacturing facilities, McWong offers extensive component choices for OEMs as well as robust solutions for contractors, ESCOs, and facility managers.
A few weeks ago, I met with Stephen Zhou, executive vice president for McWong International. He talked about Bluetooth® trends in 2022 and outlined a few projections for Bluetooth technology in 2023.
Q&A With Stephen Zhou From McWong International
What Bluetooth technology trends from 2022 most stick out to you as it relates to networked lighting control, and what new Bluetooth technology trends do you anticipate seeing in 2023?
“We expect to see continued strong growth in Bluetooth® mesh lighting control applications.”
We expect to see increasing interest and activity in interoperability, both from the customer perspective and from the industry perspective. We’ve seen increased collaboration between technology consortiums like the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), Zhaga, and the Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA) as well as educational efforts like the one recently announced by the Lighting Controls Association (LCA) and DiiA. These activities demonstrate the evolving awareness of the benefits of interoperability and the need to help design and building professionals understand the technologies better so they can integrate interoperability principles into their work.
We also expect to see continued strong growth in Bluetooth mesh lighting control applications – double-digit growth that corresponds to the strong continued market penetration of this technology.
FEATURED CASE STUDY
Greening Spring House Innovation Park With Flexible Outdoor Bluetooth Mesh Control
McWong and Luminosity Lighting provide flexible outdoor lighting control throughout Spring House Innovation Park’s 133-acre campus.
What has been the biggest demand from your customers as it relates to Bluetooth technology in 2022?
There is a great deal of interest in integration between Bluetooth® mesh platforms and building management/automation systems such as those using BACnet. This integration will provide a unified dashboard and platform for controlling not just lighting but also HVAC, access, and other building systems.
There is also increasing awareness that wireless mesh control solutions are not only viable but optimal for outdoor lighting due to the avoided costs of installing wired systems and the reliability and robustness of wireless technologies like Bluetooth mesh.
How have you used Bluetooth technology in 2022, and what will you focus on in 2023?
In 2022, McWong was excited to introduce a robust controller with a long-range antenna to improve performance for outdoor Bluetooth® mesh control networks. The product received the Lightfair Technical Innovation Award as well as recognition from the IES Progress Report – two prestigious industry awards.
“We expect to see greater adoption of Bluetooth® mesh solutions in the marketplace.”
We partnered with Luminosity Lighting and MRA Group to provide flexible outdoor lighting control throughout Spring House Innovation Park’s 133-acre campus (winner of the LightSPEC West inaugural design excellence award). The project team designed and implemented a flexible qualified Bluetooth mesh control network that affords management fingertip adjustability while offering occupants responsive lighting regardless of the time of day.
In 2023, we plan to focus on highly interoperable solutions that leverage not only Bluetooth mesh technology but also comply with Zhaga and D4i requirements. This offers the greatest degree of flexibility to the marketplace in choosing best-of-breed solutions.
What do you think the biggest difference will be in 2023 for Bluetooth technology?
We expect to see greater adoption of Bluetooth® mesh solutions in the marketplace as more and more professionals gain awareness and knowledge about the functional capabilities from a lighting control perspective and the non-lighting benefits that can accompany the implementation of a control platform, such as asset tracking.
FEATURED INNOVATION
Networked Lighting Control
Bluetooth® networked lighting control systems are deployed in offices, retail, healthcare, factories, and other commercial facilities to deliver a combination of energy savings, an enhanced occupant experience, and more efficient building operations.
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