In my previous article on Bluetooth Mesh and DALI – the Perfect Match, we examined the history and benefits of a Bluetooth® Mesh and DALI partnership. Now, let’s take a closer look under the hood of the integration to see how Bluetooth Mesh and DALI connect.

To explain how Bluetooth Mesh connects to DALI, the brand owned by the Digital Illumination Interface Alliance, our starting point will be a luminaire, such as the troffer in your office ceiling, a linear suspended type, or any other type. Internally, despite different form factors, they are all very similar, consisting of a light source (LEDs) and a driver (provides power to LEDs). Very often, luminaires also have occupancy and light level sensors built in. Traditionally, the sensor was controlling the driver over an analog line (0-10V line). At 0V the driver was dimmed to off, at 10V it was at full power, and any voltage in the middle was (approximately) translating to the dim level – e.g., 4V was dimming the driver down to about 40 percent. This was in the analog world.

Lighting Goes Digital

With the arrival of Bluetooth® Mesh networking, the sensors have become mesh enabled. The sensor device, which typically included occupancy and ambient light level sensors, could now also include a microprocessor and a Bluetooth radio (often as an integrated SoC – System on Chip). And, instead of blindly controlling the driver, the sensor could start exchanging the information over the mesh network – publishing its own data and subscribing to other sensors. Strictly speaking, in a Bluetooth mesh network, a sensor cannot subscribe to another sensor as it has no means to deal with the received data.

This is where the most powerful weapon in the Bluetooth Mesh Model arsenal – the lighting controller (LC) – comes into play. The LC is a piece of software which is designed to run on the microprocessor (or the SoC) inside a sensor, transforming a dumb sensor into an intelligent sensor-equipped lighting controller.

Thanks to miniaturization, the device still looks like a sensor but is way more powerful. It is able to drive complete lighting control strategies, such as occupancy, vacancy, or daylight harvesting. What is more, it behaves like a cell in an intelligent organism – coordinating the actions with neighboring lights to achieve fully synchronized action. All that without any central controller as is typical with previous generations of networked lighting systems. The legacy control box is gone – the distributed controllers embedded in luminaire sensors transform a network of luminaires into a collectively intelligent lighting system; a system with no single point of failure as each luminaire is fully autonomous yet perfectly synchronized with the others.

Digital DALI Bus

Now in the digital world, enabled by DALI, the 0-10V control line between the sensor controller and the driver is replaced by a digital bus. This bus is very simple – just two ordinary wires. First of all, this two-wire bus provides both communications and power, so the sensor does not need any external power source; we say it is powered by the DALI bus. Secondly, the communication over the DALI bus is digital, leaving no room for approximation. There is no longer an approximation of about 40 percent. It is precisely 40 percent (or any other dim level required). A comparable difference is like that between an analog vinyl record and a compact disc – precision. And thirdly, DALI supports not only control commands, but it also supports queries, which can report back some data – this was impossible in the analog world. Strictly speaking, the Bluetooth® Mesh device – with all its networking, sensing, and control functions – becomes (using the DALI terminology) an intra-luminaire application controller.

Modern DALI drivers (known as D4i drivers) collect a lot of data. Thanks to bi-directional digital communication over the DALI bus, all this data can be collected and made available to the Bluetooth network for further processing and analysis.

For a deeper dive into using Bluetooth® Mesh as the inter-luminaire system for lighting control and management, check out: Building a Sensor-Driven Lighting Control System Based on Bluetooth® Mesh.

FEATURED DOWNLOAD

Bluetooth Mesh Models – A Technical Overview

This detailed technical paper provides a guided tour of the Bluetooth Mesh models, taking an in-depth look at the building blocks critical to Bluetooth Mesh interoperability.

INSTANT DOWNLOAD

Smart Lighting Control Brightens the Future of Bluetooth Illumination

Smart lighting is a key component of smart commercial buildings and the connected home.…

Accessing the IoT Ecosystem

IoT has been an emerging technology for many years. It first appeared on the…

Walkthrough Bluetooth Mesh 1.1 and Bluetooth® Networked Lighting Control (NLC)

If you are interested in the new features introduced in the Bluetooth® Mesh or…

The Importance of Standardizing Wireless Lighting Controlワイヤレス照明制御における標準規格の重要性

Lighting control systems are deployed in offices, retail, healthcare, factories, and other commercial facilities…

Six Bluetooth Mesh Feature Enhancements to Get Excited About

The new Bluetooth mesh feature enhancements offer more robust security, improved network efficiency, reduced…

What’s New with the Latest Bluetooth Mesh Specification

In the evolving landscape of IoT, Bluetooth mesh topology has emerged as an important…

Bluetooth SIG Introduces Networked Lighting Control (NLC) Profile

Silvair welcomes Bluetooth® NLC as an important milestone in the development of a global…

Why Go Wireless for Commercial Lighting Control?商用照明制御システムをワイヤレス化する理由とは?

Figure 1: Wireless Shipments Trends Lighting control systems feature an intelligent network of individually…

Creating Optimal Learning Environments: How Lighting Control Revolutionizes Schools

LED Lighting plays a crucial role in the overall quality of educational environments. It…

The Benefits of Bluetooth Networked Lighting ControlBluetoothネットワーク照明制御がもたらすメリット

Lighting control systems feature an intelligent network of individually addressable and sensor-rich luminaires and…

Bluetooth® Mesh Feature Enhancements Summary

This paper summarizes the recent Bluetooth® Mesh feature enhancements and provides references to other…

Bluetooth® Mesh Subnet Bridging - Technical Overview

This paper examines subnet bridging, a new feature introduced in the Bluetooth® Mesh protocol…

ABI Snapshot - 2023 Bluetooth Market Update

The Bluetooth® Market Update, released annually by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), highlights…

2023 Bluetooth® Market Update

Featuring new market insights and industry forecasts from ABI Research and other analyst firms...

Features and Benefits of Bluetooth Mesh 1.1 for Wireless Mesh Networking

Commercial and industrial applications like lighting require large-scale, low-power device networks where thousands of…

Bringing Wireless Controls To The Epicentre Of Connectivity

This year, the time came for the lighting infrastructure at the Bluetooth SIG headquarters…

Smart Lighting And Controls Halve Energy Consumption At Campus Pitzemburg

Campus Pitzemburg has cut its energy usage by 50% thanks to smart controlled energy…

Sylvania Lets Efficiency And Control Fly High At FLYINGGROUP Antwerp

FLYINGGROUP Antwerp was looking for a solution for their meeting rooms that were more…

2022 Bluetooth® Market Update

Featuring new market insights and industry forecasts from ABI Research and other analyst firms...

Smart Solutions Using Network Lighting Infrastructures

An intelligent network lighting control infrastructure helps business owners and staff know more about…

Bluetooth Range and Reliability: Myth vs Fact

As Bluetooth is becoming more and more ubiquitous in smart homes, buildings, and factories,…

The Role of Lighting in Smart Buildings

Undoubtedly, everyone is aware of two types of lighting, i.e., wired and wireless. It…

2021 Bluetooth® Market Update

Supported by updated forecasts from ABI Research and insights from several other analyst firms, the Bluetooth Market Update highlights the latest Bluetooth trends and forecasts.

Designing and Developing Bluetooth® Internet Gateways

Learn about Bluetooth internet gateways, how to make them secure and scalable, and design and implement your own working prototype gateway and web application for use with either Bluetooth LE Peripherals or with Bluetooth mesh networks.

How to Make Wearables Bluetooth Mesh Provisioners

Learn how to create applications for smartwatches and other platforms that can monitor and control nodes in a Bluetooth mesh network.

Lighting as a Platform

See how connected lighting systems are being used as a platform to enable advanced building services like wayfinding, asset tracking, and space utilization to improve the ROI of smart building investments.

An Introduction to the Bluetooth Mesh Proxy Function

Learn how to create applications for smartphones and other platforms which can monitor and control nodes in a Bluetooth mesh network.

Build a Smarter Building with Blue

See how Bluetooth increases reliability, reduces costs, and enhances your smart building ROI.

Overview – Bluetooth Mesh Networking

A quick overview outlining how Bluetooth mesh uniquely meets the reliability, scalability, and security requirements of commerical and industrial markets.

 Get Help