Control of LED luminaires — An overview of competing wired and wireless standards

LED lighting is rapidly displacing entrenched lighting technologies as the preferred method of illumination. Not only must the light output be controlled, but energy conservation and safety goals are pushing sensor/monitoring functions such as ambient light, occupancy, temperature, smoke, carbon monoxide, and other detectors into the luminaires. LED lighting also offers the capability of proximal data transmission using modulation techniques analogous to other photonic methods. The simple light fixture is evolving into a sophisticated system requiring centralized coordination and control, and there are many rival communication standards, wired and wireless, competing for acceptance. The choice of which standard or standards to adopt is complicated by the variety and breadth of the application space which may range from a single room up to the public lighting of an entire city. Furthermore, the availability of supporting infrastructure and the economics of installation and maintenance must be considered in the selection process. This paper presents an overview of the more common communication standards and discusses the merits of each relative to specific applications. In particular, Power of Ethernet (PoE) is presented as a solution for much of the application space.