NETWORKED LIGHTING
devices. Employees can quickly
find a drop-in workspace or locate
another employee’s workspace,
and customers can get directly
to the depar tment they seek.
In case of emergency, the
systems can direct occupants
automatically and safely out of
the building.
In retail environments, smart
lighting powered by the network
can be used to measure store
traffic patterns; better understand
customer and staff behaviour and
traffic flow to identify premium
locations for featured products
and services and optimise sales.
The systems can also feature
special promotions, sale items and
continually change them without
having to make physical lighting
changes. It’s also possible to
guide customers to specific items
or areas with light and closely
mimic natural light to show truer
colours and reduce return rates.
Powering intelligent
lighting systems
T h e m a j o r i t y of i nte l l i ge nt
l i g h t i n g s y s te m s c o n s i s t of a
c e nt ra l i s e d L E D p owe r s y s te m
t h at p rov i d e s a D C c u r re nt to
l u m i n a i re s o r s e n s o r s i n s ta l l e d i n
t h e c e i l i n g . T h e re a re t wo wa y s
o f a c h i ev i n g t h i s :
ower over Ethernet (PoE):
P
A standard that allows both
power and control signals to
be transmitted along the same
RJ45 cable to an intelligent light
containing an electronic LED and
control interface.
P aE solutions: A system where
manufacturers provide power
to LED fixtures from centralised
LED driver units, which may
include the ability to use
sensors with RJ45 or other
connection methods.
PoE systems have a significant
cost implication as the only high
power (>25W) systems available
are proprietary, which limits high
volume deployments. See Table 1
(right) for an explanation.
A new, highly cost effective
DC-based solution from Integrated
System Technologies termed
Power and Ethernet (PaE), offers
improved benefits over standard
PoE, without the cost prohibitive
PoE end-points (similar to LED
drivers), whilst improving overall
system reliability.
In contrast to PoE, the PaE
digital lighting system provides
Ethernet connectivity to a
centralised LED driver rack unit,
which then provides DC power
to remote fixtures or sensors via
standard PoE RJ45 Category 6A
cabling infrastructures. There
are significant advantages of
the iDrive Power and Ethernet
solutions, including rapid setup
and programming compared to
traditional control systems, such
as DALI, Ethernet-based systems
offer 500x speed improvement for
commissioning, PaE also delivers
reduced commissioning costs
with no need for programming
engineers. All that is required is
simple low voltage wiring, no need
for specialised electricians, as
mains voltages are not prevalent
in the system. This approach
also reduces the need for large
mains distribution boards within
confined riser cupboards. PaE
also delivers significantly fewer
issues with inrush currents and
RCD trip currents compared to
standard LED driver solutions
and the Category 6A cabling
infrastructure reduces installation
Standards Max
Current Energised
Paris Power at
Device Standard
Ratified
PoE IEEE
802.3af
(802.at
Type1) 350mA 2 12.95W 2003
PoE+ IEEE
803.3at
Type 2 600mA 2 25.5W 2009
PoE++ Proposed
IEE 802.bt
Type 3 600mA 4 49W Expected
2018
PoE++ Proposed
IEEE
802.3bt
Type 4 1000mA 4 96W Expected
2018
Non-PoE
standard-
based Cisco
UP0E 600mA 4 96W No official
ratification
Non-PoE
standard-
based HDBase-T 1000mA 4 96W No official
ratification
iDrive ®
PaE Standard
DC power 1600mA 4 76.8W Use
standard
DC power
Type
Table 1: Comparison
of PoE and PaE
solutions
costs up to 20% compared
with conventional AC-powered
systems. Finally, the concept
enables project timetables to be
accelerated as secondary works
can be undertaken during lighting
installation as the low voltage
makes them safe.
Maintenance phase savings
Figures 1a (left)
and 1b (right)
demonstrate how
low voltage DC PaE
systems reduce the
amount of wiring
and complexity for
installations
Once fitted, the systems continue
to offer benefits. Centralised iDrive
LED drivers are easy to access,
reducing the need for high level
maintenance work, this in turn
reduces downtime and out-of-
hours labour costs. LED drivers
are also easy to access, without
disrupting retail spaces, school,
hospital and commercial buildings.
Less disruption of course means
happier clients and to keep them
that way, it’s very easy to change
lighting configuration, as systems
are DC-based with simple RJ45
plug-and-play connections.
PoE systems are commonly
used today within buildings
to support VoIP telephone
and security CCTV systems,
where devices have low power
requirements. There are two
reasons why PoE is not currently
being deployed in lighting
installations, no ratified standard
for high power (>25W) devices
exists and current high power
systems are hugely expensive
(>£250 per luminaire point).
September 2017 | 19