With the advent of connected lighting technologies, a new approach to the commissioning process is needed. Different communication protocols impose different limitations and suppliers have all sorts of ideas as to how to address them. In this seminar, we will dive deep into wireless commissioning, discussing the challenges and opportunities it brings. From simple scenarios to advanced lighting control strategies, we’ll investigate what is needed to commission a connected lighting system in a time- and cost-efficient manner. We’ll analyze good practices and common misconceptions, as well as the latest innovations delivered by Bluetooth mesh.

1. Solving the challenges of commissioning
a wireless lighting infrastructure

2. www.silvair.com
Michał Hobot,
VP of Product at Silvair
Solving the challenges of
commissioning a wireless
lighting infrastructure
Ray Pfeifer
VP of Sales and Business Development at Silvair

3. Major issues with wireless lighting
control technologies available today
• proprietary systems
• reliability and scalability issues
• security concerns
• high complexity and lack of standardized tools /
approaches
www.silvair.com

4. Lighting control: A missed opportunity
Percent of Buildings with Control Strategy
Daylight
responsive
lighting
Building
automation
system for
lighting
Source: 2012 Commercial
Buildings Energy Consumption
Survey, US energy Information
Administration
Light
scheduling
Occupancy
sensors
Multi-level lighting
or dimming
Daylight
harvesting
18%
16%
16%
2%
7% 7%
www.silvair.com

5. Lighting control: A missed opportunity
Source: DLC, Navigant
Consulting 2014
Penetration of Advanced Networked
Lighting Controls in Commercial
Buildings
2.21% 0.79%
2.43%
2.17%
1.12%
0.67%
1.33% 1.29%
Retail Education Healthcare Hospitality Institutional
/ Assembly
Warehouse TransportOffice
www.silvair.com

6. Three fundamental challenges
www.silvair.com

7. What can accelerate widespread adoption
of connected lighting controls?
• further technology improvements (wire-like
reliability/responsiveness is a must)
• standardization
• further cost reduction
• clear value proposition
• compliance with building energy codes
• less complexity, dedicated user-friendly tools
www.silvair.com

8. Leading wireless technologies
with mesh topology
www.silvair.com

9. The evolution of Bluetooth
www.silvair.com

10. Qualified Bluetooth mesh networking
• Many-to-many communications
• Scalability to thousands of nodes
• Publish/subscribe architecture
• No single point of failure
• Secure by design
• Ease of deployment/use
www.silvair.com

11. Lack of interoperability
— the IoT’s biggest roadblock to widespread adoption
Bluetooth mesh networking:
• open, globally interoperable standard
• fully defined application layer
• single radio frequency
• all the layers of the OSI model covered
• strict certification procedure
www.silvair.com

12. Major benefits:
• improved efficiency
• better scalability
• more robust communication
Extremely relevant both for the growing Internet, as
well as for high-density building automation networks.
Information Centric Networking /
Named Data Networking
— the next big step in the evolution of networking
technologies
www.silvair.com

13. Bluetooth mesh: applying the ICN
concept to connected lighting
networks
• fully decentralized architecture (no hub, dispersed controllers)
• publish-subscribe paradigm as a radical departure from a host-centric
architecture
• efficient multicast communications
• sensor data (ambient light/occupancy) becomes addressable information
• addresses of individual nodes don't matter, sensor data is the focal
point - other nodes subscribe to it and respond accordingly
www.silvair.com

14. Qualified Bluetooth mesh is here
• adopted in July 2017
• supported by leading
chipmakers
• first wave of devices on
its way to the market
• Mesh Model Specification
focused heavily on
lighting applications
www.silvair.com

15. Qualified Bluetooth mesh is here
www.silvair.com

16. www.silvair.com

17. Wireless commissioning process
1. Network formation
2. Device and mapping
3. Logic configuration
www.silvair.com

18. Wireless commissioning process
1. Network formation
• it’s time consuming
• it requires IT engineering expertise (i.e. it’s expensive)
• lengthy negotiations are needed to obtain relevant permits and
connect with the building’s IT infrastructure
• this is the part that is often completely omitted in suppliers’
marketing materials
2. Device identification and mapping
3. Logic configuration
www.silvair.com

19. Wireless commissioning process
1. Network formation
2. Device identification and mapping
• the challenge of identifying/mapping network nodes on a floor plan
• when communication happens via a gateway, you cannot tell which
node is close and which node is far away from the commissioning
device
• do we need barometric sensors in lighting devices?
3. Logic configuration
www.silvair.com

20. Wireless commissioning process
1. Network formation
2. Device identification and mapping
3. Logic configuration
• the problem of device addressing
• device replacement challenge: how many sensors need to be
adjusted if a fixture is replaced?
www.silvair.com

21. Our approach to commissioning
For the sake of convenience and flexibility, we have divided the
commissioning process into two stages:
• Planning
• Implementation
www.silvair.com

22. Planning stage
The planning stage is performed remotely using a
browser-based interface. The person responsible for
commissioning can perform all preparatory tasks
before visiting the site. These include importing floor
plans, defining individual lighting zones, choosing
desired lighting control scenarios, and adjusting
operational settings.
www.silvair.com

23. www.silvair.com

24. Implementation stage
The commissioning process is finalized on-site
using a smartphone/tablet with a dedicated
commissioning app. As part of the implementation
stage, the network is formed and all relationships
are configured automatically. The commissioning
app implements the lighting control scenarios
selected during the planning stage.
www.silvair.com

25. www.silvair.com

26. www.silvair.com

27. Full stack approach to
connected lighting
www.silvair.com

28. Learn more about Bluetooth mesh
www.silvair.com

29. Thank you!
Silvair is a pioneer in Bluetooth-based smart lighting technologies
and a leading contributor to the Bluetooth SIG’s Mesh Working Group.
We have developed the world's first qualified Bluetooth mesh stack
with flexible lighting firmware packages, as well as a complete set of
tools for commissioning, managing and controlling connected lighting
networks in commercial spaces. All our solutions are based on the
globally interoperable Bluetooth mesh networking standard.
www.silvair.com