Scalability of dense wireless lighting control networks

In modern lighting systems, the introduction of wirelessly controlled LED light sources leads to very dense wireless lighting networks. Current approaches for control message transmission are based on broadcasting messages among many luminaires. However, adequate communication performance-in particular, sufficiently low latency and synchronicity-is difficult to ensure in such networks, especially if the network is part of a wireless building management system and carries not only low-latency broadcast messages but also collects data from sensors. This article describes the challenge of dense wireless lighting control networks. In particular, it discusses the underlying mechanisms and refers to current wireless sensor network solutions in which scalability is relevant.