The Zigbee Alliance is working with the Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA), the global industry organisation for Dali lighting control, to bring more standardisation and system interoperability to IoT luminaires.
 
This development aims to help stakeholders realise the benefits of combining wired Dali lighting-control systems with wireless Zigbee networks as the IoT progresses.
 
“Our liaison agreement with the Zigbee Alliance is part of the DiiA’s commitment to address different options for combining wireless communication links with Dali lighting control,” said Paul Drosihn, DiiA general manager. “Developing specifications and testing requirements for gateways between Zigbee ecosystems and wired Dali networks will ensure interoperability that’s backed by certification.”
 
The two organisations are collaborating on the development of a gateway specification to support a forthcoming certification programme. This blending of low-power Zigbee technologies with Dali’s digital lighting control gives users a combination for intelligent illumination systems.
 
“The intersection of wired and wireless is where industry can work better together during this IoT transition to benefit those invested in both technology camps as well as consumers as they embrace connected devices,” said Tobin Richardson, CEO of the Zigbee Alliance. “Pairing DiiA’s wired control with Zigbee wireless standards brings more choice to markets that rely on these technologies for various use cases and as a springboard for future innovation.”
 
Established in 2002, the Zigbee Alliance has a global membership that collaborates to create and evolve universal open standards. Its board of directors comprises executives from Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Google, Ikea, Kroger, Leedarson, Legrand, Lutron Electronics, NXP Semiconductors, Resideo, Schneider Electric, Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), Silicon Labs, SmartThings, Somfy, ST Microelectronics, Texas Instruments and Wulian.
 
The DiiA is an open consortium of lighting companies that aims to grow the market for lighting control based on Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (Dali) technology. DiiA is driving the adoption of Dali-2, the latest version of the internationally standardised Dali protocol. Dali-2 includes more product types, more features, clearer specifications, increased testing and product certification.
 
The Dali-2 certification and trademark programme, operated by the DiiA, aims to build confidence in cross-vendor product interoperability. The DiiA develops test specifications for Dali-2 product compliance testing, and creates specifications for additional Dali-2 features and functions. The D4i certification programme from the DiiA brings standardisation to intra-luminaire Dali.