DALI over IP

Internet Protocol (IP) solutions for DALI

DALI is evolving to offer IP-based solutions to complement the well-established and widely-deployed version of DALI that connects devices with a simple pair of wires.

The DALI Alliance has introduced DALI+ which uses IP-based and/or wireless carriers to transport the DALI commands. DALI+ offers the same sophisticated DALI lighting-control features as wired options, as well as access to a rich set of data from both luminaires and sensors.

The first standardized implementation of DALI+ over IP will use Thread’s low-power, wireless-mesh networking protocol as the underlying carrier.

Several other variants of DALI+ over IP, including both wireless and wired options, are envisaged by the DALI Alliance.

>> More about DALI+

Benefits of IP in commercial buildings

The use of IP as the common networking protocol in commercial buildings allows IT systems and building services, including lighting control, to operate on a secure, all IP-based configuration. As a result, building operators can expect:

► end-to-end addressing and security;

► easy connectivity between previously-isolated applications;

► limitless scalability;

► better, faster and lower cost integration; and

► great flexibility and choice of both physical transports and applications.

IP-BLiS

The DALI Alliance has joined IP-BLiS, the "IP Building & Lighting Standards" market interest group that was launched in June 2020 by BACnet International, KNX Association, OCF, Thread Group and the Zigbee Alliance.

Together, these standards organizations support the widespread adoption of a secure, multi-standard, IP-based infrastructure as the backbone in commercial buildings for lighting and building-automation solutions.

While IP-BLiS speaks with a unified voice to promote IP-based networking with common transport and security requirements, the organization will not create its own standards. Each participant is responsible for specifying its own technology. This allows companies to decide which solution or solutions work best for their business and use cases.

Similarly, IP-BLiS seeks to align security requirements for the industry, rather than reinventing them. Security issues are discussed in an IP-BLiS blog entitled “Common Myths About IP Networking for IoT.”