LTE-connected luminaires create narrowband IoT-based smart street lighting
LTE connected luminaires bring smart control to new and existing street lighting systems, says u-blox, citing the Flashnet lighting control system. The Swiss u-blox and Romanian Flashnet announced the SARA-N2 series of narrowband, internet of things (NB-IoT) LTE Cat NB1 modules that enable inteliLight, the world’s first NB-IoT connected smart street lighting control system claims Flashnet.
A pilot project is deployed on the OTE (Telekom) network in Patras, Greece.
There are hundreds of inteliLight projects deployed worldwide, continues Flashnet. The smart street lighting remote management uses a range of communication protocols. It ensures that the right amount of light is provided where and when needed, to improve resources management and sustainability.
Flashnet partnered with u‑blox on the development of its FRE‑220‑NB range of NB‑IoT-compatible luminaire controllers.
The family of controllers can be embedded into most luminaire designs and enable the individual remote control (on/off, dimming) of LED street lights with electronic ballasts up to 400W. The smart control extends to monitoring a range of electrical parameters, the ability for over the air (OTA) updates and support for autonomous operation.
The NB‑IoT protocol targets IoT applications that have low bandwidth requirements, making it suitable, says u-blox, for smart lighting. As part of the LTE family of standards, NB‑IoT can be supported within existing LTE infrastructure, offering carrier-grade reliability, security, reach and stability. u‑blox’s SARA‑N2 series was the world’s first NB‑IoT module, it combines low power consumption with an extended temperature range in a small land grid array (LGA) form factor.
Lorand Mozes, CEO at Flashnet says: “We believe the industry is ready to adopt NB‑IoT and, thanks to our work with u-blox, we are the first supplier able to offer a robust and fully featured product line-up. By selecting the SARA‑N2 modules from u‑blox we have been able to bring our FRE‑220NB range of NB‑IoT connected luminaires to market in a very short period of time”.
u‑blox produces wireless and positioning modules and chips for the automotive, industrial and consumer markets. They are used in vehicles and machines to locate the exact position and allow people and equipment to communicate wirelessly over cellular and short range networks. The company’s headquarters are in Thalwil, Switzerland, and the company has offices in Europe, Asia, and the USA.
http://www.u-blox.com
