August 2007

Innovations in Comfort, Efficiency, and Safety Solutions.

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AutomatedBuildings.com

http://www.automatedbuildings.com/news/aug07/articles/ice/070724095808hodge.htm

Phillip Hodge
Business Development Manager
Building Technology
DALI – ( Digital Addressable Lighting Interface ) has been around for several years.
Integration Control & Engineering

For those who have spent many years in the “BMS” world and consider lighting control as not much more than a series of contacts on an I/O module
somewhere, it might be time to pay close attention to DALI !

DALI – ( Digital Addressable Lighting Interface ) has been around for several years. The general availability of DALI products
from various manufacturers and the adoption of DALI technology by the industry ( designers, installers end customers ) has
been coming for some time. The days of DALI based lighting designs, as mainstream solutions are here now.

The first word of the DALI acronym is the key “Digital”. DALI takes lighting control into the digital domain leveraging up to the
minute digital processing and communications technology. DALI is essentially very simple in its concept and use, however, that
simplicity is built upon the latest that technology has to offer. There are many features and benefits of DALI lighting control, this
document is intended to give some background on DALI origin, an overview of the technology and insight as to how and where
the technology might be used.

DALI came about via a collaboration of several lighting manufacturers back in the late 1990’s. It was obvious then that lighting
control needed to be part of the digital revolution. The other important point determined at that stage was that this digital
technology needed to be open to all and ideally adopted by many product manufacturers as possible. DALI is now an
International Standard (IEC 62386) and is referenced in several other IEC standards. An important point to note from the outset
is that DALI is not a system of lighting control as such, it is a protocol adopted in relevant lighting control products and systems.

Another important point is that DALI is open and it is adopted by most of the relevant lighting product manufacturers. Now, in
this industry the word “open” is used in almost every sentence and I am one of the biggest critics of so called “open systems”
that actually incorporate proprietary implementations of open protocols and therefore are not open at all. DALI is a solid and
robust protocol. One of the best tests for the correct implementation open standards is “interoperability” of different products
from different manufacturers. At this stage the interoperability test for DALI products appears largely intact. This has not
stopped some manufacturers from adding “features” over and above the DALI standards to distinguish their products from those
of their competitors, more on that at another time.

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DALI The Basics.

The diagram below shows a typical DALI schematic.

The wiring for a DALI light fitting is typically five conductors of electrical lighting cable. Active – neutral – protective earth plus two conductors for DALI
communications D1 & D2. These conductors are usually the same type as the electrical power conductors (active, neutral and protective earth) and
may even be inside the same cable sheath as the power conductors. The D1 & D2 cabling is referred to as the “DALI Loop”. The DALI Loop with DALI
devices connected is often referred to as a DALI Network. A DALI power supply is needed to power the DALI communications on the D1 & D2 circuit.

The digital communications in DALI (1’s and 0’s) is achieved by devices clamping or shorting the DALI loop. For this reason it is very important to note
the maximum DALI power supply total on any single loop is 250mA. Another basic and important point is that DALI ballasts, transformers, drivers etc
switch and dim lighting loads at the fitting/ballast. There are no switch wires to run down walls and there are no centralized switching or dimming
modules back in a switchboard. Each DALI light fitting has constant power connected and each DALI unit controls the load directly. For those of you
with lighting controls experience of a centralized nature like the Clipsal C-Bus , Vantage, Lutron, Crestron, Dynalite, etc, you can liken DALI technology
to taking the centralized switching and distributing the control and intelligence to each and every light fitting. This does present some challenges in
terms of system maintenance, however, this point also presents very powerful and efficient lighting control opportunities.

Each DALI network can consist of up to 64 individual addressed devices. In practice less than 64 light fittings are connected to a DALI loop to allow
connection of other DALI devices like group controllers, scene controllers, PC interface, gateway modules etc. Using less than the maximum number of
fittings at the outset also allows for easy and flexible addition of new fittings in the future. In addition to 64 individual addresses each DALI device can
belong to 16 groups and have 16 preset scenes programmed. The wiring topology of a DALI loop is open. For commercial projects DALI installs
present unique benefits from the start of the design up to the day the building is knocked down.

For the lighting designer at the early stages of the design there is no need to worry about light fitting groups or circuits. Each DALI fitting is simply wired
in parallel on the DALI loop. For projects where lighting is critical to architectural feature DALI products provide very high precision of control, eg a DALI
dimming ballast can dim precisely from 1% to 100%. The old days of coarse 0-10 volt control and series relays switching power are long gone.

The straight forward nature of the DALI install lends itself very well to commercial base building design where office or “tenancy fit-out” details are not
known or where it is possible that the tenancy fit-out is likely to change over time. In illustrating this point – referring to the DALI Lighting Schematic, if
an office was built around light fittings 1,2,6 & 7 these fittings could be easily programmed to operate as DALI Group 1, from that point on any
command associated with Group 1 will result in those four fittings switching and dimming as if they were physically wired on the same circuit. If in the
future the office layout was extended and light fittings 11 & 12 were now inside the office area, they would simply be reprogrammed to function as part
of Group 1 and now it would appear that fittings 1,2,,6,7,11 & 12 were wired as a circuit. DALI light fittings can belong to more that one group. If you
wanted a security patrol or cleaner mode, fittings 2, 6 & 12 could be programmed to function as Group 12 and so on. In addition to the groupings, DALI
fittings can be pre-programmed with up to 16 scene settings. Once the fittings are programmed a scene controller or other device simply sends a scene
command on the network and units go to their preset values. There are many powerful and smart opportunities available with this technology. A typical
scenario includes the introduction of a light level sensor in areas where natural daylight is present. Light fittings adjacent to windows can be dimmed if
there is enough daylight present at a given time. Smart DALI controllers / gateways can monitor fittings adjacent to windows which may be dimmed and
dim a fitting inside the exterior one with an offset. ( More on advanced solutions later.) In many situations especially where high efficiency luminaries
like Tri Phosphor T5 are in use, there may be an abundance of artificial light available. Pursuant to light level readings it is possible to commission DALI
light fittings so they do not dim above a certain level. Eg, a group of fittings in a certain area can be limited to a 75% maximum level if the resultant
lumen output is sufficient. It is important to note that power or dim level and lumen output are not usually linear, this means a 25% reduction in power
may result in only 5 or 10% reduction in luminous intensity (light output). This is obviously different for various products. The reduction in power
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consumed obviously saves energy, cost and heat loading to a given area. So from the basic level of programming and control you can see that DALI
presents many flexible and smart opportunities for lighting control.

One of the major attributes of the DALI standard is two way communications. So far we have covered basic commissioning and network commands to
DALI devices. Each DALI ballast or light fitting controller has built in intelligence allowing the ballast and lamp to be monitored for fault or failure. If a
fault is detected by the DALI control device it is communicated on the DALI network. This situation is particularly useful as the DALI standard has been
expanded to include exit and emergency light fittings.

There are many product manufacturers developing network controllers and gateway products for the DALI standard. In Australia a leading product
supplier in this category is Dali Control. The BM2500 gateway/controller connects DALI networks to an Ethernet backbone. Controllers are self
contained and locally process many functions for the automation and control of DALI networks. An onboard real time clock ensures all time scheduled
events operate regardless of whether the controller is on line and communicating with central management software. The controllers serve up DALI
fault information via WEB and also incorporate I/O to allow movement sensors, switches etc to control the connected DALI devices. The gateway
controllers communicated to central management and emergency light fitting control software. In addition high level interface is possible to other
systems via XML over the Ethernet network.

Now we are entering into the domain of systems information and leveraging this information across systems. Building Management Systems, by
today’s standard need to be far more than just DDC controls for HVAC. We are in the digital age of information. The Internet gives us all ready and
rapid access to all types of information. The Internet and IP networks are ubiquitous, this rapidly advancing communications technology is impacting
many aspects of our world. The world of building controls is one domain in particular that is being impacted by this advancing technology. I have a
strong belief that building controls solutions that don’t adequately accommodate all the relevant technology disciplines (security, access control, CCTV,
fire, metering, HVAC, intelligent lighting etc) and solutions that don’t leverage the valuable information from these systems, will be seen as sub
standard maybe even unacceptable, for a world where resources are finite and the environment is under enormous strain.

Systems information from building controls networks is valuable. In many cases this information may be used more than once. When we consider
communications networks, industry standard protocols and true systems integration we are in the era of collecting information or data and making good
use of it. In the first instance we might monitor the system status of one system and make use of that information for the optimal performance of
another system. Eg, the lights go off in a particular area or an area of a security system is armed, if there is a corresponding air conditioning zone the
relevant fan coil or VAV unit can be placed on setback mode or shutdown depending on the time of day. For countries like Australia, there are ever
increasing requirements for buildings to be energy performance rated Green Star, ABGR. Often development approval and later tenant occupancy
depends on this performance rating being met and maintained. For this situation the data we have spoken about can be used from a database for the
purpose of analysis, trending and audit reports etc. The flexible control options of DALI and the information available in a DALI install fits in well with
this information model.

About the Author

Phillip Hodge - Worked in electronics and communications field for 23 years. Licensed as a Security Consultant in NSW – Australia, having
specialized in information security and specialist security systems design for Government and corporate clients for over a decade. In the late 90’s
became involved in lighting control and later building controls in general. 2001 to 2006 was the technical and sales manager for Clipsal C-Bus in New
South Wales (Sydney) focusing on the commercial application of the technology. For the last year has worked as the Business Development Manager
– Building Technology for Integration Control & Engineering (ICE) Pty Ltd, and has helped to strategically position ICE to offer it customers truly open
and powerful integrated systems solutions. ICE Website

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 Another Schematic setup of the DALI System

https://www.sunricher.com/dali-series.html

Digital Addressable Lighting Interface ( DALI )

By Renesas (Contributed Content)|

Friday, December 05, 2014

https://www.eeweb.com/profile/renesas/articles/digital-addressable-lighting-interface-dali

This application note presents the method of implementation of a Digital Addressable Lighting Interface ( DALI ).

This document briefly describes an introduction of DALI, as well as its electrical specification, examples of its reception and transmission
circuit, the software and source code files for DALI.

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What is DALI ?

DALI is an acronym and stands for “ Digital Addressable Lighting Interface ”.

It is an international standard that guarantees the exchangeability of dimmable ballast from different manufacturers.

The DALI-interface has been described in the fluorescent lamp ballast standard IEC 60929 under Annex E.

DALI is the ideal, simplified, digital way of communication, tailored to the needs of present day lighting technology.

It closes the gap between the analog 1 - 10 V interface and the more complex building management systems like EIB or LON etc.

FIGURE - 1

The DALI bus is a two-wire interface, the used voltage levels are shown in Figure-2.

The bus is powered either by the main controller or by an external power supply. The maximum supply current has to be limited to 250 mA
and the current consumption of each device at the DALI line is maximum 2 mA. The communication is performed by sinking the current on
the line. Due to the fact that the communication lines are galvanically separated from the mains voltage, all devices can operate on different
phases.

FIGURE -2

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Characteristics and Capability

 Standardization in IEC 60 929, so the combination of devices from different manufactures is possible.
 Slow communication speed ( 1200 bit/s ) and wide distributing voltage distance guarantees a secure operation.
 Manchester code used, to identify communication errors.
 Simple two-wire interface ( non-polarity/potential isolated ) with a max length of 300 m between first and last unit
o Power lines and control lines can be in the same cable.
o No terminating resistor required.
 Limited system size, 64 sub-unit can be controlled by one main controller. Broadcast, group or single addressing possible.
 Programming fade-times, fade-rates up to 16 scenes. Programmable levels for power-up, power-fail, system-fail; etc.

Examples of the Receive and Transmit Circuit

It is determined in the IEC standard, that the devices have to be protected against wrong polarity, so to make the Receive Circuit insensitive
to the polarity an AC opto-coupler is used. The current is limited by a Resistor and a bidirectional Zener Diode guarantees the voltage levels.

The Transmit Circuit consists of a high speed Optical Relay with low switching times, which can sink the current of 250 mA.

Transmit Circuit │ Receive Circuit

The Output Circuit is a MOSFET which is controlled by a PWM output of the Microcontroller. The current through the (yellow) Lamp is
sensed by the voltage drop over a shunt-Resistor. This voltage is measured with 1-channel of the built-in A/D Converter of the
microcontroller.

Output Circuit

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MAIN.c

This module initializes the microcontroller via the HWINIT.c module, handles the data received by the DALI-bus and will start the
transmission of data is requested.

New values are copied from the shadow RAM area in the EEPROM.

The complete DALI-communication is sent via RS232-interface, so it can be monitored with a PC.

RS232.c

This module contains the sub-routines for the PC communication. The UART of the micro is initialized to 115200 Bd, 8-bit, 1 stop bit and no
parity. Also the decimal-conversion from byte to character is done. ( The UART is where the 2 wire line is used.)

DALI.c

Here all necessary routines for the DALI-communication are located. There are two interrupt service routines, one for an external interrupt to
recognize the start-bit and another one from a timer to handle the bit-timing of transmission/reception and timeout of the communication.
These routines can handle both ways of communication for the main unit (16 bits) and for the sub-unit (8 bits).

EEPROM_CSI.c

Some small routines to initialize the CSI ( 3-wire serial interface ) and to communicate with the external EEPROM to store the parameters.

LIGHT.c

This is the parameter of the DALI-commands and the control of the lamp. Two timers are used one for the HW-PWM and one for controlling
the communication timing and the fading of the lamp.

The interpreter-module checks first if the received command is valid for this sub-unit ( broadcast group or single address ). Then it decides if
this command is a direct arc-power command, a standard command, or a special command; and calls the required functions.