Bluetooth SIG completes networked lighting standard

  • October 3, 2023
  • Steve Rogerson

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has completed the Bluetooth Networked Lighting Control (NLC) full-stack standard for wireless lighting control.

By offering standardisation from the radio to the device layer, Bluetooth NLC enables true multi-vendor interoperability and mass adoption of wireless lighting control.

Over a decade ago, the lighting industry began a journey towards standardisation of wireless lighting control using Bluetooth, first by leveraging Bluetooth LE at the radio layer and then adopting Bluetooth Mesh to standardise the communication layer.

The Bluetooth NLC profile specifications add standardisation at the device layer, completing the full stack Bluetooth NLC standard. Lighting suppliers should benefit from lower cost and faster innovation, increased market opportunity, and additional revenue models.

“The establishment of globally available wireless standards has always been a key landmark in enabling connected device ecosystems to achieve their full promise,” said Andrew Zignani, senior research director at ABI Research. “Wireless lighting control is no different. Bluetooth NLC expands the supplier opportunity by instilling buyer confidence and peace of mind, increasing the likelihood of adoption, and unleashing the lighting control market’s total potential.”

NLC (bluetooth.com/nlc) should also benefit lighting buyers with true, multi-vendor interoperability, ease of deployment and greater scalability.

“The impact of the Bluetooth Mesh standard on the wireless lighting control landscape has been truly transformative,” said Rafał Han, CEO of Silvair. “Bluetooth NLC is the last missing link required to achieve global interoperability in wireless lighting control. We’re excited about how it will benefit the market and shape the future of the lighting industry, allowing components from different vendors to work seamlessly with each other. At Silvair, we believe in staying at the forefront of innovation with a strong emphasis on security and scalability, and interoperability is the way towards mass adoption.”

Edward Lees, head of technical product development at Feilo Sylvania, added: “Without a full-stack wireless lighting control standard that includes device profiles, adoption of wireless lighting control was limited and fear of vendor lock-in was high. Bluetooth NLC solves this challenge, ensuring open, standardised interoperability. We are excited to see a standard that meets the scale, reliability, true interoperability and security demands required in modern, digital, commercial applications. Bluetooth NLC will help the wireless lighting control market breakdown barriers to adoption and realise its full potential.”

Silicon Labs (www.silabs.com/wireless/bluetooth/bluetooth-mesh) has announced its support for NLC.

“The new enhancements and profiles released by the SIG will be supported by Silicon Labs devices and we look forward to applying the optimisations, cost-savings and security enhancements in the new release for our customers,” said Ross Sabolcik, senior vice president at Silicon Labs. “Silicon Labs devices have supported Bluetooth Mesh since it launched in 2017, and we have helped a countless number of our customers adopt the standard for use cases like building automation, predictive maintenance and commercial lighting.”