Tennessee-based Universal Douglas Lighting has selected U-Blox to develop an open standard Bluetooth Mesh platform for building automation use cases, including smart lighting, access control and energy management.

The resulting SigMesh platform will be based on the Swiss firm U-Blox’s Nina-B406 Bluetooth low energy module.

According to market research by the Bluetooth SIG, smart lighting system revenue is expected to grow from around $4.4bn in 2020 to over $19bn in 2029. In addition to connected light fixtures, smart lighting systems comprise switches, relays and sensors that communicate with each other using wires or wirelessly.

Energy efficient, Bluetooth Mesh technology allows for battery-powered wireless sensor and control devices with a ten-year battery life. Wireless components reduce the costs of deploying smart lighting systems in new buildings, retrofitting existing ones, and changing the location and behaviour of operational nodes.

Bluetooth Mesh technology further scales up Bluetooth coverage to the entire building by relaying messages from node to node to their destination. This allows data packets to take the most effective path available to them, for example avoiding nodes that are down and directing signals around walls rather than through them, increasing overall network resiliency.

These attributes have made Bluetooth Mesh an enabler of smart lighting networks. Once in place, the nodes offer a wireless communication backbone for any number of building automation applications to transmit sensed data, device status information and commands.

Douglas Lighting’s open standard building automation platform ensures interoperability with an ecosystem of third-party devices. To meet technical requirements in terms of low power demand, moderate range and an integrated antenna with a uniform radiation pattern, Douglas chose to build their product around the Nina-B406 Bluetooth low energy module.

“We are excited that Douglas Lighting has chosen to work with U-Blox to further extend its portfolio of wireless smart lighting products,” said Stefan Berggren, senior product marketing manager at U-Box. “It also underscores the value that standardised wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth bring to smart lighting use cases.”

John Cavacuiti, vice president of engineering at Douglas Lighting, added: “Douglas Lighting Controls is committed to being at the forefront of Bluetooth technology. By working with U-Blox, one of the leading module manufacturers, we believe that the Bluetooth Mesh 5.0 standard allows us to bring hardware to the market that meets the user’s need and allows for interoperability opportunities. The interoperability will offer the customers more choices and freedom when working with Douglas Lighting Controls.”

With headquarters in Thalwil, Switzerland, U-Blox has offices in Europe, Asia and the USA.