Smart Ballast Control with OFDM PLC Interface for Intelligent LED Lights

The DLC-300 EL-150 from Arivus GmbH is the first member of a smart ballast control family for LED outdoor and street lights with integrated orthogonal frequency division multiplexing powerline communication (OFDM PLC) interface. The 150W LED Driver with integrated communication addresses the growing demand for fully remote controlled "Smart Outdoor Lights" (SOL). By using powerline communication over existing energy cables no sensitive or expensive dedicated data wiring is required. OEM manufacturers and operators can now easily add advanced control and monitoring features to any of their existing or new light fixtures.

“With the DLC-300 EL-150 we offer our customers a simple and economical way to make their existing and planned streetlight installations smart without costly infrastructure measures” says Uwe Hering, CEO of ARIVUS GmbH. “Investing in our DLC® lighting control systems typically pays off for streetlight operators in less than four years due to energy savings. At the same time our robust OFDM technology secures reliable communication with low latency and high data rates – especially in large and wide spread streetlight installations.”

On/off and linear dimming levels can be remotely controlled on a demand basis to significantly reduce power consumption by up to 30% compared to regular LED lamps, while simultaneously monitoring the light fixture performance. Lamp status, lamp failure, power consumption and other operational parameters can be accessed and evaluated to improve maintenance levels at reduced maintenance costs.

Arivus uses its own standard compliant 4th generation chipset that provides the powerline interface as well as add-on functions required for modern ‘smart’ ballast controls. Reliable communication is secured by OFDM modulation, which uses multiple carriers in parallel and has proven to be the most robust PLC technology. Especially when compared to formerly used FSK (frequency shift key) modulation. Integrated forward error correction improves the overall performance even further while integrated encryption allows for secure data transmission.

The DLC-300 EL-150 is typically integrated in the lamp head or lamp pole and is controlled via a Arivus DLC® Access Point (AP). One AP can control and monitor several hundreds of DLC®-300 EL-150 via the power network over distances up to 15km (even further in repeater mode). The device also supports a stand-alone mode without PLC network connection where it operates self-contained according to preprogrammed calendars or self-learned dimming and on/off schedule.

The integrated ballast control provides today two pwm interfaces for 700mA LED arrays with up to 70Watt each. Its implementation secures constant current supply required for consistent color emission during dimming. The integrated power factor control will provide an energy efficient operation. The device offers protection class IP 67 and is SELV complaint allowing for easier maintenance. External temperature sensors can be connected to prevent from LED overheating. Alternative implementations with up to four pwm channels, additional programmable interfaces and other features can be provided on request.