Light, Beyond Illumination- Coming Soon To A Streetlight Near You

Industry giants Philips and Ericsson have teamed up to create streetlight columns with integrated mobile broadband. It is hoped this innovation will allow telecom operators to harness the infrastructure of the existing streetlights to expand and strengthen their data networks.

If the project comes to fruition, telecom gorgon Eriksson will be able to rent the space within the lighting columns to mobile operators.

Philips’ CEO, Frans van Houten said: the technology offers cities a more energy efficient and safer urban area. This new connected LED streetlighting model is another example of us bringing the Internet of Things to life, and demonstrates the capabilities of light, beyond illumination. 

Philips unveil their Sensor-Ready system for connected office lighting

Philips’ Sensor-Ready system uses LEDs which are powered over Ethernet; the system provides building owners and facility managers a plethora of useful data about their properties.

After the positive feedback Philips received about their Li-Fi system for retail stores, the Dutch conglomerate unveiled this clever indoor lighting solution for the office.

At the Light +Building show in Frankfurt, Germany, Philips proudly displayed their connected office -lighting system. The system’s LEDs are wired up to the buildings IT network, power is provided by the Ethernet which produces just enough juice for low power LEDs, the system can also include sensors for monitoring humidity and temperature, as well as for judging when a room is occupied or not.

Similar to Li-Fi, the lights can also act as a positioning grid helping people navigate the office layout. The lights again are able to communicate through a downloadable smartphone app, the fixtures can track the user’s whereabouts and help recommend for example the nearest vacant meeting room. Using the app, staff are able to easily adjust the lighting and temperature of the room they’re in via Philips’ office lighting app.

This innovative system enables building owners and facility managers to measure occupancy levels and energy usage, Philips’ software displays these is an easy to read format ensuring consumers benefit from all aspects of the connected lighting system. Using information collected by the app, managers and owners can easily decide when certain area need to be heated, how often specific rooms need cleaning and which rooms need to be lit and when.

When asked about the benefits of this lighting system, Philips spokesman Menno Kleingeld said: “It’s gathering a large database of information for various fixtures for facility managers, to make their life easier.” He went on to discuss how in addition to the energy saving benefits, the system may also provide a security benefit by sensing when someone is in a room which should not be occupied.

For more information on this lighting system or for any further information on LED lighting products visit our website http://theledspecialist.co.uk/ or call the office to speak to one of our highly skilled sales team 0118 939 3218

Philips Li-Fi: Smart lighting, smart shopping

Philips’ latest LED innovation; the Li-Fi system, is being piloted by a number of retailers. Li-Fi uses in-store lighting to transmit information to the camera on consumers’ smart phones. Customers who have downloaded the app will be alerted of nearby offers, receive recipes and can be directed to specific items on their shopping lists.

Li-Fi uses Visual Light Communications (VLC) to communicate with customers’ smart phones; it is a one way communication system meaning consumers’ identities are protected. The stores ceiling luminaires are placed in a positioning grid, communicating with the camera sensors in their smart phones. Each lighting fixture in the grid communicates by blinking at frequencies so high they are undetectable to the human eye. Through these fast pulses information is transmitted relevant to the customer’s location within the store.

In addition to the energy saving benefits of LED lighting, this latest invention means retailers do not have to invest in additional infrastructure to house, power and support location beacons for indoor positioning. The light fixtures themselves can communicate this by virtue of their presence all over the store.