LonMark International is a significant promoter of networked street lights using the ISO/IEC 14908 series of standards for networked control. Companies offering products based on this international standard are encouraged to adopt Interoperability Guidelines from LonMark International to ensure their products are interoperable with those offered by other companies. For municipalities, specifying products certified by LonMark International provides a selection of products and solutions offered by a variety of suppliers, reducing the cost of installing and supporting systems over their lifetime.
LonMark International encourages municipalities to utilize specifications requiring open, interoperable solutions. Please feel free to utilize the following specifications for your projects.
Get an in-depth understanding of the requirements, benefits and solutions available for networked streetlighting.
Network streetlight solutions are more than a collection of subsystems or segments supplied by different suppliers that are connected together at some enterprise layer. They should be based on industry standards, such as the ISO/IEC 14908 control networking standards. Specifying a standards-based architecture such as ISO/IEC 14908 allows the procurement agent to purchase best-of-breed lamps, ballasts, controllers, sensors, data concentrators and other components from multiple suppliers. This interoperable framework creates a durable competitive environment whereby any part of the system can be sourced from a different supplier. This prevents vendor lock-in, since no single component will force owners into a proprietary, single-vendor solution, with a single source for replacement parts and a single source for maintenance and support. With a well-structured standards-based system, all of the proprietary hooks are removed, leaving the customer with a wide variety of options.
LonMark International is the only organization that enables a standards-based solution for multi-vendor networked streetlight solutions. The ISO/IEC 14908 control networking standard has played a pivotal role in transforming several industries. From commercial buildings, public transportation systems, industrial plants to home automation, electricity metering infrastructure and Olympic venues; applications built on the LonMark interoperability standard are everywhere. Millions of devices are installed worldwide in homes, buildings, and smart grid systems.
More than 50 suppliers have developed their own proprietary technology to communicate between their light controllers and their segment controllers or gateways. This approach is very expensive and inefficient given all of the elements required to create a total system. By using standards-based systems every manufacturer benefits from multiple sources of supply of standard components, standardized tools and common software.
The LonMark interoperability standard provides an open framework from which competing suppliers can build compatible products. Using a standardized profile, the attribute of every supplier’s product is published, making it easy to install and maintain using standardized software tools and enterprise front-ends. Products conforming to the standard are tested and certified by LonMark International to verify that they are compatible. Products passing the certification process carry the distinctive LonMark logo. Over the past 25 years, LonMark International has tested and certified over 900 products that conform to its interoperability standard.
Get the latest information on networked street light solutions by downloading recent industry presentations and the smart streetlighting video:
LonMark International on Outdoor Lighting Networks and Smart City Solutions