Illuminating the future of the Internet of Things

From candles to the first light bulb patented by Thomas Edison 140 years ago, lighting has always been a necessity. Whether at home or in the workplace, lighting is required to work for us, and the next generation of smart lights is no exception. Since the invention of incandescent lamps Since then, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been the most important lighting advancement. Smart LED lights are opening up new use cases for lighting that Edison has never dreamed of.

Today, LED lighting is a $30 billion global industry that paves the way for smart lighting solutions, but the smart lighting industry has yet to fully realize its potential and has not been widely adopted. With interoperability, control And security improvements, smart lighting will become the next killer application of the Internet of Things.

Adoption barrier

An important reason why smart lighting does not break out among consumers is the cost. A typical home in the United States has 40 lighting fixtures, so imagine that a connected smart bulb for a complete smart home costs as much as $14-15. Now, The price of LED lights and smart lights is gradually declining, and the rapid growth of the smart lighting market will also drive prices down further. Lower prices will help promote the deployment of other IoT products, especially in smart homes. Provide more integrated, more flexible wireless connectivity options. As we continue to move towards a more connected society, this price reduction will continue to make smart lighting easier for every home, commercial building and city.

The second hurdle for consumers is the amount of work required to install an intelligent lighting system, which until now is beyond the ability of most homeowners. Today's smart LED bulbs integrate advanced power management and wireless circuitry. Makes the latest LED products easier to install, even for homeowners who are not good at technology. Intelligent lighting networks and ecosystems are easier to use and maintain, plug and play, and enable consumers to manage connected LEDs via smartphones light.

Lighting control

By installing some smart LED lights in the home, most users can easily enter the field of intelligent lighting. Intelligent lighting is also steadily promoted in the commercial sector and throughout the city. The way we control lighting is also changing, because simple switches can be used through smartphones The touch panel and even voice flexible control. Cloud connection enables users to remotely control lighting and monitor energy usage from anytime, anywhere via a smartphone. Users can also use new complex functions, such as environmental condition sensing, which enables the lighting environment to respond and adapt independently. .

These advanced features, such as turning off the lights automatically when no one is in the room, are just the beginning. Looking ahead, no one wants to use multiple applications to control lighting, I believe the Assistant is the next lighting control beyond the switches and applications. Solution. Similar to how the remote changes the TV viewing experience, voice assistant services such as Amazon Echo Alexa and Google Home Assistant will allow people to get up and touch the nearest light switch or control panel without having to get up from the couch.

Get synchronized

Networked devices are designed to make our lives easier. However, today's smart home products use different technologies and do not always use the same language, which greatly slows down and hinders the widespread adoption of many IoT devices. The first step in addressing this interoperability challenge is to use multi-protocol connectivity, which enables efficient switching between different wireless protocols, simplifying lighting design while meeting the easy installation needs of end users. Connectivity technology is becoming increasingly important for future IoT product designs, enabling devices to support multiple wireless options, rather than being limited to a single protocol. The bigger unresolved challenge is to drive many different lighting ecosystems. Interoperability. To drive the industry forward, lighting manufacturers must agree to a broader integration between competing application layer solutions.

Security

For any connected device, security is a tricky issue, and lighting is no exception, especially since most consumer electronics manufacturers are not engaged in security operations. A single, unsecure networked light bulb can be vulnerable. Breakthrough, which caused the entire networked family to be attacked by hackers.

Security is not an additional feature at the end of the product design cycle. It must be seen as a continuous process, from initial concept to final product to remote update. Serving everyone in the smart lighting market – from chip designers to device manufacturers - All must share this responsibility for security. Ensuring the security of the Internet of Things requires constant vigilance and ongoing development at all levels of the IoT ecosystem, which even means that security must be considered when designing embedded smart light chips and software. Every high-profile attack has far more consequences than loss of revenue or brand damage, and the loss of consumer trust can slow the market for months or even years.

The future of lighting

Imagine that your lights are on before you get into the house. Your bedside lights will automatically dim at night, then adjust the color and brightness to help you wake up in the morning. As shown in these scenes Lighting is a powerful technology that can improve our daily lives in many ways. It also helps us save energy consumption in homes, offices and smart cities. We must address the interoperability, control and safety issues of smart lighting. Addressing these challenges will stimulate technological innovation and help promote the widespread adoption of other networking technologies, which will also help the Internet of Things to flourish.

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