User Manual

Network architecture
DALI architecture (FLN)
14
CM110664en_07 203 | 351
14.5 DALI architecture (FLN)
DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) is a dedicated protocol for lighting control. See www.dali-
ag.org.
DALI is tailor made for modern lighting solutions. A DALI system can be as small as a single luminaire, or
can encompass multiple systems across one or more buildings. DALI systems can be connected using
lighting hubs/routers.
DALI features:
● Max. 64 devices per subnet (hub/routers)
● Max. 300m cabling
● Max. 250mA device consumption
● Standard two-core cable (1,5mm²)
● Polarity free & free wiring topology
● DALI power and data on the same pair of wires
● Bidirectional communication with feedback of operating state (dim level, lamp failure, etc.)
Structure
A DALI system can be made up of control gear, control devices and bus power supplies.
Control gear
Control gear usually contains the power control circuit to drive lamps, or some other type of output, such as
on/off switching or 1 to 10 V analog signals.
Control devices
Control devices can provide information to other control devices, such as light intensity information, and
can send commands to control gear. Input devices are a type or a part of a control device that provides
some information to the system, such as a button press or movement detection. DALI application
controllers are also control devices, e.g., they can send commands to control gear to modify the lighting.
Bus power supplies
At least one bus power supply must be present in a DALI system. This is necessary to allow both
communications on the bus, and to power any bus-powered devices. The bus power supply does not need
to be a separate unit – it could be part of another device such as a LED driver or a sensor.
Bus wires
A DALI system also includes the bus wires that are used to connect the DALI terminals of the various
devices in the system.
Addressing
DALI allows the flexible addressing of devices.
At the simplest level, all devices are addressed simultaneously by broadcast commands. This allows the
control of lighting in a similar manner to 1 to 10 V analog control, without requiring any configuration of the
individual devices. If a level (Direct Arc Power Command) is broadcast, then all control gear will act upon
that command, changing their output to the same new level.
With simple configuration, DALI devices can be given one of 64 short-addresses. This allows individual
control, configuration and querying of any single device in the system.
DALI devices can also be group addressed, e.g., a DALI LED driver could be programmed to be in any
combination of the 16 available groups. When a command is sent to a group, only devices that are in that
group are addressed.
System devices
PXC3...A
The PXC3…A automation stations have a DALI bus for connecting up to 64 DALI ballasts/drivers.
PXC3.E16A
The PXC3.E16A room automation station is optimized for lighting applications. It has an onboard DALI
interface for connecting up to 64 electronic ballasts or LED drivers