Design a trunking project

DALI 1 or commonly known as just DALI refers to an older version of the DALI protocol which only included control gear, it is not possible anymore to certify new products for DALI 1, for the purpose of this guide it is relevant to know that a DALI 1 driver does not provide a standardized way to report energy metering, it also does not provide power over DALI to energize a sensor.

DALI-2 brings the promise of significantly improved interoperability and additional functionality compared with current DALI version-1 devices. specifically, part 251, 252 and 253 guarantees that the driver to be compatible with our sensors and devices. DALI 2 drivers enable the possibility to directly read energy consumption, failures and device type (digital service Tag) from standardized memory locations. Over time it can also be extended into our systems with many more datapoints which are already supported by the driver like undervoltage detection, driver temperature, power cycles, etc…

D4i is an extension of the DALI-2 certification program. D4i LED drivers have a mandatory set of features related to power-supply requirements and smart-data capabilities. Like an SR driver, our sensors are designed to work together with D4i DALI drivers and be energized by the driver.

SR (Sensor Ready) drivers, use a standardized DALI interface plus an integrated power supply to energize the sensor, it was developed by Signify before D4i was created as a standard, for the purpose of this guide SR Drivers and D4i drivers can be used interchangeably.

The DALI extender can energize an SR sensor and transparently pass on DALI 2 commands to the drivers, it is optically isolated (SELV) which means that any electric issue on the driver side will not affect the sensor and vice versa. The advantage of the DALI extender is that it does not require any firmware to support new functionality, by updating the firmware of the sensor, it can easily support new improvements, fixes and features like tunable white and emergency remote testing.

The SR Bridge DALI needs a mains power connection, it energizes the SR sensor or antenna and translates the DALI messages from the sensor into the DALI port to the drivers, the mains power needs to go through the internal relay of the device to measure the energy consumption and fully switch off the power. A Multi-One interface can be used to configure the SR bridge, but the device cannot be firmware updated.

The SR Bridge 0-10V needs a mains power connection, it energizes the SR sensor or antenna and translates the DALI messages from the sensor into the 0-10V port to the drivers, the mains power needs to go through the internal relay of the device to measure the energy consumption and fully switch off the power. A Multi-One interface can be used to configure the SR bridge, but the device cannot be firmware updated.

Multiple SR and D4i drivers can be connected directly to the SR sensor, however a maximum of four active power supplies must be active at a single time, otherwise it can be physically damaging to the sensor. This architecture is possible in some situations where a maximum of four drivers are needed and those drivers have integrated power supplies, in that case there is no need for a DALI extender or SR Bridge.