Telecommunications

Philips and Vodafone partner for wireless city smart lighting

Philips and Vodafone partner for wireless city smart lighting
Individual street lights will each be fitted with one of Vodafone's M2M SIM cards
Individual street lights will each be fitted with one of Vodafone's M2M SIM cards
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Individual street lights will each be fitted with one of Vodafone's M2M SIM cards
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Individual street lights will each be fitted with one of Vodafone's M2M SIM cards
The streetlights will be able to connect wirelessly to Philips' CityTouch street lighting management system
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The streetlights will be able to connect wirelessly to Philips' CityTouch street lighting management system
CityTouch allows connected streetlights to be monitored and controlled remotely
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CityTouch allows connected streetlights to be monitored and controlled remotely
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Madrid, Buenos Aires and Los Angeles are among the cities in which Philips has rolled out its internet-connected LED street lighting. Such connected street lights can be monitored and controlled remotely and, now, Philips has partnered with Vodafone to connect the lights wirelessly.

The partnership, which sees Vodafone become Philips' "global Internet of Things managed connectivity partner," will see individual streetlights fitted with one of Vodafone's M2M SIM cards. This will allow them to be connected to Philips' CityTouch street lighting management system, assuming they are a CityTouch-ready light or a light with a connector node installed.

Once connected to CityTouch, it's possible for the brightness of streetlights to be turned up or down and for lights to be switched on and off and specific times from a web browser. Lights can also be monitored to see when maintenance is required or when bulbs need replacing.

Wireless connectivity allows streetlights to be connected to the internet more easily than having to use wiring. In addition, Philips' wirelessly connected streetlights will make for easily scalable smart infrastructure, and they will be able to support other smart city applications in future.

"We are at the start of a new era which will see highly energy efficient connected street lighting become the backbone of most smart cities," says Bill Bien of Philips Lighting. "Robust, reliable wireless connectivity will help make this happen, linking streetlights with sensors, devices and management systems."

Philips says the wireless connected streetlights will help to save cities energy and maintenance costs.

Source: Philips

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4 comments
4 comments
sk8dad
Great advancement. How about one step further...on demand street lamps. Dim normally, but brighten when it senses a need (car, person)? Of course, I haven't given it much thought, but imagine if you can turn on the street lamps just ahead of you on your navigation route. Ethical questions aside, that would be cool, not to mention reduction in energy consumption and light pollution.
Stephen N Russell
Next cities should be: Kona HI, Honolulu HI, San Fran CA, San Jose CA, Monterrey CA, Carmel CA, Newport Beach CA, DFW, Houston, Wash DC, Denver, Boise, Billings, NYC, Miami, Portland, Seattle.
Haluska
Very bad lights. Horrible cold light, bad spectrum. Light pollution. The glare is brutal in these pics. Photos are not from the perspective of the driver or pedestrian. Very expensive tuition :-(
Knut
Go to Tehran, Iran - they have done this for a decade. http://www.afratab.com/en/PayphoneCoin.aspx?PrId=14 - this company has developed payphones that are placed in the street lights developed by them and Toyoda in China (http://toyoda.en.alibaba.com/product/60283388102-210552058/wind_solar_hybrid_led_street_wind_power_light.html). The lights are controlled by the phone, each light is a unit by its own and share the battery with the phone - that can also offered Internet access and local telephony - "WLL" to towns along the road - and power to wireless links that hold it all together. Philips is one of Afratab´s partners and they share patents, but Vodafone is no partner. Afratab research is by http://www.kavoshcom.com/services. All planning is done with powerlines in the roads to the streetlight making it very difficult to approach European companies with the notion of each streetlight can be an energy source and supply local infrastructure.