The Connected Lighting Alliance (TCLA), a primary advocate of wireless lighting connectivity, announced Monday that is has accomplished its goal of converging the lighting industry in support of the use of open protocols for wireless lighting solutions.
The members of TCLA have agreed to dissolve the organization by Dec. 31st. Their work and vision for interoperable wireless lighting solutions will continue at TCLA’s partner organizations: the ZigBee Alliance, the Thread Group and the Fairhair Alliance.
Having looked at a variety of open protocols, TCLA has now endorsed ZigBee 3.0 for consumer applications and identified the Thread Group as the organization to develop a suitable network-layer protocol for indoor professional lighting applications.
Comprised of the global lighting companies, TCLA’s mission has been to promote the global adoption and growth of wireless lighting solutions by supporting open standards.
“When TCLA was created, consumers and users faced a confusing landscape of wireless lighting connectivity standards, which posed potential confusion to consumers and a threat to growth in this young market” said Pekka Hakkarainen, Vice President at Lutron Electronics and Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Connected Lighting Alliance. “By bringing together the leading companies in the lighting industry to develop the technical market requirements for wireless lighting applications and identifying key organizations to adopt its recommendations, TCLA has accomplished its primary mission, and is comfortable with its partner organizations continuing to drive the market forward.”
“TCLA has been a very effective forum for the lighting industry to enable the connected lighting market to grow”, Frank van Tuijl, Secretary General of TCLA, agreed. “Now that we have successfully achieved our objectives, it is time to wind down our activities so that our members can focus on taking up new challenges.”
“The TCLA’s endorsement of ZigBee 3.0 and lighting standards has helped to propel the convergence of standards enabling the Internet of Things,” said Tobin Richardson, CEO of the ZigBee Alliance. “We congratulate the TCLA on its role in accelerating value to consumers in the smart home, commercial buildings and industrial applications, and further we look forward to continuing the good work in solidifying and expanding this work in the ZigBee Alliance.”
“TCLA has played an instrumental role in enabling the market for connected lighting, by representing a unified voice of the lighting industry in the complex and diverse world of connectivity standards, and we applaud them for their great work” said Jan Denneman, president of the Global Lighting Association.
Earlier this year, TCLA announced endorsement of ZigBee 3.0, as the preferred open standard for residential connected lighting applications, simplifying choices for both lighting companies and consumers.
With ZigBee Light Link, previously endorsed by TCLA, being merged in to the new ZigBee 3.0 standard, the TCLA member companies studied and evaluated the new proposition. The conclusion was that ZigBee 3.0 exceeds the benefits of ZigBee Light Link and that therefore the new ZigBee 3.0 better meets the requirements of the lighting industry in the residential market.
