Digital Addressable Lighting Interface

Since 9 June 2017, Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA) certifies DALI products.

A DALI network consists of at least one application controller and bus power supply (which may be built into any of the products) as well as input devices (e.g. sensors and push-buttons), control gear (e.g., electrical ballasts, LED drivers and dimmers) with DALI interfaces.

The DALI protocol permits addressing devices individually, in groups or via broadcast.

[2] Scenes can be stored in the devices, for recall on an individual, group or broadcast basis.

Address assignment is performed over the bus using a "commissioning" protocol built into the DALI controller, usually after all hardware is installed, or successively as devices are added.

A single pair of wires comprises the bus used for communication on a DALI network.

Although the DALI control cable operates at ELV potential, it is not classified as SELV (Safety Extra Low Voltage) and must be treated as if it has only basic insulation from mains.

Also, mains-powered devices (e.g., LED drivers) need only provide functional insulation between the mains and the DALI control wires.

When the bus is idle, the voltage level is continuously high (which is not the same as a data bit).

A DALI device, such as a LED driver, can be controlled individually via its short address.

For example, turning all lighting fixtures off may result in a visible delay between the first and last ballasts switching off.

DALI lighting levels are specified by an 8-bit value, with 0 representing off, 1 means 0.1% of full brightness, 254 means full brightness, and other values being logarithmically interpolated, giving a 2.77% increase per step.

Multi packet commands are used for more complex tasks - like setting RGB colors.

DiiA published several new specifications in 2018 and 2019, extending DALI-2 functionality with power and data, especially for intra-luminaire DALI systems.

Applications include indoor and outdoor luminaires, and small DALI systems.

These devices are currently included in DALI version-1 registration, with tests for DALI-2 certification in development.

[11] DiiA is working with other industry associations to enable certification of DALI-2 products that operate over certain underlying wireless carriers.

While such gateways are not standardized, DiiA is working with other industry associations to develop the necessary specifications and tests to achieve this.