Why smart lighting needs a common language

A streetlight fails on one side of the city while a dimming schedule needs adjusting on the other. For the team managing the network, handling both through one platform, even when different suppliers’ equipment is involved, is a practical benefit of making lighting systems work together.

In September, Paradox Engineering, a Swiss provider of connected lighting and urban sensor networks, secured certification for a gateway that connects its lighting controllers to other suppliers’ management platforms. Alongside new cellular lighting controllers and participation in a standards initiative, the company is addressing how cities can upgrade their networks while retaining a choice of suppliers.

“It’s like having people who speak different languages: communication can be tricky and unreliable,” said Matteo Semmoloni, Head of Solution Design, Paradox Engineering, part of Japanese components manufacturer MinebeaMitsumi. “Interoperability eliminates vendor lock-in and allows secure message and command exchanges in diverse ecosystems.”

For municipalities, the concern is what happens after the first installation. A city may want to expand coverage, introduce different controllers or change its management software without replacing functioning assets. Those decisions become harder when components depend on proprietary interfaces or information cannot move consistently between systems.

“This paves the way for standard-based lighting networks that can expand and grow over time with very little risk of incompatibility or technological obsolescence,” said Semmoloni.

Beyond connecting devices

The company’s Smart TALQ Gateway received certification from the TALQ Consortium, an industry group defining a common interface between outdoor device networks and management software. The gateway connects its lighting controllers to central management software that supports the TALQ standard.

The gateway is a piece of software: its role covers both collecting information from the lighting network and distributing instructions from the central platform.

“It gets information from connected lighting points, including data about power usage, sensor readings, and lamp failures, and makes it available to the Central Management Software,” said Semmoloni. “It also receives instructions from the central platform and distributes them down to single or grouped streetlights, switching them on or off, or applying specific schedules.”

That exchange underpins routine tasks such as changing dimming schedules, monitoring performance and identifying faults. Without consistent information, operators may have to reconcile separate datasets before deciding what action to take.

“City operators no longer need to navigate different user interfaces or manually reconcile disparate datasets to manage their lighting grid,” added Semmoloni.

He said the gateway also standardises incoming alarms, including power failures and lamp outages, to support maintenance workflows and field team dispatches. Its role is to make information usable across the network, rather than simply establish a connection.

TALQ’s register confirms certification for lighting applications. This gives buyers a defined reference point for compatibility checks, alongside the capabilities supported by the products they intend to combine.

Making gradual upgrades possible

A related question is how cities can introduce connected lighting without undertaking a wholesale replacement programme. Here, the physical interface on the streetlight matters alongside the standards used to exchange data.

Paradox Engineering’s Cellular Zhaga node, a lighting controller that attaches to a standardised Zhaga socket on a compatible streetlight, communicates directly through a mobile network. The company says it provides energy reporting, diagnostics and remote management without requiring an external router.

The gateway can handle information from Paradox Engineering/MinebeaMitsumi’s cellular nodes and hybrid mesh networks, which link devices through radio connections, according to Semmoloni. This allows different communications approaches to feed into a compatible central management platform.

“This enables municipalities to modernise their networks gradually by introducing direct cellular nodes or hybrid mesh domains alongside existing controllers, without having to resort to a costly, full-scale replacement of the management platform,” he said.

For cities with suitable infrastructure, the approach creates scope to modernise in stages. Existing streetlights need compatible sockets, however, and retaining a management platform depends on its ability to support the required integration.

Starting with municipal needs

Product compatibility addresses only part of the issue. Standards also need to reflect what city teams mean when they describe a service, report a fault or request an operational change.

That is the focus of the Smart Cities Special Interest Group (SIG), facilitated by the Open Mobile Alliance, a communications standards organisation, and originated by Madrid Digital. It brings together municipalities, standards organisations, industry and academia, initially focusing on public lighting and smart water metering.

“The Smart Cities SIG aims at developing a methodology for cities to describe their operational needs in a form that standards organisations can consistently understand and manage,” said Semmoloni.

The group maps municipal requirements against existing standards to identify coverage and gaps. Paradox Engineering will contribute research and development expertise and testing with its lighting controllers, including work on the Internet of Things.

“The first public results are expected in November and will be presented at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2026 in Barcelona,” added Semmoloni.

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