2014 International Conference and Exposition on Electrical and Power Engineering (EPE 2014), 16-18 October, Iasi, Romania

Street Lighting Control System Based On LargeScale WSN: A Step Towards A Smart City
Alexandru Lavric, Valentin Popa, Stefan Sfichi
Computers, Electronics and Automation Department, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania
lavric@eed.usv.ro
rates. The cameras are scattered on a wide geographical area
and they send the information via the TCP/IP network. Thus,
the Gateway module can be connected to the TCP/IP network
as part of a monitoring station [2].

Abstract This paper presents the field testing of a street lighting

monitoring and control system. The system is based on a WSN
network of the large-scale type that enables the remote control of
street lighting lamps. The system also enables savings in terms of
the electric power and maintenance costs. The architecture uses
integrated Doppler sensors that allows for vehicle detection and
help complete the power efficiency objective. Thus, when a
vehicle is detected the light intensity of the lamps is increased to a
preset level, so as not to affect road traffic safety, and reduced in
the opposite case. Moreover, the system uses current sensors so as
to allow for the identification of any possible malfunctions and
thus facilitate the maintenance process. According to the
obtained results, the system allows for an increased performance
level and can be integrated in the Smart City concept.
Keywords- Smart City; WSN; large-scale; street lighting
control;

I. INTRODUCTION
The Smart City concept has been the centre of attention in
several research centres during the past few years, and is a
very topical research subject.

Figure 1. Test scenario of the control system.

In order to enable the local communication through the

WSN network, the JenNet protocol is used, as it meets the
required high performance criteria, such as: large number of
nodes, reduced complexity in developing the applications, and
the lack of additional license costs. The sensor network used
as part of such a system is based on a long-thin type of
structure spread on a few tens of kilometers wide geographical
area and incorporating a few hundreds of nodes of the largescale type.

The Smart City concept entails the integration of

Information Technologies in order to render the use of energy
and other resources more efficient. Such a city should meet the
demands and live up to the expectations of its residents by
means of certain state-of-the-art IT solutions that would allow
for improved power efficiency and also contribute to the
protection of the environment. [1]. An important part of the
concept is also the implementation and testing of a street
lighting monitoring and control system that is mainly directed
at reducing the costs related to energy consumption and
facilitate the maintenance process.

Fig. 2 presents the user interface of the server application.

The user interface enables the remote control and monitoring
of the light bulbs and runs through the computerised unit
located in the control centre.

II. SYSTEM OVERVIEW

Fig. 1 presents the general structure of the proposed street
lighting monitoring and control system. The system consists in
the control centre, the Gateway modules and the control
modules installed in the street lighting lamp system.
Local communication (luminaire to luminaire) is enabled
by the JenNet communication protocol that is based on the
WSN IEEE 802.15.4 standard, while distance communication
is enabled by the TCP/IP protocol, as it is an efficient choice
due to the reduced implementation costs.
During the past few years, most municipalities have
installed video surveillance systems in order to reduce crime

978-1-4799-5849-8/14/$31.00 2014 IEEE

Figure 2. The user interface.

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Previous papers have presented the development of the

system [3] as well as its practical implementation [4].
Moreover, we have also evaluated certain issues encountered
with WSN sensors of the large-scale type, such as: assessing
the performance of the network topologies [5], the integration
of the topology building algorithms [6] in a lighting control
system and, last but not least, we have suggested an ACS
algorithm (Adaptive Channel Selection) [7] for the automatic
selection of the communication channel.

Fig. 5 presents the Gateway that includes the WSN

JN5148 module (coordinating node) and the e-Box 4300
module.

III. TEST SETUP

This section presents the field testing of the suggested street
lighting monitoring and control system. Thus, we have
developed and independent power line for the luminaires. The
test scenario entails the control of four 60 W Electromax LED
based luminaires, as can be seen in Fig. 3. The lamps have
been set at an approximate distance of 3 meters.

Figure 5. The Gateway module.

Fig. 6 presents the practical field implementation of the

street lighting monitoring and control system. The system
includes a Gateway module, an RTU module, three modules
of the LCU type and the control centre. The control centre
consists of a computerised unit (PC) that has a TCP/IP
connection.

Figure 6. The practical field implementation of the street lighting monitoring

and control system.

Fig. 7 presents the LED street lighting lamp, the RTU

control module, the Doppler sensor uses to detect the vehicles
and the Gateway module installed in the field.

Figure 3. Test scenario for the control system.

Fig. 4 presents the WSN module installed in the street

lighting lamp. One can observe the integration of the JN5148
transceiver, of the power circuit and of the circuits that process
the information received from the sensors in a single module
[4].

Figure 7. The RTU module and the Gateway module installed in the field.

Fig. 8 presents the LCU module installed in the luminaire

and in the control centre.

Figure 4. The control RTU module for the LED based lamp.

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a)

the LCU module

b)

module sends the information collected from the WSN

modules to the control centre. The obtained results show that
for a one second update time and in cases where there are four
WSN modules, a transfer rate of 3,74 Kbps is reached, unlike
cases where an update time of only 50 ms leads to a transfer
rate of 53,54 Kbps. The transfer rate was measured by
monitoring the data flow at the control centre by means of the
Colasoft Capsa software application. To conclude, the
communication between the control centre and the Gateway
modules ensures a high performance level, thus enabling
commands to be sent from the control centre to the RTU and
LCU nodes.

the control centre

Figure 8. The LCU module and the control centre.

IV. TEST RESULTS

In this section is presented the testing scenarios of the main
functions of the proposes street lighting monitoring and control
system.
A. The wireless communication
The first part of the test entails the checking of the
communication link between the WSN modules used for
controlling the lamps and the retransimition of the information.
Table I presents the LQI (Link Quality Indicator) and the PER
values recorded by the WSN nodes at the time of the
communication. The obtained results show that the WSN
network communication ensures an increased performance
level, as the PER parameter amounts to 0.
TABLE I.
Node type
Coordinator
RTU
LCU1
LCU2
LCU3

Figure 10. The Gateway test architecture.

C. Adjusting the light intensity and vehicle detection

The adjustment of the light intensity was conducted by
altering the duty cycle parameter of the PWM signal used to
dim the led lamps. This change was induced remotely, from the
control centre. Thus, the command sent from the control centre
is transmitted through the TCP/IP network to the e-Box 4300
module that, in turn, sends it through the USB/RS232
communication interface to the WSN coordinating node. The
coordinator sends wirelessly the light intensity adjustment
command to the first module of the RTU type and it will
subsequently be sent throughout the network until the
destination node is reached.

THE WSN RADIO COMMUNICATION

LQI
159
150
145
132
125

PER [%]
0
0
0
0
0

B. Communication: control centre - Gateway

The second part of the scenario entails the checking of the
communication link between the control centre and the
Gateway. Thus, the test architecture presented in Fig. 9 is
implemented. It includes the control centre that hosts the server
application, a switch, the Gateway module and four control
modules (an RTU module and three modules of the LCU type).
The Gateway module develops the interfacing between the
WSN network of the IEEE 802.15.4 type and the TCP/IP
network.

The street lighting control system can perform the light

intensity adjustment command depending on the presence of
vehicles, by means of a Doppler sensor. When the presence of
a vehicle is detected, the intensity of the light bulbs is increased
to a level previously established by the user. Fig. 11 shows
how the intensity of the lamps is increased from 50% to 100%
when a vehicle is detected.

Figure 11. Vehicle detection.

Figure 9. The Gateway test architecture.

The field test enables us to conclude that the street lighting

monitoring and control system ensures a high performance
level, being able to perform the on/off command (Fig. 12 a, b),
the adjustment of the light intensity (for each lamp/group Fig.
12 c) and the commands related to vehicle detection.

The control centre collects the information received from

the WSN nodes. Fig. 10 presents the transfer rate obtained
when the update time of the client type application is varied.
The update time is the time interval during which the Gateway

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smartphone) remote access is granted. Fig. 14 presents the web

server interface.

a)

b)

Lamps at 100 % capacity

Lamps number 1 and four are off

Figure 14. Web server Interface.

c)

The control centre allows one to perform the on/off

command for the street lights, depending on the needs or by
designing a flexible timetable for the lamps. The integration of
a vehicle detection algorithm allows for an additional lowering
of the costs related to the consumption of electric power.
Moreover, the system enables the monitoring of a large number
of nodes and can be integrated in the Smart City concept.

Lamps number one and four at 25% capacity (lamps two and three
at 100% capacity)
Figure 12. Testing the system in the field.

D. Malfunction detection
The testing scenario for the possible malfunctions that may
occur entailed disconnecting the power source of a lamp so as
to simulate the occurrence of a malfunction. When the lamp is
disconnected, the value recorded by the ADC2 converter of the
WSN node amounts to 2000 mV, corresponding to a 0 A
power consumed by the lamp. Under these circumstances, a
warning message is displayed at the control centre, showing the
lamp ID and its GPS coordinates, so as to facilitate
maintenance. Fig. 13 presents the malfunction warning
message.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This paper has been financially supported within the project
entitled SOCERT. Knowledge society, dynamism through
research, contract number POSDRU/159/1.5/S/132406. This
project is co-financed by European Social Fund through
Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources
Development 2007-2013. Investing in people!
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]

[3]

Figure 13. Malfunction warning message.

[4]

V. CONCLUSIONS
The main advantages of the suggested system consist of the
significant reduction of the costs related to energy
consumption, by decreasing the light intensity (dimming) and
lowering the maintenance costs as a result of processing the
information received from the sensors, such as vehicle
detection. The street lighting monitoring system enables the
display of periodical reports concerning the energy
consumption and giving details on the maintenance work
performed or programmed for a later date. Apart from the
server application, the control centre also hosts an Apache 2.44
web server that allows for the remote access of the
administrator via a web page. Thus, from anywhere there is
Internet access and from any type of terminal (computer or

[5]

[6]

[7]

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IBM
Smart
Cities,
On-line:
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_cities/overview/.
Alexandru Lavric, Valentin Popa, Ilie Finis, Daniel Simion, The design
and implementation of an energy efficient street lighting monitoring and
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evaluation of Tree and Mesh ZigBee Network Topologies used in Street
Lighting Control Systems, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, nr. 4, pp. 168171, 2013.
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10.1109/iCOST.2012.6271280.
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