The 2021 IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on Wireless and Mobile (APWiMob)

The Organizing of Smart Lighting in City and

Highway
Igor Shirokov Pavel Evdokimov Mariya Sokolova
Dept. of Electronics Engineering Dept. of Electronics Engineering Dept. of Electronics Engineering
Sevastopol State University Sevastopol State University Sevastopol State University
Sevastopol, Russia Sevastopol, Russia Sevastopol, Russia
shirokov@ieee.org evdokimov@ieee.org sokolovam.i.2015@yandex.ru

Elena Shirokova
Dept. of Radioelectronics
and Telecommunications
Sevastopol State University
Sevastopol, Russia
shirokova@ieee.org
2021 IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on Wireless and Mobile (APWiMob) | 978-1-7281-9475-2/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/APWIMOB51111.2021.9435222

Abstract—The intelligent control system for smart city operating of street and road lighting is forcing municipalities
lighting is discussed in a paper. System is applicable for electric to reduce its use to the point of complete failure [3]. Therefore,
lighting of streets, highways, and surrounding areas. The system effective management of energy consumption of the street and
combines the motion sensors and the lighting fixtures are into road lighting system is one of the most important tasks of
single network. The automatic switching of lighting fixtures into modernization of energy systems.
a mode of reduced power is carried out while the external
natural light level is higher a certain threshold value. When the Among other approaches the mass use of LED technology
moving object is appeared in nearby proximity of motion is very popular today. For effective implementation of LED
sensors its speed and direction of movement are determined. road lighting, special LED lamps are used that emit uniform
With regards these values the needed number of local lighting light and emphasize real color contrasts.
fixtures is determined. The powers of these lighting fixtures
should be turned on the certain level. In other words the According to the criterion of the control method, the
appearance of moving object at the next illuminated point is currently existing street lighting control systems can be
predicted. The increasing of lighting fixtures power of is carried divided into the following groups [4].
out smoothly while the moving object is approaching to Manual control systems: turning on and off the lighting
corresponding lamp post. Due to the dynamic power control of
installations in such systems is done manually by the service
lighting fixtures the significant energy saving is achieved. The
safety of traffic is increased, because of the lighting fixtures
personnel.
number, which operates with increased power, is determined by Control systems on a given time schedule: in such systems,
moving object speed. The possible braking distance of moving a schedule for turning on/off the lighting installations is set,
object will be significantly less than the roadway illuminated and the system automatically controls the lighting installations
section. Smooth change of lighting fixture power reduces the in accordance with this schedule.
pressure on vehicle driver.
Lighting control systems: power control in such systems is
Keywords—lighting system, intellectual control, network carried out according to a strict algorithm according to the
node, motion detector, lighting fixtures, microcontroller, digital readings of the light sensor. This control method has only just
bus begun to be gradually introduced into street lighting control
systems [5].
I. INTRODUCTION
The basis for the development of the world electric power In practice, when the above upgrades are introduced, the
industry is the modernization and transition to a qualitatively potential for energy savings in most street and road lighting
new level of energy systems with their subsequent systems can be up to 60% [6].
transformation into intelligent ones. The most important Additional and significant energy savings can be achieved
components of energy systems that ensure a comfortable and through the use of motion sensors to turn on the lighting. This
safe life for inhabitants are street and road lighting systems. It idea is not new and is applied all over the world. However, the
is known the quality of road lighting increases the visual most commonly used street lighting control systems have
perception of space and increases traffic safety; and significant drawbacks, namely: 100% of illumination appears
insufficient road lighting aggravates the road situation [1]. in the area of installation of the lighting system only when a
With a doubling of the average brightness of road surface moving object directly approaches the autonomous system
lighting at night, the number of road accidents, including those and enters the area of the motion sensor (usually 5-10 m). For
involving pedestrians, is decreased by 30%. The number of a moving pedestrian, such lighting control seems to be quite
accidents in areas of special danger is decreased by 45%, and justified and completely safe, since his speed is low and does
the number of fatalities is decreased by 65%. not exceed 5.0 km/h (1.4 m/s).
The systems of street and road lighting in large cities are Another situation arises when moving vehicle approaches
energy-intensive facilities, the power consumption of which the autonomous lighting system at a speed, for example, of
can reach up to 40% of the total power consumption of the city 60 km/h (17 m/s) or more, which occurs when driving on
[2]. At the same time, the constant increasing in the cost of motorways. At the moment of turning on the lighting at full

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power, providing the required illumination of the roadway for have to be turned onto the increased power. Furthermore, the
safe movement, the driver of a moving car can detect an full power of fixtures of mentioned lighting systems have to
obstacle in few meters away from himself in the direction of be increased smoothly as a moving object approaches the
moving, for example, a parked car. In this case it is not network node in queue.
possible to stop and to avoid a collision. Therefore, for the safe
moving of the car, it is necessary to illuminate the section of When moving object leaves the network node, the
the road in the direction of the vehicle moving, which exceeds illumination of this local lighting system is gradually reduced
its braking distance, taking into account the driver's reaction. to low power mode.
So, in traditional lighting systems, it is not possible to ensure When the level of external natural light exceeds a certain
the safe moving of vehicle along an illuminated highway, threshold level, all lighting in the network is completely
road, street or adjacent territory at an increased speed, since turned off.
the braking distance of car can exceed the lighting zone
created by a local system in several times. In addition, an The number of lighting fixtures turned on is determined by
instant increasing of the power of the lighting fixtures from a the speed and direction of the vehicle (object). The higher the
minimum to a maximum value directly at the current location speed of the object, the more the lighting fixtures installed
of a moving vehicle (in operation range of the motion sensor) along the path of its movement turn on. In other words, the
may cause an inadequate response from the driver, which will area of the carriageway illuminated by the increased power
lead to emergency situation. must be larger than the braking distance of the vehicle, which
will allow the driver to perform safe driving and maneuvering.
In a framework of present paper it poses the task of In addition, the power of lighting fixtures for local lighting
creating an intelligent street lighting control system that saves systems gradually increases to maximum as the object
electricity, on the one hand, and it insures the safe movement approaches the next local lighting system.
of vehicles on highways, roads, streets and adjacent territories,
on the other. Abrupt changes in the level of illumination on the roadway
are excluded, which makes the movement of the vehicle safer
II. APPROACH TO SYSTEM DESIGN in terms of the reaction and behavior of the car driver.
The proposed street lighting control system assumes the The schematic diagram of the street lighting control
measuring the level of external natural lighting and system is shown in Fig. 1.
determining the presence of moving objects in the coverage
area of each local lighting system (lamp post). It is proposed
to switch the lighting power of the local lighting fixture within
certain limits: from reduced power to maximum one. When
the level of ambient natural light falls below a certain
threshold level, the lighting fixtures of entire lighting system
are switched to a low power mode. When the level of ambient
natural light rises over this level the power of all of lighting
fixtures is switched off completely.
It has to be understood at the dark daytime the reduced
power of lighting fixtures is not safe, and at the presence of
moving object (pedestrian or car) the power is switched on at Fig. 1. Diagram of control system of street lighting.
maximum power, however with certain manner.
The system is a network, the nodes of which are connected
Local lighting systems (lamp posts) are interconnected in
by a simple digital data bus (DB). The digital data bus can be
a simple digital network. Within this network each node is
wired, radio, or optical. Each network node consists of motion
assigned with local lighting system. All nodes of the system
sensor (MSi), LED lamp (LLi), microcontroller with built-in
are connected to each other using any possible types of digital
real time clock (MCi), light sensor (LSi), interface unit (IUi).
data transmission, namely, using wired, optical, or radio
channel. The system works as follows. The light sensor supplies a
signal to the microcontroller input. When the level of external
When moving object appears within the operation range of
natural light falls below a certain critical threshold, all
the motion sensor of one local lighting system (one network
microcontrollers turn on all LED lamps at a reduced power
node), this local lighting system switches to high power mode.
level. Light sensors do not need to be installed at every node
In addition to this, the time of appearance of moving object in
of the network, in every local lighting system. It is enough to
the operation area of local lighting system is recorded. This
install them on one or several nodes, provided that the level of
timestamp and the corresponding number of the network node
external natural light in the coverage area of each local
(local lighting system), in which the moving object is fixed, is
lighting system is approximately the same. Data on the level
transmitted over the network to all other neighboring nodes.
of external natural light is transmitted from one node to all
When a moving object appears in the coverage area of another
nodes on the network using a common digital bus.
local lighting system, the time of appearance of the moving
object is recorded again. Knowing the distance between the When moving object appears in the operation area of one
nodes of the network, the velocity vector of the moving object of the local lighting systems (network nodes) the motion
is calculated. sensor is triggered, for example, motion sensor 1 of the first
network node in Fig. 1. The signal from the motion sensor is
After determining the velocity vector, the number of
fed to the MC1 microcontroller input, through which the LL1
network nodes located along the path of the object's
LED lamp switches to the increased power mode. In addition,
movement is calculated. In these nodes the lighting fixtures
with the help of built-in real time clock the moment when

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moving object appears in this zone is recorded. This autonomous power supply systems (batteries, photovoltaic
information is then transmitted by the MC1 microcontroller cells), which are typical for systems used today.
via its interface module IU1, together with this unique node
number, to all other nodes on the network via the digital bus. Most acceptable is the CAN bus, which is well supported
Further, as the object moves, it enters the coverage area of by manufacturers. CAN bus end nodes are quite cheap and
another local lighting system (another network node), for provide the required functionality. Most modern
example, the coverage area of the motion sensor MS2 of the microcontrollers have built-in CAN modules. But the CAN
second network node in the drawing. With the help of the bus requires a two-wire (in some cases, single-wire)
microcontroller MC2 of this node and with built-in its real transmission line plus a common wire for it to work.
time clock, the moment of appearance of moving object in the A good solution is to use wireless adapters to expand the
range of this node is fixed as well. Knowing the distance CAN bus. Some of these solutions are described in [7, 8] and
between the network nodes, the microcontroller(s) calculates are shown in Fig. 2.
the speed and direction of movement (velocity vector) of the
object. Then, according to the obtained data, the number of
network nodes installed in the direction of the object's
movement is determined, the LED lamps of which must
switch to the increased power mode. The microcontroller
transmits this information through the common digital bus. In
this case, the power of LED lighting gradually increases while
moving object approaches the corresponding network node,
up to the maximum value when it falls directly into the
coverage area of the node.
The switching point and power level of each LED lighting
is not determined directly by the motion sensor of the current
local lighting system, but by calculating the calculated speed
along the direction of movement of the object and its predicted
appearance at the next calculated point.
The entire lighting network, consisting of local lighting Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of wireless CAN bus expander.
networks connected by a simple digital bus, can support not
only one moving object, but also several, even moving The expander consists of radio frequency (RF) (upper) and
towards each other. A problem can arise when objects moving low frequency (LF) (down) transistors. The RF transistor
towards each other cross the range of a single motion sensor. operates in two modes. In first mode the digital TX signal is
In this case, the response time of the sensor may be slightly logic high. The RF transistor operates as transmitter of
longer than the calculated one, or the sensor will give a continuous RF oscillations of increased power. In second
fractional response that will be difficult for identifying with mode, when the TX signal is logic low, RF transistor operates
each object. In such an abnormal situation, it is advisable not as high frequency regenerative receiver. In the latter case, the
to analyze the signal of this sensor, switching the LED lamp received digital RX signal is generated by the comparator
of this local lighting system to the maximum power mode and (CMP). Certainly, one mode (transmitting) is dominant;
not changing the calculated values of the velocity vectors for another (receiving) is recessive. Such a solution fully
both objects. corresponds to the demands of CAN bus.

When driving on the streets during rush hour and heavy IV. MOTION SENSOR
traffic on highways and roads, signals from motion sensors are One of the most important components of the developed
continuously received from almost all local lighting systems. intelligent control system is the motion sensor. There is often
The only correct solution would be the transition of all LED a problem associated with the timely start of the recording
lamps of all local lighting systems to the maximum power equipment when a moving object is in given control area. This
mode. problem is most easily solved with the help of automatic
It is advisable to use the developed LED street lighting blocking of radio signals (ARB), which provides contactless
control system at certain times of the day, for example, at and remote detection of objects and issuing a start command
night, when the traffic intensity is low. The positive effect of for the measuring system [9]. The design of the device is based
its use is associated with significant savings in electrical on the ARB effect developed by the authors [9]. ARB is a
energy, the overhead of which is especially high at night, flange-type transmit/receive autodyne module. The module is
when traffic on the streets is minimal. made on the AA727A Gunn diode of the 8 mm wavelength
band. Antenna is horn lens with lobe width of 10° in the
III. DIGITAL BUS vertical plane and 6° in the horizontal plane. The supply to the
Any technical solution can be used as a digital bus that Gunn diode of the generator passes through a special isolation
connects network nodes. For example, these can be standard unit of the useful signal, which converts the autodyne changes
radio interfaces Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Bluetooth, etc. However, the in the average current value into a voltage. The autodyne
use of these modules can be unreasonably expensive; that potential is about 95 dB in the frequency range from 10.0 Hz
negates the expected energy savings (optical communication to 3.5 kHz. To fix the moment of the minimum approximation
systems are even more expensive). The use of so-called PLC of a moving object in a given sector of space, the authors used
modems will allow the use of power lines simultaneously for a three-channel signal analysis scheme. Amplitude analysis
data transmission. But this solution excludes the use of channel is triggered when the signal level exceeds the set
threshold. The channel for analyzing the rate of change of the

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signal amplitude triggers the transition from the value of the microwave signal is determined by linear size of microstrip
positive derivative to the negative value of the derivative. The patch antenna.
channel for selecting the period is triggered by the appearance
in the input signal of period in the specified range of duration. Described system is the generator with opened oscillating
The use of such a motion sensor, according to the authors, is tank. This tank can emit or receive electromagnetic waves
crucial, since this signal processing algorithm protects against simultaneously. While the autodyne oscillator system is
false alarms caused by the movement of insects, birds and excited the microwave oscillations through the microstrip
small animals near the antenna. patch antenna are effectively emitted into the direction of
moving object.
It is proposed a little bit another approach to motion sensor
design. It seems this approach is more cost effective than one The radiated power is not high; it does not exceed the value
was described above. in 5 mW. Microwave oscillations are reflected from moving
object and ones are received by the same microstrip patch
The autodyne oscillation system was used. The oscillation antenna. In this case the changing of FET current takes place.
system was formed by microstrip antenna with taps and field This current changing can be fixed with conventional resistor,
effect transistor (FT) was connected to these taps according which is connected to FET drain. This current changing is very
the scheme, which is shown in Fig. 3[10]. weak. For the selecting of ones the well-proven circuit-based
solution was used [10]. The schematic diagram of an autodyne
motion sensor is shown in Fig. 5.
2 1

Fig. 3. Simplified schematic diagram of microwave part of motion sensor.

The appearance of motion sensor is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of autodyne motion sensor.

The described sensor can register the moving objects

within the operation range in ten meters.
V. CONCLUSION
Thus, the intelligent lighting control system was
Fig. 4. Appearance of of microwave part of motion sensor, front and rear described. This system can be applied to stand-alone electric
views. lighting installations, outdoor lighting fixtures mounted on a
pole, which are designed for illuminating of highways, roads,
The autodyne sensor consists of proper microstrip patch streets and adjacent territories.
antenna 1, which is located on a surface of dielectric substrate
2. From the bottom part of dielectric substrate the ground The lighting turns on automatically when the ambient
plane 3 is placed. To the antenna taps the FET and blocking natural light level falls below a certain threshold level. The
capacitor are connected. All these components form self lighting lamp (LED) is powered at reduced level. While
excited autodyne generator, which is similar to well known moving object (car or pedestrian) appears within operation
Hartley oscillatory system (inductive three-point circuit). The range of local lighting system, the lighting turns on to full
blocking capacitor ensures the connection of the FET drain at power.
microwave with ground plane, which is obligatory for
The developed system combines all local lighting systems,
oscillation condition.
in which the motion sensors and the LED lamps itself are
The center of microstrip patch antenna is connected with integrated into one network. In this case, the speed and
ground plane. Such a connection ensures the DC feeding of direction of movement (velocity vector) of the object are
generator. This shorting of the center of microstrip patch determined along the motion sensors of neighboring local
antenna to the ground plane does not affect the oscillating lighting systems. The calculated speed determines the number
system because at resonance the voltage in this point is equal of local lighting systems, the LED lamps of which should be
to zero. switched on at a higher power.
Through remain taps of the microstrip patch antenna the In addition, the increasing in the power of the lighting
autotransformer positive feedback is ensured and the fixtures is carried out smoothly when the object approaches
generating of microwave signal takes place. The frequency of the corresponding lighting system. At the same time, the
switching point and power level of each LED lighting are

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determined not only by the signal from the motion sensor of [2] O. Enns, “Intelligent Street Lighting Systems,” Energosberezhenie
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