Proof of concept trials will demonstrate ability of intelligent street lights to support Smart City and other IoT applications
SAN JOSE, Calif., December 18, 2019 – Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT), a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), announced today that it is conducting two intelligent street lighting projects in Malaysia. Inspired by a demonstration of the intelligent lighting system in IDT’s Malaysian office, the Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST), an industry-led organization focused on the advancement of the electronics industry, initiated a proof of concept collaborative project with IDT to conduct these trials to validate the advantages of intelligent street lighting. These advantages included reduced energy consumption, supporting smart city applications and making lights more interactive for residents.
The initial phase of the first project is expected to be complete by the end of this year and involves upgrading 92 streetlights in the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone in the Malaysian state of Penang. Making the streetlights intelligent requires outfitting each with weather-proof 6LoWPAN wireless mesh network modules and replacing their outdated sodium vapor bulbs with lamps comprised of much more energy efficient and dimmable light emitting diodes (LEDs). The IDT wireless modules provide reliable connectivity to the city’s IT cloud infrastructure, enabling staff to completely control and continuously monitor the lights.
The second project involves upgrading 36 luminaires in a parking area of the University of Science Malaysia (USM) in Penang. University students will use the upgraded streetlights to test a variety of smart city applications, including asset management and fleet management.
“These intelligent street lighting projects clearly show that Malaysia is an innovator and intends to be a leader in using smart city applications to make its cities run more efficiently and to improve the lives of its citizens,” said Rudi Hechfellner, director of sensing technology at IDT. “These projects also demonstrate IDT’s leadership in this huge market comprised of millions of street lights around the world. Our comprehensive lines of sensor, wireless networking, power and timing devices allow adding intelligence to street lights to get done quickly, easily and at a low cost.”
Malaysian officials are also considering giving the streetlights additional capabilities, such as automatically turning on when people approach an area. This would be accomplished by the lights using modern artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to discriminate between people, animals and vehicles – even in low light conditions – rather than relying on the cloud. This approach ensures that lights provide illumination immediately, rather than experiencing a delay, as data is first transmitted to the cloud for processing and an activation signal is eventually sent back. In addition, multiple lights will communicate with each other so that they illuminate the area precisely on time to ensure the lights are well lit when a pedestrian is walking down a street. Such intelligence is a major advance over simple motion sensors, enabling lights to provide continuous illumination for people when they are not moving, such as sitting at a bus stop.
“Driven by the mission to develop an open city platform through collaborative partnerships, CREST is initiating the open city labs program to develop innovative solutions for the betterment of the community, focused on smart living, smart mobility and the environment, which is in line with the Malaysia Smart City Framework launched in September 2019,” said Jaffri Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer of CREST. “With IDT’s AI and intelligent communication capabilities in street lighting, CREST intends to establish a smart cities data platform and analytics alliance through public-private partnership and the open city labs programs.”
Visit the lighting webpage to learn more information about IDT’s smart lighting solutions.
Integrated Device Technology, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), develops system-level solutions that optimize its customers’ applications. IDT’s market-leading products in RF, high performance timing, memory interface, real-time interconnect, optical interconnect, wireless power and smart sensors are among the company’s broad array of complete mixed-signal solutions for the communications, computing, consumer, automotive and industrial segments. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., IDT has design, manufacturing, sales facilities and distribution partners throughout the world. Additional information about IDT can be found at www.IDT.com. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
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