DALI Solutions

Overview of DALI Communication

In recent years, buildings have been developed and supplied with an emphasis on energy efficiency, safety, and comfort for a sustainable society, including SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). In addition to BCP (Business Continuity Plan), environmental certification and evaluation systems for buildings such as LEED, ZEB, and WELL have emerged. In order to address a variety of environmental certifications and assessments, lighting is an important part of the process, with flexible control of dimming and color to improve comfort while saving energy and reducing costs. The international standard DALI has emerged toward this end and has already become mainstream globally.

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*1 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design): Environmental performance evaluation system for buildings and site use
*2 ZEB (Zero-Energy Building): A building that aims to achieve a comfortable indoor environment while reducing the annual primary energy consumption of the building to zero.
*3 WELL: A system to evaluate the environmental and energy performance of a building and the health and comfort of its users
*4 UL Standard: Product safety standard established by Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
*5 ISO standard: International standard for a product or service that states the same level of quality should be provided all over the world.
*6 IEC standard: International standard for electrical and electronic technologies.

DALI Communication

DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) is an international communication standard for lighting specified in IEC 62386. Communication takes place between a master (control device) and slave (control gear).

DALI Standard Listing

Data transfer route basics are covered by 101, control gear by 102, control devices by 103, and so on. Control devices include routers, switches, and motion or light sensors. Control gear includes lighting fixtures. There are also upper-level standard numbers (2xx and 3xx) that cover characteristics.

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Features of DALI Communication

• Lamps can be dimmed individually
  • Individual dimming and color control is possible even within the same circuit
  • Easier installation and management
• Open protocol
  • Products from different manufacturers (lighting fixtures, sensors, switches) can be controlled by a single control system
  • One DALI bus can connect with max 64pcs control device & 64pcs control gear
  • Can be linked with building energy monitoring system (BEMS)
• Two-way communication
  • Lamp condition monitoring

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DALI-2

A new DALI standard, DALI-2, is currently coming into use. DALI-2 defines new applications, adds new functions, and improves compatibility to better meet the lighting requirements of customers. Also, a device must pass an official test to receive certification of compliance with the standard. Renesas was the first semiconductor device manufacturer to join the DALI standardization organization. This enables us to deliver solutions that track the latest trends in the standard and include a tested protocol stack by official DALI tester.

DALI System Use Case - Smart Lighting

The task/ambient lighting method is a lighting design method that maximizes the advantages of the DALI system. By separating task lighting (the brightness required for specific work) from ambient lighting (the overall comfort of the space), it enables a user‑friendly and comfortable environment.

Features of task/ambient lighting:

• Boost work efficiency by allowing adjustment of the brightness and hue to match individual preferences
• Boost energy efficiency by providing only the amount of night needed in each location
• Further energy savings can be achieved by, for example, using motion sensors to detect when people are around, allowing the lights to be extinguished automatically when not needed, or using light sensors to detect light from outside, which can be taken into account when controlling brightness

In this configuration, all devices—such as luminaires, sensors, and switches—are connected via DALI, allowing centralized lighting controllers to manage them collectively. In this way, DALI enables necessary devices to interoperate and perform control according to the situation, making it easy to implement task/ambient lighting.

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DALI Solution

Features

DALI-2 TOTAL Solution is a useful solution to support both “Control Device” (master application like a router), and “Control Gear” (slave application like a lighting fixture). Users can save stack and application development resources from half to 1 year by making use of this solution.

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DALI-2 Total Solution Features

• Control Gear
  • Proven DALI Control Gear library (support IEC62836-102)
  • Supports particular requirements for LED lighting and production lighting 207LED and 209
  • Contributes to CPU workload and code scale reduction, and total board cost reduction by DALI communication and peripheral function in RL78/G24 that can support digital power control
  • Stack tested on official DALI tester
• Control Device: Input Device, Application Controller
  • Input Device: RL78/G23 (Recommended Device)
    • RL78/G23 supports noise-resistant touch function, enabling attractive switch design, and Snooze Mode Sequencer (SMS) function reduces CPU load/number of timers for realizing DALI function
    • RL78/G23 Lighting Communication Master Evaluation Board supports DMX512 and infrared communication. It is equipped with a Pmod interface for sensor expansion, allowing the addition of functions such as a motion sensor and an illuminance sensor.
    • Stack tested on official DALI tester
  • Application Controller: RX65N (Recommended Device)
    • RX65N Cloud Kit + DALI-2 Option Board provides FreeRTOS adapted for cloud environments and enables configuration and control of input devices and control gear on the DALI bus using three methods: web (AWS), a switch, and a PC.
    • ID certification, supports OTA
    • DALI driver that can support proprietary frame (32-bit or more) for future extended function
    • Stack tested on official DALI tester

Both the RL78/G23 Lighting Communication Master Evaluation Board and the RX65N Lighting Communication Evaluation Board can be combined with the PC‑based GUI (DALI Master Controller GUI) to enable functions such as configuring input devices, application controllers, and control gear on the bus, as well as bus monitoring.

Release Information

Solution Table

Protocol Stack Library Versions (as of 2026)

*1: Official DALI tester and test sequences are used to confirm the operation of the communication components of DALI products.
*2: MBS/CS-Lab GMBH
*3: Both Renesas' library and Tessera's library are available.

Communication Evaluation Environment Facilitates Development and Evaluation

The communication evaluation environment is a reference solution for developing communication-compatible dimmers (communication masters, DALI switches, sensors), etc. It can also be used to evaluate communication with lamps (DALI, DMX512, infrared communication).

*For details, contact a sales representative.

DALI, DMX512 Master Control GUI for Communication Evaluation

GUIs for DALI and DMX512 are available as communication evaluation masters. By combining with the RL78/G23 Lighting Communication Master Evaluation Board, it can operate as a master. It can be used to evaluate lighting control by communication. The GUI can be downloaded free of charge from our website.

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Lighting System Development Assistance Tool: QE for Lighting & Power

QE for Lighting & Power is a development support tool designed for lighting systems. It automatically generates software for DALI, supports DALI-2 Control Gear, and allows users to easily configure DALI parameters through an intuitive GUI. The tool is available as a free download from our website.

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Furthermore, LED simulation can be achieved by referring to the RL78/G24 LED Lighting Control Application Model (PDF | English, 日本語) application note.