A control fieldbus applied to electronic ballasts management

Artificial illumination control is one important topic to be addressed, considering that the energy expenses are substantial and solutions to optimize the use of energy are required. This work presents an integrated solution for electronic ballasts control of HPS lamps using the power lines as a transmission media. A message protocol is implemented, with variables related to HPS lamps management. The protocol stack, including the physical layer, the media access control layer, the network layer and the application layer is designed focusing in the application purposed, i.e., energy management, light control and monitoring. A software application is designed so all units can be controlled and monitored remotely. Experimental results are presented in order to validate the integration between power lines and electronic ballasts to control HPS lamps.