Street Lighting Control Software (CMS) — Technical Overview

Street lighting control software is typically implemented as a Central Management System (CMS) — a web-based or cloud-hosted application used to configure, monitor, and manage street lighting networks. It provides remote access to individual luminaires and segments, enables dimming and scheduling, and collects real-time and historical data for operational and analytical purposes. 

In modern deployments, the CMS is a core component of Smart City infrastructure, acting as the digital layer that connects streetlight controllers, communication networks, and higher-level municipal platforms.

Core Functions of Street Lighting CMS

Although implementations differ by vendor, most street lighting CMS platforms support a similar set of technical functions:

1. Remote Control and Scheduling

  • ON/OFF control for individual luminaires, groups, or entire feeders.
  • Time-based and astronomical schedules (sunrise/sunset, seasonal profiles).
  • Dimming profiles by road type, traffic category, or time bands.
  • Scene control for events, emergencies, or temporary overrides.

2. Asset and GIS Management

  • Mapping of luminaires and cabinets using GPS coordinates.
  • Visualization of assets on a geographic map.
  • Storage of metadata (ID, model, power rating, installation date, maintenance history).

3. Telemetry, Alarms, and Diagnostics

  • Real-time status of nodes and cabinets.
  • Automatic fault detection (lamp outage, driver fault, communication loss, power anomalies).
  • Event logs and alarm lists for operational teams.
  • KPI monitoring (availability, failure rates, response times).

4. Energy and Performance Analytics

  • Measurement or estimation of energy consumption per luminaire, feeder, or district.
  • Load curves and demand profiles over time.
  • Support for reporting, billing interfaces, and carbon footprint analysis

5. User Management and Security

  • Role-based access control (operator, engineer, administrator).
  • Audit logs of user actions.
  • Encrypted communication (HTTPS, VPN tunnels, application-level encryption)

 

System Architecture

A typical street lighting software stack consists of:

  • Field devices — light point controllers, cabinet controllers, sensors.
  • Outdoor Device Network (ODN) — PLC, RF mesh, or GSM/LTE networks.
  • CMS platform — central management software, usually delivered as a web application
  • Integration layer — APIs or standard protocols for Smart City platforms.

The connection between the ODN and the CMS is often based on standardized interfaces such as the TALQ Smart City Protocol, which defines a REST/JSON API to ensure interoperability between different CMS and outdoor device networks.

 

Software Capabilities in Modern Street Lighting Systems

1. Configuration and Commissioning

  • Automatic or semi-automatic discovery of controllers and nodes.
  • Batch configuration of parameters (profiles, drivers, communication settings).
  • Commissioning workflows for new projects and retrofits.

2. Support for Multiple Control Levels

Most CMS platforms can manage:

  • Segment/cabinet control (via cabinet controllers).
  • Individual light point control (via NEMA/Zhaga or in-luminaire nodes).
  • Hybrid architectures combining both approaches.

3. Sensor and Smart City Integration

Street lighting software increasingly ingests data from:

  • motion and traffic sensors,
  • daylight sensors,
  • environmental (AQI, noise) and meteo sensors,
  • vibration/tilt and other asset health indicators.

This data is used to implement adaptive lighting, inform urban analytics, and feed higher-level Smart City platforms.

 

DITRA Software Ecosystem (Example Implementation)

In DITRA-based systems, street lighting and Smart City control are handled by a dedicated software stack that follows the same architectural principles described above.

1. Lighting CMS

The lighting control system provides:

  • configuration of dimming profiles and time schedules,
  • grouping of luminaires and zone assignment,
  • live graphical status of street lighting assets on a GPS-based map,
  • remote control and diagnostics of individual or grouped nodes.

It acts as the primary CMS for day-to-day operation of the lighting network.

2. DITRA Synergy as a Smart City–Level Platform

DITRA Synergy is a Smart City–oriented platform designed to aggregate and manage multiple urban systems, including street lighting, utilities, and maintenance workflows.

Functionally, it behaves similarly to a city infrastructure management layer:

  • consolidating real-time data,
  • providing analytics and dashboards,
  • offering a central point of integration with other municipal systems via APIs.

In a reference architecture, a lighting CMS manages the lighting network, while a platform like DITRA Synergy consumes CMS data and exposes it to broader city-level applications.

 

Relationship to Smart City Platforms

Street lighting software can either:

  • operate as a standalone CMS solely focused on lighting, or
  • act as a subsystem within a broader Smart City platform, where lighting is one of several managed verticals (alongside traffic, parking, environmental monitoring, etc.).

Using standard protocols (such as TALQ) and open APIs ensures that lighting systems remain interoperable and future-proof, regardless of which vendor provides the CMS or the Smart City platform.

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