Issue link: https://te.mouser.com/i/1410851
10 V. THE EIGHT LEVELS OF LIGHTING INTERCONNECTS At this point, we've reviewed lighting technology as well as the Eight Levels of Application. The remainder of this paper combines the two to develop a logical system that is directly applicable to lighting systems. Lighting is no longer being thought of as an "electrical" product. The new technologies being rolled out and developed are resulting in the "electronification" of lighting. This lighting "electronification" offers a number of system parallels to the familiar electronic packaging seen in products ranging from cell phones to personal computers, albeit at a larger scale. Similarly, lighting designers are struggling with these new technologies and how to integrate them into new fixtures. Questions on which interconnect to use often confound the designer and are typically left until the last design step when a distributor catalog is picked up and something that "looks" like it will work is selected. Will the selected connector work? Perhaps, yes. Is it the optimum selection for the application? Probably not. What a designer needs is a method that defines each level of lighting interconnects in a manner similar to what is done with electronic systems. When doing this, we can better isolate the specific connector applications and define the products and options available to the lighting designer. From an industry-wide standpoint, this will bring order to the design process and introduce connector consideration earlier in the design process where proper consideration and selection of the connector is best situated. Proposed is a classification system that clearly defines natural demarcations inherent in all lighting systems regardless of the light source. While exceptions exist, eight levels of interconnects are easily identified in lighting systems and can be readily defined. What follows is a description and explanation of these levels. Identification of these levels thereby forms the basis for better identifying and communicating interconnect options available to all involved in lighting design and integration. As an added benefit, it provides a vehicle to identify product needs and gaps at each level that those in the connector industry are well posed to fill. The proposed Eight Lighting Interconnect Levels are: L1. Light Element Connection L2. Light Source Device Connection L3. Light Source Assembly Connection L4. Internal Power Supply to Light Source Assembly or Light Source Device L5. Primary Fixture Power