Manufacturers of LED luminaires currently use a variety of programming methods to set the operating characteristics of LED drivers inside luminaires. Zhaga has standardized a digital, wireless programming approach using near-field communication (NFC). The NFC programming specification lists the qualified NFC readers that luminaire manufacturers shall use for programming LED drivers with an integrated NFC tag.

An increasing number of lighting applications requires reading out parameters and changing of settings of LED drivers in the field.Zhaga aims to give installers, system integrators and utility companies the option to select only one programming tool which works with all field-maintenance applications from all vendors implementing Book 25.Zhaga Book 25 builds on Book 24, Programming of luminaire components using NFC, but now includes mobile NFC Readers with a Bluetooth interface. It enables maintenance and replaceability with a cross vendor harmonized method of NFC programming for in-field use.

The specification defines a Bluetooth communication protocol (GATT-Service) which NFC Reader manufacturers can implement for the communication between the field-maintenance application on a smart device (cell phone, tablet, etc.) and the NFC reader.

This allows the field-maintenance app to read and write parameters on NFC enabled LED drivers without the need for a cable-based connection. Field maintenance with Book 25 may also be used for other components requiring programming, such as sensors or connectivity nodes.