Controlling groups of electrical loads via multicast and/or unicast messages

A hub device comprising:

• a communication circuit configured to communicate digital messages;
• and
• a control circuit configured to:
• receive a user interface event from an input device;
• determine, based on the user interface event, a message transmission configuration, wherein the message transmission configuration includes a message selected from a group comprising a unicast message and a multicast message, wherein the message transmission configuration comprises the multicast message when the user interface event is determined to be a first event configured to cause an intensity change at a lighting load and a number of multicast messages transmitted within a predefined period of time is within a predefined threshold, and wherein the message transmission configuration comprises the unicast message when the user interface event is determined to be a second event that is configured to cause a smaller intensity change at the lighting load than the first event;
• and
• transmit, via the communication circuit, a digital message using the message transmission configuration.

A load control system, comprising:

• a lighting device for controlling an amount of power provided to a lighting load;
• and
• a remote control device configured to:
• detect a user interface event;
• determine whether the user interface event is a first event configured to cause an intensity change at the lighting load;
• when the user interface event is determined to be the first event configured to cause the intensity change at the lighting load and a number of multicast messages transmitted within a predefined period of time is within a predefined threshold, transmit the digital message as a multicast message;
• and
• when the user interface event is determined to be a second event that is configured to cause a smaller intensity change at the lighting load than the first event, transmit the digital message as a unicast message to the lighting device.

A load control system, comprising:

• a lighting device for controlling an amount of power provided to a lighting load;
• a hub device;
• and
• a remote control device configured to:
• detect a user interface event;
• and
• transmit the user interface event to the hub device;
• wherein the hub device is configured to:
• determine whether the user interface event is a first event configured to cause an intensity change at the lighting load;
• when the user interface event is determined to be the first event configured to cause the intensity change at the lighting load and a number of multicast messages transmitted within a predefined period of time is within a predefined threshold, transmit the digital message as a multicast message;
• and
• when the user interface event is determined to be a second event that is configured to cause a smaller intensity change at the lighting load than the first event, transmit the digital message as a unicast message to the lighting device.