Thread is an

IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. I ...

-based, low-power

mesh networking A mesh network is a local area network topology in which the infrastructure nodes (i.e. bridges, switches, and other infrastructure devices) connect directly, dynamically and non-hierarchically to as many other nodes as possible and cooperate wit ...

technology for

Internet of things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other com ...

(IoT) products. Thread is reliable, secure and delivers fast response times, extended coverage and years of battery life to elevate smart home and building experiences. The Thread protocol specification is available at no cost; however, this requires agreement and continued adherence to an End-User License Agreement (EULA), which states that "Membership in Thread Group is necessary to implement, practice, and ship Thread technology and Thread Group specifications." Thread uses

6LoWPAN 6LoWPAN (acronym of "IPv6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks") in '6LoWPAN: The Embedded Internet', Shelby and Bormann redefine the 6LoWPAN acronym as "IPv6 over lowpower wireless area networks," arguing that "Personal" is no longer re ...

, which, in turn, uses the IEEE 802.15.4 wireless protocol with mesh communication (on the 2.4 GHz spectrum), as does

Zigbee Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios, such as for home automation, medical device data collection, and oth ...

and other systems. However, Thread is IP-addressable, with

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

access and

AES encryption The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known by its original name Rijndael (), is a specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001. AES is a variant ...

. A BSD-licensed open-source implementation of Thread, called
OpenThread
, is available from and managed by Google. In 2019, the Connected Home over IP project (later renamed "

Matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic part ...

"), led by Zigbee Alliance (now

Connectivity Standards Alliance The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), formerly the Zigbee Alliance, is a group of companies that maintain and publish the Zigbee standard and the soon to be Matter standard. The name Zigbee is a registered trademark of this group, and is not ...

), Google, Amazon, and Apple, announced a broad collaboration to create a

royalty-free Royalty-free (RF) material subject to copyright or other intellectual property rights may be used without the need to pay royalties or license fees for each use, per each copy or volume sold or some time period of use or sales. Computer standard ...

standard and

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized so ...

code base to promote interoperability in home connectivity, leveraging Thread,

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...

, and

Bluetooth Low Energy Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE, colloquially BLE, formerly marketed as Bluetooth Smart) is a wireless personal area network technology designed and marketed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) aimed at novel applications i ...

. In 2021, Thread was awarded th
Smart Home Innovation of the Year
from The Ambient's Smart Home Awards.

Thread Group

In July 2014, the Thread Group alliance was formed as an industry group to develop, maintain and drive adoption of Thread as an industry networking standard for IoT applications. Thread Group provides certification for components and products to ensure adherence the spec. Initial members were

ARM Holdings Arm is a British semiconductor and software design company based in Cambridge, England. Its primary business is in the design of ARM processors (CPUs). It also designs other chips, provides software development tools under the DS-5, RealView ...

Big Ass Solutions Big Ass Fans is an American company that manufactures fans, evaporative coolers, and controls for industrial, agricultural, commercial and residential use. The company's headquarters is in Lexington, Kentucky, with additional offices in Austra ...

NXP Semiconductors NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXP) is a Dutch semiconductor designer and manufacturer with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company employs approximately 31,000 people in more than 30 countries. NXP reported revenue of $11.06 billion in 2 ...

Freescale Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. was an American semiconductor manufacturer. It was created by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola in 2004. Freescale focused their integrated circuit products on the automotive, embedd ...

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

-subsidiary

Nest Labs Google Nest is a line of smart home products including smart speakers, smart displays, streaming devices, thermostats, smoke detectors, routers and security systems including smart doorbells, cameras and smart locks. The Nest brand name ...

OSRAM Osram Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). Osram positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and t ...

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

Silicon Labs Silicon Laboratories, Inc. (Silicon Labs) is a fabless global technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors, other silicon devices and software, which it sells to electronics design engineers and manufacturers in Internet of Th ...

Somfy Somfy is a French group of companies that were founded in 1969. First established in Cluses in Haute-Savoie, it is today one of the largest manufacturers and supplier of controllers and drives for entrance gates, garage doors, blinds and awning ...

Tyco International Tyco International plc was a security systems company incorporated in the Republic of Ireland, with operational headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, United States (Tyco International (US) Inc.). Tyco International was composed of two major b ...

Qualcomm Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, ...

, and the

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

lock company. In August 2018 Apple Inc. joined the group and released its first Thread product, the HomePod Mini, in late 2020. Thread Group offer
five levels of membership
Sponsor Membership, Contributor Membership, Implementer Membership, Affiliate Membership and Academic Membership. Membership is subject to an annual membership fee, except for the "Academic" tier. * Thread Group mission: Thread Group brings the Internet to the Internet of Things through its IP-based, low power, secure and future proof mesh networking technology. * Thread Group vision: To serve as the foundation of the Internet of Things by seamlessly connecting devices where we live and work.

Selling points and key features

Thread is a low-power and low-latency wireless mesh networking protocol built using open and proven standards. It uses

, which is based on the use of a connecting router, called an

edge router A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks. Routers perform the traffic directing functions between networks and on the global Internet. Data sent through a network, such as a web page or email, is ...

. Thread calls their edge routers Border Routers''.'' Thread solves the complexities of the IoT, addresses challenges such as interoperability, range, security, energy, and reliability. Thread networks don't have a

single point of failure A single point of failure (SPOF) is a part of a system that, if it fails, will stop the entire system from working. SPOFs are undesirable in any system with a goal of high availability or reliability, be it a business practice, software ap ...

and include the ability to self-heal. Thread is based on existing technologies in all its layers: from routing, packeting, and security to its wireless radio technology. Similar to Wi-Fi, with its broad range of devices, Thread is an open standard that is not tied to a specific manufacturer, which minimizes the risk of incompatibilities. Thread’s IP foundation is application agnostic, offering product manufacturers the flexibility to choose one (or multiple) app layers to connect devices across multiple networks. Developers can bring their apps, devices, systems, and services to market faster because they’re using the same set of tools available for the Internet.

IoT protocols landscape

Other

(IoT) protocols include

(including

Bluetooth Mesh Bluetooth Mesh is a computer mesh networking standard based on Bluetooth Low Energy that allows for many-to-many communication over Bluetooth radio. The Bluetooth Mesh specifications were defined in the Mesh Profile and Mesh Model specifications ...

Z-Wave Z-Wave is a wireless communications protocol used primarily for residential and commercial building automation. It is a mesh network using low-energy radio waves to communicate from device to device, allowing for wireless control of smart home de ...

, Wi-Fi HaLow, Bluetooth 5, Wirepas, MiraOS and VEmesh. Thread is complementary to many of these protocols and addresses use cases with low data rate, low-power consumption, reliability and extended range requirements.

References

External links

* – official site
OpenThread
* {{Automation protocols Home automation Building automation Personal area networks Mesh networking IEEE 802 IPv6 Computer-related introductions in 2014

Thread Group

Selling points and key features

IoT protocols landscape

See also

References

External links