OpenThread

OpenThread

OpenThread released by Nest is an open-source implementation of Thread^®. Nest has released OpenThread to make the networking technology used in Nest products more broadly available to developers, in order to accelerate the development of products for the connected home.

With a narrow platform abstraction layer and a small memory footprint, OpenThread is highly portable. It supports both system-on-chip (SoC) and network co-processor (NCP) designs.

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Thread Certified component

OpenThread implements all features defined in the Thread 1.1.1 Specification. This specification defines an IPv6-based reliable, secure, and low-power wireless device-to-device communication protocol for home applications.

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Features

OpenThread implements all Thread networking layers (IPv6, 6LoWPAN, IEEE 802.15.4 with MAC security, Mesh Link Establishment, Mesh Routing) and device roles, as well as Border Router support.

Application services

IPv6 configuration and raw data interface
UDP sockets
CoAP client and server
DHCPv6 client and server
DNSv6 client

NCP support

Spinel, a general purpose NCP protocol
wpantund, a user-space NCP network interface driver/daemon
Sniffer support via NCP Spinel nodes

Border Router

Web UI for configuration and management
Thread Border Agent to support an External Commissioner
NAT64 for connecting to IPv4 networks
Thread interface driver using wpantund

How will you use OpenThread?

If you're interested in contributing to the ongoing development of OpenThread, then the OpenThread GitHub repository is for you. There you will find all the code, including information on how to contribute, our style guide, code of conduct, licensing, and much more.

If you want to use OpenThread in your own products or for personal deployment, check the options below.

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Deploy a Thread network

Determine the hardware and platform design you wish to use to build and deploy your own Thread network. Add a Border Router to connect your Thread network to other network layers, such as Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

Platforms Border Router

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Develop applications on top of a Thread network

Use the API Reference as a guide to all application development. IPv6, UDP, CoAP, DHCPv6, DNSv6...it's all there.

API Reference

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Port OpenThread to a new hardware platform

Check out our Porting Guide, which walks you through all the steps necessary to port OpenThread to a new hardware platform.

Porting Guide

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Get Thread Certification for your OpenThread product

OpenThread can be used for certification by the Thread Group. As a Thread reference stack, OpenThread makes certification easy.

Certification

News

Spotlight — Google I/O 2017

We were there!

Check out the video to see our OpenThread wall, with a live demonstration of a Thread network with a Border Router.

This network featured 10 nodes (TI CC2538 x2, TI CC2650 x2, NXP KW41Z x2, Nordic nRF52840 x2, Dialog DA15000, and Silicon Labs EFR32 as a joiner) and 2 Border Routers (Raspberry Pi 3B and NXP Pico-Pi-iMX7D).

News Archive

Qorvo GP712 becomes the first Thread Certified multi-channel IoT transceiver

Sep 11, 2017

With concurrent support for Thread and ZigBee® on different RF channels, the Qorvo GP712 enables designers to use a single transceiver on their gateway products to simultaneously serve both IEEE 802.15.4 implementations.

Overview Drivers Press Release

Support for TI CC2652 added

Jul 25, 2017

The Texas Instruments CC2652 device is part of the SimpleLink™ microcontroller (MCU) platform which consists of Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth® low energy, Sub-1 GHz, Thread, ZigBee, 802.15.4 and host MCUs.

Overview Drivers

Support for Qorvo GP712 added

Jul 11, 2017

The Qorvo GP712 is an IEEE 802.15.4 multi-stack multi-channel communications controller, enabling the development of fully scalable Thread and ZigBee Smart Home and IoT products.

Overview Drivers