Porting OpenThread to New Hardware Platforms

Porting the OpenThread stack to a new hardware platform consists of five steps:

  1. Set up the build environment
  2. Implement Platform Abstraction Layer APIs
  3. Implement advanced features (Hardware Abstraction Layer)
  4. Validate the port
  5. Certification and README

Hardware platform requirements

OpenThread requires the following platform services:

  • IEEE 802.15.4-2006 2.4 GHz radio
    • Send and receive IEEE 802.15.4 frames
    • Generate IEEE 802.15.4 Acknowledgment frames
    • Provide Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurements on received frames
  • A millisecond-resolution free-running timer with alarm
  • Non-volatile storage for storing network configuration settings
  • A true random number generator (TRNG)

Example builds

Several example builds are provided in the OpenThread repository. For more information, see Platforms.

For a complete end-to-end example of how to port OpenThread from scratch, see the Add support for EFR32 pull request.

Next
Set up the Build Environment