In-depth column | Improving smart home interoperability based on Thread

Recently, Sujata Neidig , vice president of marketing at Thread Group, published an article titled "Why Smart Home Interoperability is So Important" . The article provides a professional interpretation of the importance of smart home interoperability and unified standards based on technologies such as the Matter protocol and Thread .

Lack of interoperability is a major bottleneck in the current development of smart homes. If smart devices produced by different manufacturers cannot communicate and work together seamlessly, and if different communication protocols in the same smart home ecosystem cannot " understand " each other , then interoperability cannot be achieved. However, based on Matter over Thread , a series of smart hardware such as lamps, sockets, temperature sensors, smart speakers, etc. can be connected, managed and controlled in a unified way through IP networks.

Matter is an application layer protocol based on the transport layer. It has established a unified standard for various smart home devices. At the same time, it also integrates communication protocols such as Thread , Wi-Fi , and Bluetooth. Among them, Thread is a mesh network protocol designed specifically for low-power, low-bandwidth smart home devices.

As Matter develops further, Thread will play an increasingly important role in scenarios such as smart homes and smart buildings.

Thread protocol is essential for interoperability

So, among the many communication protocols supported by Matter , why does Thread have irreplaceable value?

This is related to the technical characteristics of Thread . Matter improves the compatibility of the smart device ecosystem, while Thread further expands the reliability and availability of the smart device ecosystem.

There is no " single point of failure " problem in the Thread network and it is self-recovering. For example, if a node in the network loses its connection, the entire network will not be paralyzed due to the loss of the node. After a short adjustment, the entire network will form a new topology to maintain the connectivity of the entire network.

In addition, Thread networks provide low-power connectivity, ideal for battery-powered smart devices that need to operate reliably for years.

This brings greater reliability and availability to consumers, radically improving the interoperability of smart home systems.

Thread family continues to grow, creating an interoperable smart home ecosystem

Due to its low power consumption, low latency, and self-recovery features, Thread is particularly suitable for use in smart homes and smart buildings, especially smart bulbs, smart door locks, thermostats, sensors, and other products. A large number of devices have passed Thread certification and joined the smart home scene of the Internet of Everything.

Smart lighting

Nanoleaf is a technology company focusing on the Internet of Things and smart homes, and has launched a series of consumer-grade smart lighting products, including a series of smart bulbs and smart light strips with Thread wireless connection functions, which achieve instant response, self-repair, energy saving, and scalability.

First, the Thread network achieves low latency through direct device-to-device, device-to-mobile, and device-to-cloud communications, shortening user waiting time. Second, the self-healing nature of the Thread network solves the problem of device disconnection and offline. At the same time, Thread's low power consumption also reduces the power consumption of smart lighting devices when they are in standby mode. Finally, the Thread network is scalable. The more Thread -enabled devices there are in your home, the greater the coverage of the Thread network.

Smart socket

Eve is an important supporter of Thread technology and has launched a series of smart home products that support Thread technology. When choosing a communication protocol for hardware devices, Eve put forward several core requirements: low latency, low power consumption, secure and reliable connection, and no latency issues in larger apartments or houses. In the end, Eve created Eve Energy and Eve Door & Window series accessories based on the Thread protocol .

Take Eve Energy smart socket as an example, it can be used as a " relay station " to expand the Thread network. At the same time, due to its low power consumption, even if the power consumption is monitored online all day, the power consumption is very small, which can better help consumers save energy.

It is worth mentioning that improving the scalability of the smart device ecosystem is crucial for IoT companies. In the future, consumers will have more and more smart devices in their homes. When connecting a large number of devices, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks often become unreliable, high-latency, and difficult to manage; while the Thread network can be easily expanded, and with the addition of new devices, the network will become more powerful.

Smart door lock

Yale is a world-renowned smart door lock company and an early supporter of the Thread protocol. It has launched a smart door lock based on Thread-radio that is fully integrated into the Nest ecosystem. As we all know, the most important thing about smart door locks is security and reliability. Based on the Thread protocol, Yale smart door locks can connect to other available border routers when the current Thread border router is unavailable and respond to remote commands, which enables Yale to add a series of differentiated functions to the product, including remote registration, fault diagnosis, telemetry, and sending notifications to users (such as lock status or battery replacement).

Currently, more than 180 companies have announced their support for the Thread protocol. It is expected that the team of Thread -certified products will continue to expand in the future , continuously creating a more interoperable, secure and reliable smart home ecosystem for consumers.

Explore Silicon Labs ' Thread solutions and design application documentation: https://cn.silabs.com/wireless/thread

This article is reproduced from the Thread Group official account, original link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3qhHFET04D9b_oi0PaT3Qg

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