California, July 15, 2014: Barely a week after this website had reported on the setting up of a new alliance for the Internet of Things (IoT) comes the news that a bunch of companies like Google’s Nest Labs and Samsung have now joined hands in an attempt to create another new standards IoT group.
Called the Thread Group, Inc, this US-based, non-profit group launched on Tuesday with plans to focus on smart home devices. Its founding members include ARM, Freescale, Big Ass Fans, Silicon Labs, and Yale Security.
Thread, says its website, was designed with one goal in mind: To create the very best way to connect and control products in the home.
Those behind Thread have explained that they wanted to build a technology that used and combined the best of what’s out there and create a networking protocol that could help the IoT realise its potential for years to come.
Here’s why they decided on Thread: Today, even with advancements in IoT, it’s still hard to get multiple devices to talk to one another. Most of today’s technologies rely on a single device to communicate with products around the home. So if that device fails, the whole network goes down. Today’s technologies can also be difficult and confusing to set up. And since many devices around the home need to stay connected 24/7, they end up draining battery life quickly.
Thread will have the following features:
- Simple for consumers to use
- Always secure
- Power-efficient
- An open protocol that carries IPv6 natively
- Based on a robust mesh network with no single point of failure
- Runs over standard 802.15.4 radios
- Designed to support a wide variety of products for the home: appliances, access control, climate control, energy management, lighting, safety, and security
All Thread networks will be easy to set up and secure to use, the Group claimed. In use will be a smartphone-era authentication scheme and AES encryption to close security holes that exist in other wireless protocols.
- Simple installation using your smartphone, tablet or computer
- Scalable to connect 250+ devices into a single network supporting multiple hops
- Provides security at network and application layers
- Product install codes are used to ensure only authorized devices can join the network
- Supported by banking-class, public-key cryptography
Thread will be led by President Chris Boross, who is also Technical Product Marketing manager at Nest, overseeing technology partnerships and wireless networking technologies.
The Group has two tiers of membership. -Sponsor Membership and Contributor Membership.
Image Credit: Thread
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