.. _thread_protocol_interface:

Thread protocol
###############

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Overview
********
Thread is a low-power mesh networking technology, designed specifically for home
automation applications. It is an IPv6-based standard, which uses 6LoWPAN
technology over IEEE 802.15.4 protocol. IP connectivity lets you easily connect
a Thread mesh network to the internet with a Thread Border Router.

The Thread specification provides a high level of network security. Mesh networks
built with Thread are secure - only authenticated devices can join the network
and all communications within the mesh are encrypted. More information about
Thread protocol can be found at
`Thread Group website <https://www.threadgroup.org>`_.

Zephyr integrates an open source Thread protocol implementation called OpenThread,
documented on the `OpenThread website <https://openthread.io/>`_.

Internet connectivity
*********************

A Thread Border Router is required to connect mesh network to the internet.
An open source implementation of Thread Border Router is provided by the OpenThread
community. See
`OpenThread Border Router guide <https://openthread.io/guides/border-router>`_
for instructions on how to set up a Border Router.

Sample usage
************

You can try using OpenThread with the Zephyr Echo server and Echo client samples,
which provide out-of-the-box configuration for OpenThread. To enable OpenThread
support in these samples, build them with ``overlay-ot.conf`` overlay config file.
See :zephyr:code-sample:`sockets-echo-server` and :zephyr:code-sample:`sockets-echo-client`
samples for details.

Thread related APIs
*******************

OpenThread Driver API
========================

OpenThread L2 uses Zephyr's protocol agnostic IEEE 802.15.4 driver API
internally. This API is of interest to **driver developers** that want to
support OpenThread.

The driver API is part of the :ref:`ieee802154_driver_api` subsystem and
documented there.

OpenThread L2 Adaptation Layer API
==================================

Zephyr's OpenThread L2 platform adaptation layer glues the external OpenThread
stack together with Zephyr's IEEE 802.15.4 protocol agnostic driver API. This
API is of interest to OpenThread L2 **subsystem contributors** only.

.. doxygengroup:: openthread