| .. _thread_protocol_interface: |
| |
| Thread protocol |
| ############### |
| |
| .. contents:: |
| :local: |
| :depth: 2 |
| |
| 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 :ref:`sockets-echo-server-sample` and :ref:`sockets-echo-client-sample` for |
| details. |
