Samsung, Nest and ARM Introduce Internet-of-Things Protocol ‘Thread’

An alliance of tech companies has announced a network protocol based on existing standards for internet-of-things applications. Samsung, Nest Labs, ARM and Freescale, among others, have supported the initiative.

Thread is based on the existing 802.15.4 protocol, but it also offers a number of advantages that that network protocol lacks. For example, Thread has support for 6LoWPAN, which provides ipv6 handling for low-power network devices. In addition, the encryption of networks is part of Thread. The advantage of using the mac and phy layers of 802.15.4 is that existing devices that support this network protocol can get support for Thread via a firmware update. Nest’s hardware already supports Thread.

One of Thread’s rivals is 802.11ah, a low-energy wireless standard based on IEEE 802.11-2007 that the Wifi Alliance is likely to ratify in 2016, but will likely equip products next year.

The Thread network protocol is a new initiative that aims to make the Internet of Things a common platform to connect devices from different manufacturers. The AllSeen Alliance was recently established for the standardization of software applications. Members such as Haier, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Qualcomm, Sharp, Sears, Silicon Image, TP-LINK and Cisco pledge to use Qualcomm’s AllJoyn platform. A competing platform is the Open Interconnect Consortium of Samsung and Intel.