 | This articleis missing information about technical specification and licensing. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(April 2025) |
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| Developed by | Thread Group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Home automation |
| Website | threadgroup |
Thread is anIPv6-based, low-powermesh networking technology forInternet of things (IoT) products.[1] The Thread protocol specification is available at no cost; however, this requires agreement and continued adherence to anend-user license agreement (EULA), which states "Membership in Thread Group is necessary to implement, practice, and ship Thread technology and Thread Group specifications."[2]
Often used as a transport forMatter (the combination being known asMatter over Thread), the protocol has seen increased use for connectinglow-power and battery-operatedsmart-home devices.[3]
In July 2014, the Thread Group alliance was formed as an industry group to develop, maintain and drive adoption of Thread as an industry networking standard for IoT applications.[4] Thread Group provides certification for components and products to ensure adherence to the spec. Initial members wereARM Holdings,Big Ass Solutions,NXP Semiconductors/Freescale,Google-subsidiaryNest Labs,OSRAM,Samsung,Silicon Labs,Somfy,Tyco International,Qualcomm, and theYale lock company. In August 2018,Apple joined the group,[5] and released its first Thread product, theHomePod Mini, in late 2020.[6]
Thread uses6LoWPAN, which, in turn, uses theIEEE 802.15.4 wireless protocol with mesh communication (in the2.4 GHz spectrum), as doZigbee and other systems. However, Thread isIP-addressable, withcloud access andAES encryption. ABSD-licensed open-source implementation of Thread calledOpenThread is available from and managed by Google.[7]
The OpenThreadnetwork simulator, a part of the OpenThread implementation, simulates Thread networks using OpenThreadPOSIX instances.[8] The simulator utilisesdiscrete-event simulation and allows for visualisation of communications through a web interface.[relevant?][9]
In 2019, the Connected Home over IP (CHIP) project, subsequently renamed toMatter, led by the Zigbee Alliance, now theConnectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), Google, Amazon, and Apple, announced a broad collaboration to create aroyalty-free standard andopen-source code base to promote interoperability in home connectivity, leveraging Thread, Wi-Fi, andBluetooth Low Energy.[10][11]
| Company | Device name | Date | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | iPhone 15 Pro[12] | 2023-09 – 2024-09 | Including Pro Max |
| iPhone 16[13] | 2024-09 – | All models except iPhone 16e | |
| Apple TV 4K[14] | 2022-09 – 2021-04 – 2022-09 | Apple TV 4K (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Ethernet Apple TV 4K (2nd generation) | |
| HomePod Mini[15] | 2020-11 – | All models | |
| HomePod[16] | 2023-02 – | 2nd Gen only |
Data from Wikidata