July 15, 2015 – Silicon Labs (Country Manager: Woon-dal Paik), a specialist in microcontrollers, wireless access, analog, and sensor solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), announced the launch of its Thread network solution, which features a software stack built on years of mesh network expertise and the industry's most advanced mesh network software development tools. Silicon Labs' Thread solution provides developers with the fastest way to develop Thread-enabled products for IoT, including thermostats, wireless sensor networks, smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, connected lighting devices, control panels, wireless access points, and gateways.

Thread technology fills a gap in the IoT ecosystem by providing the industry's first standard low-power mesh networking solution based on the Internet Protocol (IP). Thread technology enables highly reliable, secure, and highly scalable internet connectivity suitable for battery-operated devices in connected homes. Silicon Labs, a founding member of the Thread Group and serving as the chairman of the group's technical committee, plays a key role in defining and developing Thread technology specifications.

“Thread is poised to establish itself as the leading mesh network technology for the connected home, alongside numerous device manufacturers preparing to integrate with Thread technology this year and those planning full-scale production of Thread-based products in 2016,” said Mareca Hatler, Research Director at ON World Inc. “Silicon Labs, a leading design firm for Zigbee and Thread software and a leader in standards-based mesh networks, is playing a pivotal role in driving Thread technology through the connected home ecosystem.”

Silicon Labs is working closely with leading manufacturers of Thread-based connected home products, and its Thread stack is currently driving the deployment of mesh networks at key customers. Silicon Labs provides the industry's most extensive mesh network SoC portfolio and a common development platform for Zigbee and Thread solutions. The combination of Silicon Labs' Thread stack, EM35xx wireless SoC platform, and hardware and software tools provides developers with a seamless transition path from Zigbee to Thread via over-the-air (OTA) upgrades. Silicon Labs' hardware and software roadmap will enable multi-protocol, multi-band wireless connectivity in 2.4GHz and sub-GHz suitable for IoT.

Skip Ashton, Vice President of Software Engineering at Silicon Labs and Executive Vice President of Technology at the Thread Group, said, “As a market leader in mesh networks, Silicon Labs has over a decade of experience in developing, verifying, and implementing standards-based mesh network solutions. We possess deep knowledge not only of mesh network technology but also of certification processes. Through collaboration with our customers and ecosystem partners, Silicon Labs has successfully certified thousands of mesh network products and software using the industry-leading EM35xx wireless SOC.”

“We are pleased to introduce the Thread specification, Silicon Labs’ Thread protocol, and development tools that bring cutting-edge wireless mesh network technology into the connected home market,” said Keith Brandon, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Kwikset. “By utilizing Silicon Labs’ standards-based Thread solutions, we can simplify the development of Thread-based lock products that can communicate seamlessly with other connected home devices, accelerate development speed, and provide banking-level security features to consumers.”

Silicon Labs’ Thread solution provides a simple, secure, and highly scalable method to wirelessly interconnect hundreds of connected home devices and seamlessly connect them to the Internet. Thread software provides a self-healing, IPv6-based mesh network that can scale to over 250 nodes without failure due to a single point of failure. The protocol comprehensively supports not only simple commissioning but also “sleepy” end nodes capable of low-power operation for years on a single battery. Users can easily add nodes to the network using a smartphone or browser. Silicon Labs’ Thread stack utilizes proven AES-128 cryptography to protect all network transactions and provide banking-grade end-to-end security when adding nodes to the network.

Tim Myers, Director of Intrusion Detection Product Management at Tyco Security Products, said, “We are pleased to collaborate with Silicon Labs while developing products using Thread technology that can improve wireless communication performance and enhance security features in the home.”

How to simplify thread development

Silicon Labs provides comprehensive development and debugging tools to accelerate the adoption of Thread-supported products. Silicon Labs' AppBuilder tool simplifies the development of IP-based mesh network applications and reduces development time. Through AppBuilder, developers can easily configure Thread protocol mesh network applications using Silicon Labs' application framework. Silicon Labs' application framework enables the easy portability and reuse of customer software across wireless SOCs supported in the Silicon Labs portfolio by decoding application code using an easy-to-use set of callbacks and plugins. Silicon Labs also provides a powerful Desktop Network Analyzer tool that differs from existing wireless sniffers. This desktop network analyzer tool provides complete visibility into all wireless network behavior by utilizing a special packet trace port available on Silicon Labs' mesh network SoC.

Product Price and Purchase Information

Silicon Labs' Thread software stack and sample applications are available free of charge to customers holding a registered EM35x-DEV development kit. The EM35x-DEV kit provides a common platform for Zigbee and Thread development, enabling customers to target various markets. Thread modules are immediately available from Silicon Labs ecosystem partners, including CEL (California Eastern Labs) and Telegesis. Silicon Labs' new RD-004-0201 border router reference design is scheduled to be announced in late July. The initial software release for the border router will demonstrate end-to-end IPv6 connectivity and will include application sample code to accelerate development. For more information on Silicon Labs' Thread software stack, hardware platforms, and development tools, visit www.silabs.com/thread.