Thread: An IoT Protocol

Abstract

Thread is a new IoT protocol released by Thread Group Inc. in 2015. More than 200 companies are currently members of the Thread Group Inc. and supporting this protocol. This paper provides an overview of the Thread protocol and discusses all the network layers. In the physical layer's overview we discuss the requirements for wireless communication. In the data link (MAC) layer we discuss the MAC link establishment (MLE) datagrams. We discuss use of 6LoWPAN addressing mode, which is a low power version of IPv6. In the network layer we discuss communication links and routing. In the transport layer we discuss the use of CoAP protocol and DTLS. In the security section we discuss setting up Commissioning agent and adding Thread devices to the Private Area Network.