Cascoda and Thread
Cascoda joined the Thread group in 2015, and we have since become a leading member, contributing to the specification draft, the open source software implementation and marketing collateral. Cascoda Chaired the Thread Low Power Work Group until the successful completion of its remit.
Overview
Thread is a low-power wireless mesh network-layer protocol, based on the universally-supported Internet Protocol (IP), and built using open and proven standards. Thread enables direct IP-based device-to-device and device-to-cloud communications. It reliably connects hundreds (or thousands) of products and includes mandatory security features. Thread networks have no single point of failure, can self-heal and reconfigure when a device is added or removed, and are simple to setup and use.
Cascoda® & Thread®
Co-author of the open source stack, OpenThread & the Thread specificationBuilt for IoT
Designed for homes & buildings
Built-in Security
Highly secure network layer
Low Energy
Power-efficient features
IPv6 Mesh
IP from internet to end-devices
Developer Friendly
Linux Emulation environment for OpenThread
Thread Security
Thread, as a network layer, ensures that the data sent over the air cannot be tampered with or viewed by any unauthorised device. Thread also ensures that devices that join the network are legitimate and authorised. In order to secure data over the air, Thread uses a network-wide key employing symmetric key cryptography known as AES-CCM. AES-CCM uses a network-wide key to encrypt each message, and appends a tag for authentication. If the recipient has the network-wide key, it can decrypt the message, and authenticate that it was neither tampered with in transit, nor replayed from a past transmission. This network-wide key is periodically changed to prevent any individual key from becoming exhausted.
When a new device is joining a network for the first time, it does not know the network-wide key and therefore needs to obtain it. This process is known as commissioning. Of course, the network-wide key cannot be transmitted without encryption, as it could be obtained by an attacker. To overcome this problem, Thread commissioning uses a process known as Password-Authenticated Key Exchange (PAKE), which is part of the Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) standard. PAKE uses a low-strength secret (e.g. a password, QR/bar code or RFID) in conjunction with asymmetric elliptic curve cryptography to authenticate the new device, and generate a high-strength secret between the two parties. The high strength secret is used to encrypt the communication of the network-wide key to the joining device. This entire process is orchestrated by a Thread commissioner such as a smartphone connected to a Thread Border Router over WiFi.
Thread mesh networking guide
Thread is unique in that it forms a self-managing self-healing mesh. This means that Thread networks do not need complex management and can be installed by installers with full confidence in the resilience of the connectivity technology.
Downgrading and Upgrading
A REED can dynamically Downgrade itself to an End-node or Upgrade itself to a Router, dependant on the needs of the network. So, if a REED has no connection to an End-Device, it can Downgrade itself to an End-Device to minimize network overhead. Similarly, if a REED is the only node in reach of a new End-Device wishing to join the network, it can dynamically upgrade itself to a Router. This is done automatically, meaning that Thread self-optimises to decide which devices need to be Routers and which need to be End-Devices.
