ZigBee Allies with Thread to Deliver IoT Solutions for a Connected Home

FREMONT, CA: ZigBee Alliance, an enterprise computer networking consortium, teaming up  with Thread group to offer complete and interoperable, end-to-end solutions for Internet Protocol (IP) based Internet of Things (IoT) using ZigBee  Common Applications Library.

The liaison agreement explores the opportunities in bringing ZigBee Common Applications Library to Thread networking Protocol. ZigBee started developing the combined solution after the completion of evaluations by both the companies. The solution streamlines product development, improves interoperability, and provides a road map for ZigBee Alliance’s comprehensive set of product development specifications, branding, and a complete test and certification program.

The ZigBee Alliance supports Thread group’s networking layer with its ZigBee application layer that consolidates all ZigBee device profiles into a single unified library. The alliance aims to offer a complete solution that includes end-to-end certification program to enhance the customer experience over a multitude of IoT applicationsin a connected home. The solution meets the market desire of IP-based low power radio frequency communications.

The collaboration extends the reach of ZigBee Common Applications Library by uniting Thread IP networking layer with ZigBee’s Wireless IoT solutions. It can get huge industrial support from various suppliers backing the two technological groups.

Thread is an IPv6/6LoWPAN protocol built on open standards. It connects hundreds of devices with each other and to the cloud, using real Internet Protocol over a low power, wireless mesh network with ease and secure. Thread offers reliable mesh network without a single point of failure and provides simple connectivity in low power. It supports a wide array of products for home including appliances, access control, climate control, energy management, lighting, safety, and security. Thread networks are easy to setup, and it uses smartphone-based authentication and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to facilitate secure access .

“With this liaison agreement, we are bringing the industry’s most advanced and proven low-power networking layer experience to a complete and interoperable, end-to-end solution using our consolidated ZigBee Common Applications Library,” says Tobin Richardson, President and CEO, ZigBee Alliance. “Building on more than a dozen years of experience in standards and ecosystem creation, we are now taking an important step toward IoT unification by adding compatibility with the Thread networking stack and its IP underpinnings to the ZigBee Alliance’s solutions portfolio. This portfolio spans all network layers and critical energy-harvesting and other foundational technologies, and is supported by all necessary interoperability and marketing solutions.”