Thanks for the pointer. I'll need to spend more time understanding but I did see a worrisome moment about border router credentials. Having authorities in the path be they border keepers or firewall rules complicated relationships between endpoints by having third parties involved.
Checking in here with the developers⌠whatâs going on with Thread and CHIP/MATTER standards integration for the future?
Thread is all the buzz at CES 2022. Letâs not let HomeKit still all your thunderâŚ
I've looked at the Thread/Matter site a few weeks ago but didn't find any architectural overview. Lots of C++ interfaces. Does anyone have more information? I'd like to understand it better.
YouTube thread vs ZigBee, youâll find a wealth of knowledge like I did.
I just realized that weâve all been bamboozled, led astray, run amok over they hypâŚ.
I now realize that thread or Matter or whatever theyâre calling it today ⌠is just IPv6 over a 2.4Ghz wireless signal. All the hype is in the acronyms.. GotâEm!
But this thread started with a statement that included:
Is it really coming soon? Or âcoming soonâ?
3 Likes
I don't know if I can dig up the exact quote, but Hubitat has said in the past that they are watching how Thread/Chip/Matter pans out before committing to adding it to the hub.
At the rate these protocols have been developing, I would be surprised to see it come this year, if ever. By the time they get any traction we will have NewThread or Matter3 or something entirely different.
The second one.
1 Like
I, for one, am ready for the Hubitat Elevation C4000.
1 Like
I'm really hoping they can support the new protocol standards sooner than later, or even a bridge hardware option, perhaps even USB attachment.
Either way it terrifies me that it might not I have way too many automations to jump ship.
Nah, at the rate Thread is progressing, and devices becoming readily available, we will all be on the C9 hub by then. If Thread is ever a thing.
4 Likes
I know that Iâm not in any hurry to replace Zigbee devices that work well with other âZigbee- now better and renamed to sound coolerâ devices.
2 Likes
Thread is already a thing. Thread is basically a more resilient 2.4Ghz mesh network that speaks IP languages. Many newer Zigbee radios in theory can be upgraded to Thread.
The largest current application is the Apple HomeKit ecosystem. Nanoleaf and Eve were the first releasing products in 2021. Wemo has started to upgrade its products. Aqara has announced Thread products too.
The issue for the wider market is release of the final Matter spec as that will be the primary way of using Thread radios (even HomeKit devices in the future). Assa Abloy/Yale has announced their Matter module for locks.
One nice thing is that a Thread radio/network does not need a dedicated hub to work. There needs to be at least one 'border router' in a Thread network. That router can be, but does not need to be, a hub. That means that Hubitat can participate in a Thread/Matter environment without changing any hardware. That is how Signify/Hue are planning on implementing Matter with their existing hubs.
1 Like
In order to run thread and zigbee concurrently without time slicing will require two radios.
2 Likes
Yes, but Hubitat will not need to have a Thread radio as part of the hub to participate/control Matter protocol devices as long as there is a border router in the network. Which should mean any Matter control that you implement will be backwards compatible with current hubs.
Please provide the source of this information, thanks.
Signify's press release:
Some clarification that implementation does not include Thread:
Which makes sense. Matter is an IP "language" that will work on Thread, Ethernet/WiFi, Bluetooth. Thread is an IP based radio network. Can speak multiple IP based "languages". Which is why Apple and Google systems include Thread radios that aren't (yet) using Matter.
This is a good 30000 ft overview.
https://www.threadgroup.org/news-events/blog/ID/287/Thread-Matter-And-CHIP--This-Glossary-Will-Quickly-Bring-You-Up-To-Speed
my point was it will be required if Google sticks to implementing Matter over Thread and not IP
Not sure I understand how that would be possible. Matter is IP based and is explicitly designed to work on Thread, Ethernet/Wifi, and Bluetooth. Here's a page from OpenThread, which is a Google project:
https://openthread.io/guides/border-router
Could someone come up with something proprietary that would screw things up? Sure. But all the participants from device manufacturers to the Amazon/Google/Apple ecosystems have preached interoperability. Time will tell. And I guess if I were in your guy's shoes I'd probably add a border router just to be complete.
While Matter is IPV6, it doesn't specify the physical layer, which right now can be Wi-Fi/Ethernet or Thread, with BLE used for configuration/commissioning.
My contact at Silabs said that Google plans on running matter over Thread and Apple plans on running it over Wi-Fi...
1 Like
That's probably news to Apple as Thread border routers are built into the HomePod minis and newest generation of Apple TVs. Eve and Nanoleaf have been running HomeKit over Thread since last year and they're going to implement Matter when ready.
The choice of route should be based on whatever physical capability/requirement the end device has. A simple sensor or switch goes Thread. A complex device like a TV over Ethernet/Wifi. One of the goals of Matter is to make devices interoperable over multiple physical routes, I don't understand why a company would try to limit routes.
Looks like Apple is also planning thread (perhaps in addition to WiFi) since they are building that into the newer Apple TVs which are to act as their border routers. Apple TV 4K - Technical Specifications - Apple
Many of us now have the border routers in the form of the latest Apple TV / Homepod / google hub devices -I suppose the most important thing now is for someone to release end-device #1.
I personally would love to see Hubitat eventually act as a bridge between its current zwave / zigbee devices and the thread / matter device world. If I understand the whole thread / matter thing correctly, that would let me then interface to all of my Apple, Google and Aexa devices (I have all 3) with a single "matter" bridge built into hubitat.
