2022
July
26

Momentum for Thread in Smart Buildings continues with important developments leading up to Light+Building 2022

By Jorg Kennis, Thread Smart Building Marketing, Neovate Innovation Partners

With the acceleration of major commercial building platforms towards cyber secure IP-networking and the increasing need for a robust, well featured and reliably engineered wireless standard, Thread has become the de-facto wireless networking solution for smart buildings. Its low-power mesh networking capabilities and the ability to seamlessly integrate with (multiple) smart building applications have been widely recognized throughout the industry. Consequently, we continue to see an accelerated adoption of Thread in various industrial and commercial areas.

New Personalized Support within Thread for Commercial Buildings

The Thread for Smart Buildings Marketing Working Group has been involved in aggregating professional use cases, making sure that all the respective requirements are technically addressed and informing and educating the industry on the deployment of Thread networks. The group is chaired by Klaus Waechter, the Global Standardization Manager of SIEMENS Smart Infrastructure Building Products.

Earlier this year, one-on-one sessions with individual smart building Thread Group member companies were added to address their specific questions, investigate open issues and assist them with company specific requirements. Typically, this form of support is offered in a series of sessions that involve the respective company’s key people involved in Thread, talking to Thread’s Smart Building Working Group chair and the group’s subject matter experts. If additional inquiries are needed, the member company will be provided with follow-up information after the meetings.

We have received tremendous positive feedback on this new approach of working within the Working Group. Participating companies indicate that the support these meetings offer effectively  addresses their specific needs and greatly accelerates their ability to create, deploy and market Thread-based products. These member support meetings are open to all Thread Group member companies that are in the product design/production stage. Contact Klaus at Thread Group for more information.

KNX and DALI taking next steps into IP and Thread

Recently, the KNX Association announced the specification for KNX IoTech, its new standard that combines decades of developments within KNX automation with the modern and flexible world of IP communication.

Having been involved with earlier IP-based implementations for over a decade, the KNX Association has announced  a full specification for IP-based KNX, capable of bridging the world of classic KNX devices and networks with the new world of IP-based communication. It selected Thread as a leading technology for robust, low-power, wide ranging wireless mesh networks which seamlessly integrates with other IP-based networks like Wi-Fi and Ethernet.

Similarly, the DALI Alliance has been working on DALI+, the IP-based version of its widely used lighting protocol, and has selected Thread as the first network transport technology that will be used with the IP-based standard. This will allow for DALI+ to share the same infrastructure that will be used for other domains and applications, thereby saving on complexity and costs, while allowing for the connection with existing DALI-2 devices using a DALI+ bridge.

Matter ready for Commercial take-off

On the Matter side of things, Thread Group is working closely with the CSA (Connectivity Standards Alliance) for the standard’s launch in the fall. The Matter standard uses Thread exclusively as its low-power wireless networking technology. With Matter becoming the foundation of all current and future smart home platforms, the anticipated market size of Matter IoT devices makes it impossible to ignore in the commercial and smart building world. Devices such as sensors and lighting will be cost-effective solutions suitable for deployment in the professional world. 

Matter is actively being evaluated  as a  device standard for integration into  smart building platforms so that it can be deployed  as part of a Commercial ecosystem. Furthermore, Thread Group and the Connectivity Standards Alliance are working together to define and accommodate specific Commercial requirements of the Matter standard going forward.

Thread standard evolves into version 1.3.0

This month, the Thread Group launched the latest iteration of the Thread specification. Version 1.3.0 is forward and backward compatible, and adds highly sophisticated features. Internally we have been talking about this version as the one that delivers on the final key promises of Thread.

Specifically, this version specifies the requirements of Thread Border Routers, so that this key component of a Thread network can be truly transparent to all the applications and standards that (concurrently) run on the Thread network. Every application can use every Thread Border Router function, built into any always powered device, as the stepstone between the wireless Thread network and the rest of the IP infrastructure. Following this specification, no dedicated Border Routers for various home and building automation platforms will be necessary.

Bulk transfer capabilities over TCP are now possible, and service discovery methods like mDNS and DNS-SD make it possible to easily access devices on the network. In-field firmware updates allow for the seamless updating of many devices on the network at the same time, without it having an effect on network performance.

With these exciting new capabilities, Thread is now optimized to be the default robust wireless network technology for Commercial applications.

Thread at the Light+Building 2022 Fair

From October 2-6, Frankfurt will again be the stage for the world’s largest Commercial Networking and Smart Building event, Light+Building 2022. After 4 years of absence, the industry’s leading companies and organizations will soon take the stage and showcase the latest developments and products for smart building automation.

With IP and wireless networking as  the cornerstones of current and future developments in the field of building automation, Thread will naturally be present at Light+Building. Thread products will be shown at the booths of many companies, and Thread specific information will be available from our information desk. The Thread Smart Buildings Working Group will also host dedicated events during the fair, including specialized presentations highlighting the latest developments.

If you are planning to showcase Thread products during the fair and want to be included in  our PR and marketing  activities, or if you want (promotional) support from Thread’s Smart Building Work Group, don’t hesitate to contact Klaus at Thread Group. 

Keep an eye on the Thread announcements regarding Light+Building 2022, via our social channels, newsletter and website. We hope to connect with other members of the global Thread for Smart Buildings community, and look forward to seeing you in Frankfurt.