Request for NXP Thread Hardware and Software specifications

[cloudge]

Hi Developers,

I want to build a smart home PoC using thread mesh networking protocol which has Border Router, Router and end devices, where end devices connect to router and router connects to border router.

I want to know that whether NXP semiconductors provides hardware and related software support for the above mentioned specification??

If there is available hardware and related software, Please share the details.

Below demo is what exactly i want to do

Demo: Thread-powered Smart House with nRF52840 - YouTube 

Thanks for the help!

[cloudge]

Dear Alexandru-LilianNatarau‌, jcpacheco‌

Can you please clarify the above posted query?

Thanks for the help!

[Alexandru-Lilia]

Hi cloudge‌,

Yes, NXP provides the necessary hardware and software for you to do a smart home proof of concept.

Take a look at this proof of concept made by our team. The software used in building it was custom, but we are currently working at a public application layer over Thread, Dotdot. If you are familiar with ZigBee, this application layer imitates ZigBee Cluster Library, with the addition of IP (ZCLIP - ZigBee Cluster Library over IP), which had an amazing success, especially on home automation industry. The alpha release was launched in march and a demonstration was presented on Embedded World competition but unfortunately I don't think there are any public links I can share with you.

Dotdot is to be launched for public use this November, but for a proof of concept you can use a custom application layer. The SDK which is publicly available is a perfect starting point for your applications. You can take a look at what you find in them here (you have to log in with your NXP account).

I would recommend the following devices:

• Border Router - FRDM K64F + MCR20A
• End Devices - FRDM KW41Z

K64F has an Ethernet socket, and can easily communicate with a regular Router, and MCR20A knows how to communicate with Thread devices (KW41Z for example).

Good luck with your project, let me know if you want further information.

Best regards,

Lilian

[cloudge]

Hi Alexandru-LilianNatarau‌,

Can I configure KW41Z board as - Router, Border router, Leader, End device, Sleepy end device, REED and Commissioner.

Can I setup the full thread mesh network with multiple KW41Z boards.

An applications which have provided in the MCUXpresso IDE and SDK(kw41z), using reference of these application can I write my own customized application and build it on my system and port it onto board.

An IAR compiler is used for bulding all example application. So as IAR compiler is integrated with IDE, are you using trial version of IAR or purchased version?

I have read like IAR compiler’s licenced version is approximately of worth USD 3000, if you are using this purchased version then how are you allowing us to use the compiler for bulding the application?

Thanks for the help!

[Alexandru-Lilia]

Hello cloudge‌,

In the SDK of FRDM KW41Z you can find the following projects: end device(end_device), sleepy end device (low_power_end_device), REED (router_eligible_device). For a device to become leader or commissioner, according to Thread specification, there would be a "competition" to see which one of the devices from the mesh would become the leader or the commissioner.

Also, REEDs become routers as the mesh needs them. For example, you won't have 6 routers in a mesh with 6 devices, as they are too many, like you won't have 1 router in a mesh with 100 devices, as they are too few. The protocol knows how to assign efficiently these roles, so they would be spread proportionally. You should not be concerned about this, the protocol was specifically designed to take care of this. Also, if somehow the only router breaks, the mesh observes that and will automatically promote a REED to router.

The single role that a KW41Z cannot handle by itself is the border router. The reason is that the chip doesn't know WiFi so it couldn't get out in the Internet. The only protocols known by KW41Z are: ZigBee, Thread and BLE(Bluetooth Low Energy). If you don't mind not having access to the mesh from the Internet, you won't need a border router. As the boards know BLE, you can design for example an android app that controls the mesh network. If you want to have access to the Internet, you need the border router, and the best and cheapest choice is the FRDM K64F + MCR20A sandwich. K64F knows how to communicate via Ethernet and MCR20A knows Thread protocol. Take a look bellow how it looks like this border router.

You can modify the applications from the SDK so they will behave as you intend.

You don't need the IAR, all the projects are also available in MCUXpresso, a free IDE provided by NXP with compiler included. If you worked with Eclipse, they are very similar, it is Eclipse with an NXP plugin over it. It is available here for download.

Best regards,

Lilian

[cloudge]

Hi Alexandru-LilianNatarau‌,

Thanks for the valuable information and sorry for the late reply.

For FRDM-KW41Z boards memory details are specified as follows in the data sheet.

Up to 512 KB flash memory & Up to 128 KB SRAM

Is that memory sufficient for running Bluetooth and thread protocol stacks and its related applications.

If we build any of our custom applications, will that memory sufficient for running our application along the Bluetooth and Thread stacks.

Thanks for the help!

[Alexandru-Lilia]

Hello,

No problem, glad I could help.

If you look into the SDK, you can find already some hybrid (BLE + Thread) example applications. To give you an example, here is the information about the size used for "BLE Thread Host Controlled Device", which is a router and the memory used is bigger than of an end device.

In debug mode: @440 KB FLASH  and @80 KB RAM.

In release mode: @400 KB FLASH and @80 KB RAM.

This is for both stacks BLE and Thread, and also for the host controlled application.

Best regards,

Lilian

[cloudge]

Hi Alexandru-LilianNatarau‌

Can we build Thread network using MCR20A boards only instead of KW41Z boards.

There is much cost difference between KW41Z boards and MCR20A boards.

Thanks for the help!

[Alexandru-Lilia]

Hi cloudge,

Unfortunately, MCR20A is just a 2.4 GHz 802.15.4 transceiver. You cannot run applications on it, it only serves as a transceiver, it helps other boards that cannot process 802.15.4 packets. As you saw in the picture I've posted above, MCR20A was mounted on K64F. You can find more about MCR20A here.

Regards,

Lilian