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Led By Nest, 'Thread' Might Be Most Promising IoT Initiative Yet

Posted by Unknown on from the n+1-standards dept.

An anonymous reader writes Nest, Big A%@ Fans, Yale door locks, ARM, Freescale, Samsung and Silicon Labs launch the Thread Group, a standards initiative for using 6LoWPAN-based network technology with mesh capabilities optimized for home automation. Because it blends IPv6 with low-power 802.15.4 radios, a layer of security, peer-to-peer communications, and other special sauce for whole-house connectivity, Thread looks extremely promising in an increasingly crowded field. Plus, millions of units of enabled products are already deployed by way of Nest's little-known Weave technology. There's a press release. Thread is based on open technology, but it's not clear that the protocol specifications will be available for non-members. No hardware changes are required for devices with 802.15.4 radios, and the group claims the new protocol fixes enough flaws in existing standards (mostly ZigBee) to be worth the software upgrade. Promises include increased reliability (mesh network with multiple routing points), lower power use (by not requiring sensors to wake up for traffic from other sensors), and easier bridging between the mesh network and Internet (thanks to using IPv6).

20 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. WTF by rossdee · · Score: 3, Funny

    Would someone like to translate the summary into english?

    " and other special sauce "

    Is this open sauce or propriety like whats on KFC

    1. Re:WTF by Sockatume · · Score: 3, Funny

      "If you can't season it, you don't known it."

      RMS prepares scrambled eggs using home-grown peppers according to a GPL recipe.

      "2014 is the year of Linux on the hot dog".

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
    2. Re:WTF by halivar · · Score: 2

      In laymen's terms, they've found a way to upding the samoflanges by a full quarter millithingy while preserving the quantum resonance of the flux capacitor. Theoretically this could mean you get an extra bar on your WLAN while sitting in the dining room. Could be the biggest thing since token rings.

    3. Re:WTF by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

      You kiss your mother with that mouth?

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    4. Re:WTF by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      Agreed, I've no idea what this article is about.

      The first clue was when the author wrote "A%@" instead of "Ass". "Big Ass Fans" has a donkey in their logo. It is okay to say "ass" when referring to a donkey. Even the KJV Bible uses the word. It only has to be written as "A%@" when referring to a human posterior. Just like it is okay to say "dam" when you precede it with "hydroelectric" or "beaver". It is only cursing if you append an "n". If the author doesn't even understand the basic rules of obfuscating profanity, it is unlikely that anything else will be right.

    5. Re:WTF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      My cynical self translates it to "more security nightmares.", even with "banking class security" as touted:

      That deadbolt might be cool that opens via BlueTooth... but the reason I use high security mechanical locks [1] is that some guy with a magnet can't wave it and open the lock, or the BT security had corners cut so someone can make a universal lock opener, similar to a TV-B-Gone, except for deadbolts.

      That burglar alarm remote is cool as well... but I like having my remote change the door from going off instantly to a delay. That way, I have the ability to use a duress code. I also like not having someone with remote access set it off in the middle of the night.

      The thermostat? Someone deciding to turn off the A/C, turn on the furnace, just so my pets overheat and die? No thank you.

      The fire alarm? Someone deciding to hack it so it constantly calls the FD while I'm at work... no thank you.

      The refrigerator? If someone can shut someone else's fridge off via the Internet, causing their food to spoil, they would.

      Others can have their IoT. I'll continue to pull out my key and lock my front door, and take the time to push the silence button on my fire alarm if I burn something in the kitchen. Technology for technology's sake can do more harm than good.

      [1]: The ideal is Abloy Protec2 + CLIQ for the keys. This way, even if someone were able to 3D scan/print my key, the CLIQ chip will keep the lock from opening. Not cheap, but insurance covers forcible entry... they don't cover entry via bumping/lockpicking.

    6. Re:WTF by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      I was laughing because we're involved with 6LoWPAN at work, and I chuckle everytime someone says that because I can't help but think of Big Trouble in Little China.

      Basically, Zigbee was a so-so standard early on but the later versions are silly as they want to use XML when most of the devices are on a severely limited bandwidth. 6LoWPAN is essentially ipv6 for underpowered devices on underpowered network links. 802.15.4 relates to low bandwidth wireless networks (mesh or otherwise).

      A lot of Internet of Things is just like The Cloud, a marketing term which can be stretched and morphed to mean whatever it is you want it to mean. A lot of these networks will not be on the internet per se or addressible from the outside world, despite using IPv6. Some networks are very proprietary despite nods towards the standards, and these exist and are widely deployed today. Basically this new announcement is political (like most "standards"), it's just another consortium of vendors declaring that they like a certain subset of standards. No one is creating any new standards based upon technical merit from what I can see.

  2. Re:'Big Ass Fans' by thebigmacd · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.bigassfans.com/

    They are actually quite a successful and respected company.

  3. That good, eh? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

    The 'insecure-device-to-internet-attachment-protocol' field is crowded with nominally standard and/or standards-based flavors, generally not the sort that play well together, each with its own acronym soup, optimistic vender coalition, and lofty promises. Does this one have anything going for it aside from the installed base of Nest thermostats?

  4. Re:'Big Ass Fans' by Chrisq · · Score: 2

    Seriously? There is a business called 'Big Ass Fans'?

    I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

    Some donkeys get quite hot - they're filling a niche

  5. One by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

    One protocol to supervise them all, One mesh to find them
    One protocol to bring them in, and in the darkness bind them.

    In Mountain View, where the Shadows lie.

    (Hey, sorry. It's early.)

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    1. Re:One by timrod · · Score: 2

      Your post just gave me the terrible, terrible mental image of RMS in an eagle costume attempting to fly so that he can drop a printed-out spec sheet into the fires of Mt. Redmond.

  6. Re:'Big Ass Fans' by Zembar · · Score: 2

    Obligatory really old XKCD: http://xkcd.com/37/

  7. Re:OK by internerdj · · Score: 2

    It does look nice but next time we make a hardware standard can we avoid naming it so close to an important programming concept. Using threads in my thread device would get incredibly annoying in the comments and source searches.

  8. Security by OzPeter · · Score: 2

    The press release and the website talk about banking class security, and things like Thread closes identified security holes found in other wireless protocols and provides worry-free operation.. But what I see is that every product in this wireless mesh network is a potential point of access from outside, and must be up-dateable if you are going to maintain a current "best practices" of threat mediation - which IMHO is going to be a security maintenance nightmare. So what am I missing?

    And that's not even considering things like a DOS attack by firing a high-powered radio signal at your target.

    --
    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
  9. Re:OK by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 2

    Same. I'm wondering when all this external provider bullshit ("Cloud") is going away and we can just have the smartphone connect to the Wifi, pulling out Avahi and mDNS to find devices, then ask the devices about their Internet connectivity. The device can say, "I have this public [IPv6] address", or it can say, "Connect to me through this service". You could configure the device for either. Key exchange with it through the local Wifi so you have PKI both ways.

    --
    Support my political activism on Patreon.
  10. Re:OK by NotInHere · · Score: 2

    It is going away when:
    1.(
    a) one guy implements it in open source (likely) and it has the neccessary features (less likely) and usability (least likely), and which will get popular (rather unlikely)
    OR
    b) people become less greedy and companies get popular which get money by selling the devices and not the data or ads on the devices.
    )
    AND
    2. Internet providers assign static ipv6 subnets (perhaps additionally to the dynamic privacy-friendly ones) (hey they could use this for lock-in: change your provider, change your bookmarks)

    It took a long time since cyanogenmod came out, and even CM isn't fully respecting the user in its default setup, and CM still lacks some drivers.

  11. Standards by itamblyn · · Score: 2

    http://xkcd.com/927/

  12. Big Trouble in Mountain View by T.E.D. · · Score: 2

    The nice thing about a LoWPAN network is that it can effectively stay up forever within its confined area. The problem with it is that it can go rogue if it comes in contact with a green-eyed girl, and it is quite susceptible to attacks from wisecracking truckers, and any hacker with access to a seven-demon bag.

  13. Re:'Big Ass Fans' by interkin3tic · · Score: 2

    Better not tell him about the coca-cola cocaine name connection, he might jump off a bridge.