Getting your IoT Devices to Mesh with Thread

Building for the Internet of Things is no longer about getting a single connected device online over a local Wi-Fi or even cellular connection. Increasingly, real IoT projects—be they for the smart home, smart factory, or shop floor—utilize a swarm of devices to interact with sensors, report status, and manage actuators. In these cases, the challenge isn’t just getting your devices online, but getting them to work together.

Thankfully, Thread and Particle Mesh makes dealing with swarms of devices straight forward—with cutting-edge open hardware and standards, developer-friendly APIs for managing devices, and a Device Cloud that serves as your all-powerful hive-mind.

In this session, we’ll explore how mesh networking through Thread solves some of the hardest problems in the IoT space today, as well as how Particle Mesh leverages Thread to power its newest generation of connected devices.

Transcript

1. GETTING YOUR IOT DEVICES TO MESH WITH THREAD
   Brandon Satrom | @BrandonSatrom | brandon@particle.io
   

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2. “
   ”
   - Nikola Tesla
   THE IOT, CIRCA 1926
   When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted
   into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real
   and rhythmic whole… and the instruments through which we shall
   be able to do this will be amazingly simple compared with our
   present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket.
   

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3. 34 BILLION
   Devices online by 2020
   Spent on the IoT (2016-2021)
   $6 TRILLION
   

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4. PROMISE VS. THE MESSY REALITY
   

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5. PROMISE VS. THE MESSY REALITY
   

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6. PROMISE VS. THE MESSY REALITY
   

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7. PROMISE VS. THE MESSY REALITY
   

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8. TODAY, “SMART” MEANS GIVING BIG CO DATA TO OUTSMART US ALL…
   

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9. THE EVER-PRESENT GARTNER HYPE CYCLE
   PEAK OF INFLATED EXPECTATIONS
   TECHNOLOGY TRIGGER
   TROUGH OF DISILLUSIONMENT
   SLOPE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
   PLATEAU OF PRODUCTIVITY
   VISIBILITY
   TIME
   

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10. THE EVER-PRESENT GARTNER HYPE CYCLE
    PEAK OF INFLATED EXPECTATIONS
    TECHNOLOGY TRIGGER
    TROUGH OF DISILLUSIONMENT
    SLOPE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
    PLATEAU OF PRODUCTIVITY
    VISIBILITY
    TIME
    IOT TODAY
    

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11. “
    ”
    - An Anonymous Friend
    The phrase “IoT” has lost all meaning for
    me…
    

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12. HOW DID WE GET HERE?
    1 2 3
    CONNECTIVITY FOR THE SAKE
    OF CONNECTIVITY
    POOR, BROKEN OR
    NON-EXISTENT SECURITY
    LIMITED CONNECTIVITY
    OPTIONS
    Do we need to connect
    everything to the
    internet?
    Holes abound in
    hardware, firmware and
    software
    Wi-Fi is brittle
    Cellular is expensive
    Bluetooth is limited
    

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13. TO SUCCEED, THE IOT NEEDS A LITTLE LESS INTERNET
    

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14. WHY MESH NETWORKING?
    HOW OPENTHREAD ENABLES MESH
    HOW PARTICLE MAKES MESH EASY
    

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15. WHO AM I?
    BRANDON SATROM
    PARTICLE
    I BUILD COOL STUFF.
    SO YOU CAN BUILD EVEN COOLER STUFF.
    AND HELP IMPROVE OUR PRODUCTS SO WE CAN ALL BUILD
    THE COOLEST STUFF.
    

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16. WHO AM I?
    BRANDON SATROM
    PARTICLE
    I BUILD COOL STUFF.
    SO YOU CAN BUILD EVEN COOLER STUFF.
    AND HELP IMPROVE OUR PRODUCTS SO WE CAN ALL BUILD
    THE COOLEST STUFF.
    

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17. WHY MESH NETWORKING?
    HOW OPENTHREAD ENABLES MESH
    HOW PARTICLE MAKES MESH EASY
    

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18. TRADITIONAL IOT: HUB AND SPOKE
    Wi-Fi Router
    

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19. TRADITIONAL IOT: HUB AND SPOKE
    Wi-Fi Router
    

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20. TRADITIONAL IOT: HUB AND SPOKE
    Wi-Fi Router
    

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21. TRADITIONAL IOT: HUB AND SPOKE
    

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22. ENTER MESH NETWORKING
    Gateway
    

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23. ENTER MESH NETWORKING
    Gateway
    

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24. ENTER MESH NETWORKING
    Gateway
    

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25. ENTER MESH NETWORKING
    Gateway
    

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26. ENTER MESH NETWORKING
    Gateway
    

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27. ENTER MESH NETWORKING
    

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28. IMPLEMENTING MESH YOURSELF IS HARD
    Gateway
    

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29. IMPLEMENTING MESH YOURSELF IS HARD
    Gateway
    ✴Security and Encryption
    ✴Local routing
    ✴Local communication (UDP, TCP, etc.)
    ✴Radio support (BLE, Wi-Fi, etc.)
    ✴Failover, route redundancy
    ✴Network addressing
    ✴Network roles and responsibilities
    

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30. WHY MESH NETWORKING?
    HOW OPENTHREAD ENABLES MESH
    HOW PARTICLE MAKES MESH EASY
    

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31. NEST: FROM THERMOSTATS TO SMOKE DETECTORS
    

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32. NEST: FROM THERMOSTATS TO SMOKE DETECTORS
    

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33. NEST: FROM THERMOSTATS TO SMOKE DETECTORS
    

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34. NEST: FROM THERMOSTATS TO SMOKE DETECTORS
    

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35. NEST: FROM THERMOSTATS TO SMOKE DETECTORS
    

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36. NEST: FROM THERMOSTATS TO SMOKE DETECTORS
    

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37. THE THREAD GROUP & CONTRIBUTING OPENTHREAD
    

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38. WHAT IS THREAD?
    ✴IPv6-based mesh
    ✴Wireless Personal Area Network
    ✴No single point of failure
    ✴Tailored to IoT Scenarios
    ✴Can be used in concert with Wi-Fi, Cellular and Bluetooth
    is a low-power networking protocol
    

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39. OPENTHREAD ADOPTION AMONG HARDWARE VENDORS
    ARM bed OS (NXP FRDM-K64F + Atmel ATZB-RF-233)
    D-Link Ltd - DSH-G300-TBR
    Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 (OpenThread)
    NXP Kinetis Thread Stack (KW2xD)
    Silicon Labs Mighty Gecko Module MGM12P
    

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40. OPENTHREAD ADOPTION AMONG HARDWARE VENDORS
    ARM bed OS (NXP FRDM-K64F + Atmel ATZB-RF-233)
    D-Link Ltd - DSH-G300-TBR
    Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 (OpenThread)
    NXP Kinetis Thread Stack (KW2xD)
    Silicon Labs Mighty Gecko Module MGM12P
    

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41. MESH VS. WI-FI AND CELLULAR
    MESH NETWORKS ARE SCALABLE AND RELIABLE
    LOW COST LOW POWER HIGHLY RELIABLE
    $5 to $10 per module
    $10 to $20 per module
    $3 to $5 per module
    150-300mA
    200-2000mA
    50mA
    Single point of failure
    Managed infrastructure
    Self-healing network
    WI-FI
    CELLULAR
    MESH
    NEW PROTOCOL
    

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42. OPENTHREAD VS. ZIGBEE, ZWAVE AND LORA
    Operating range 100 ft 35 ft
    Max # of devices 232 65,000
    Data rate 9.6-100 kbps 40-250 kbps
    Cost $ $$
    IP-Based Networking No No
    Open Standard? No Yes
    1-4 mi 100 ft
    N/A 300
    27 kbps 250 kbps
    $$$ $
    Yes Yes
    No Yes
    

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43. OPENTHREAD: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART
    

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44. OPENTHREAD: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART
    ✴Buy a dev kit and a dongle
    ✴Install the OpenThread software stack
    ✴Manually set-up and configure a
    gateway device (Border Router)
    ✴Manually set-up and configure one or
    more routers
    ✴Manually set-up and configure one or
    more end devices
    ✴Implement UDP-based messaging
    between devices
    

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45. WHY MESH NETWORKING?
    HOW OPENTHREAD ENABLES MESH
    HOW PARTICLE MAKES MESH EASY
    

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46. WHY PARTICLE MESH?
    Everything you
    need to know to
    implement
    OpenThread
    

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47. WHY PARTICLE MESH?
    

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48. WHY PARTICLE MESH?
    

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49. WHY PARTICLE MESH?
    void pong(const char *event, const char *data)
    {
    Serial.println("You got a message!");
    }
    void setup()
    {
    Mesh.on();
    Mesh.connect();
    }
    void loop()
    {
    Mesh.publish(“hello - world”, “I’m meshing !”);
    Mesh.subscribe("ping", pong);
    }
    

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50. HOW PARTICLE MAKES MESH EASY
    1 2 3
    THREAD-ENABLED HARDWARE CLEAR DEVICE ROLES SIMPLE APIS FOR COMMUNICATION
    AND MANAGEMENT
    Affordable options for
    prototyping and
    production
    Simple, often automatic
    assignment based on
    device type and location
    Secure, local
    communication without
    configuration
    Mesh.publish(“hello - world”,
    “I’m meshing !”);
    Mesh.subscribe("ping", pong);
    

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51. PARTICLE MESH DEVICES
    Nordic nRF52840 SoC
    ✴ ARM Cortex-M4F 32-bit
    ✴ 1MB flash, 256KB RAM
    ✴ IEEE 802.15.4-2006
    ✴ Bluetooth 5: 2 Mbps, 1 Mbps, 500
    Kbps, 125 Kbps
    ✴ ARM TrustZone Cryptographic
    security module
    ✴ NFC-A tag
    Argon
    » Wi-Fi + BLE +Mesh
    » Wi-Fi endpoint or mesh gateway
    Xenon
    » BLE + Mesh
    » Mesh endpoint
    Boron
    » LTE-M1 + BLE + Mesh
    » Cellular endpoint or mesh gateway
    

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52. PARTICLE MESH NETWORK ROLES
    Gateway
    

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53. PARTICLE MESH NETWORK ROLES
    Gateway
    Repeater
    Repeater
    

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54. PARTICLE MESH NETWORK ROLES
    Gateway
    Repeater
    Repeater
    Endpoint
    Endpoint
    

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55. PARTICLE MESH NETWORK ROLES
    Gateway
    Repeater
    Repeater
    Repeater
    & Endpoint
    Endpoint
    Endpoint
    

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56. A COMBINATION OF HARDWARE, FIRMWARE AND SOFTWARE
    

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57. A COMBINATION OF HARDWARE, FIRMWARE AND SOFTWARE
    

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58. A COMBINATION OF HARDWARE, FIRMWARE AND SOFTWARE
    

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59. A COMBINATION OF HARDWARE, FIRMWARE AND SOFTWARE
    void pong(const char *event, const char
    *data)
    {
    Serial.println("You got a message!");
    }
    void setup()
    {
    Mesh.on();
    Mesh.connect();
    }
    void loop()
    {
    Mesh.publish(“hello - world”, “I’m
    meshing !”);
    Mesh.subscribe("ping", pong);
    }
    

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60. A COMBINATION OF HARDWARE, FIRMWARE AND SOFTWARE
    void pong(const char *event, const char
    *data)
    {
    Serial.println("You got a message!");
    }
    void setup()
    {
    Mesh.on();
    Mesh.connect();
    }
    void loop()
    {
    Mesh.publish(“hello - world”, “I’m
    meshing !”);
    Mesh.subscribe("ping", pong);
    }
    

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61. DEMO
    SETTING UP MESH DEVICES
    

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62. MESH NETWORKS IN ACTION
    

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63. MESH MAKES EXISTING IOT SOLUTIONS SMARTER
    SMART WATER METER
    FLOOD DETECTOR PUMP CONTROLLER
    

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64. MESH MAKES EXISTING IOT SOLUTIONS SMARTER
    SMART WATER METER
    Ethernet
    +
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    

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65. MESH DEVICES CAN PUBLISH DATA LIKE ANY PARTICLE DEVICE
    SMART WATER METER
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    Ethernet
    

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66. MESH DEVICES CAN PUBLISH DATA LIKE ANY PARTICLE DEVICE
    SMART WATER METER
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    Ethernet
    Particle.publish()
    

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67. MESH DEVICES CAN PUBLISH DATA LIKE ANY PARTICLE DEVICE
    SMART WATER METER
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    Ethernet
    Particle.publish()
    

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68. MESH DEVICES CAN PUBLISH DATA LIKE ANY PARTICLE DEVICE
    SMART WATER METER
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    Ethernet
    Particle.publish()
    

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69. MESH DEVICES CAN PUBLISH DATA LIKE ANY PARTICLE DEVICE
    SMART WATER METER
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    Ethernet
    Particle.publish()
    

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70. MESH DEVICES CAN BE REMOTELY CONTROLLED LIKE ANY PARTICLE DEVICE
    SMART WATER METER
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Ethernet
    Mesh
    

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71. MESH DEVICES CAN BE REMOTELY CONTROLLED LIKE ANY PARTICLE DEVICE
    SMART WATER METER
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Ethernet
    Mesh
    Particle.function()
    

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72. MESH DEVICES CAN BE REMOTELY CONTROLLED LIKE ANY PARTICLE DEVICE
    SMART WATER METER
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Ethernet
    Mesh
    Particle.function()
    

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73. MESH DEVICES CAN BE REMOTELY CONTROLLED LIKE ANY PARTICLE DEVICE
    SMART WATER METER
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Ethernet
    Mesh
    Particle.function()
    

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74. MESH DEVICES CAN BE REMOTELY CONTROLLED LIKE ANY PARTICLE DEVICE
    SMART WATER METER
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Ethernet
    Mesh
    Particle.function()
    

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75. MESH DEVICES CAN COMMUNICATE WITHOUT AN INTERNET CONNECTION
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Mesh
    

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76. MESH DEVICES CAN COMMUNICATE WITHOUT AN INTERNET CONNECTION
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Mesh
    

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77. MESH DEVICES CAN COMMUNICATE WITHOUT AN INTERNET CONNECTION
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Mesh
    Mesh.publish()
    

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78. MESH DEVICES CAN COMMUNICATE WITHOUT AN INTERNET CONNECTION
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Mesh
    Mesh.publish()
    

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79. MESH DEVICES CAN COMMUNICATE WITHOUT AN INTERNET CONNECTION
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Mesh
    Mesh.publish()
    

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80. MESH DEVICES CAN COMMUNICATE WITHOUT AN INTERNET CONNECTION
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Mesh
    Mesh.publish() Mesh.subscribe()
    

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81. MESH DEVICES CAN COMMUNICATE WITHOUT AN INTERNET CONNECTION
    +
    FLOOD DETECTOR
    Mesh
    CONSOLE
    DEVICE CLOUD
    PUMP CONTROLLER
    Mesh
    Mesh.publish() Mesh.subscribe()
    

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82. MESH PUBLISH AND SUBSCRIBE FOR LOCAL MESSAGING
    Mesh.publish(“hello-world”,
    “I’m meshing!”);
    void hello(const char *event,
    const char *data)
    {
    Serial.println(“Device two got it!");
    }
    void setup()
    {
    Mesh.subscribe(“hello-world”, hello);
    }
    void hello(const char *event,
    const char *data)
    {
    Serial.println(“Device one got it!");
    }
    void setup()
    {
    Mesh.subscribe(“hello-world”, hello);
    }
    

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83. MESH NETWORK TYPES
    

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84. MESH USE CASES: SINGLE GATEWAY, MULTIPLE ENDPOINTS
    Gateway
    

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85. MESH USE CASES: SINGLE GATEWAY, MULTIPLE REPEATERS & ENDPOINTS
    

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86. MESH USE CASES: DUAL GATEWAYS, MULTIPLE LOCAL DEVICES
    

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87. THE ALL THINGS OPEN MESH NETWORK
    

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88. PARTICLE MESH: EXAMPLE INSTALLATION
    

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89. PARTICLE MESH: HALLOWEEN EDITION
    

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90. PARTICLE MESH: HALLOWEEN EDITION
    

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91. DEMO FEATURES
    Devices
    ✴ 1 Gateway Device (Argon)
    ✴ 4 Endpoint/Repeater Nodes
    ✴ 1 Adafruit Crickit-powered Rover
    ✴ 1 Adafruit HalloWing
    ✴ 1 Neopixel Strip
    ✴ 1 Standard Servo
    Demos
    ✴ Control devices through cloud
    ✴ Communicate between Mesh and non-
    Mesh devices
    ✴ Send Mesh events without an internet
    connection
    

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92. DEMO FEATURES
    Devices
    ✴ 1 Gateway Device (Argon)
    ✴ 4 Endpoint/Repeater Nodes
    ✴ 1 Adafruit Crickit-powered Rover
    ✴ 1 Adafruit HalloWing
    ✴ 1 Neopixel Strip
    ✴ 1 Standard Servo
    Demos
    ✴ Control devices through cloud
    ✴ Communicate between Mesh and non-
    Mesh devices
    ✴ Send Mesh events without an internet
    connection
    

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93. DEMO
    PARTICLE MESH IN ACTION
    

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94. THE EVER-PRESENT GARTNER HYPE CYCLE
    PEAK OF INFLATED EXPECTATIONS
    TECHNOLOGY TRIGGER
    TROUGH OF DISILLUSIONMENT
    SLOPE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
    PLATEAU OF PRODUCTIVITY
    VISIBILITY
    TIME
    

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95. THE EVER-PRESENT GARTNER HYPE CYCLE
    PEAK OF INFLATED EXPECTATIONS
    TECHNOLOGY TRIGGER
    TROUGH OF DISILLUSIONMENT
    SLOPE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
    PLATEAU OF PRODUCTIVITY
    VISIBILITY
    TIME
    IOT TODAY
    

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96. THE EVER-PRESENT GARTNER HYPE CYCLE
    PEAK OF INFLATED EXPECTATIONS
    TECHNOLOGY TRIGGER
    TROUGH OF DISILLUSIONMENT
    SLOPE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
    PLATEAU OF PRODUCTIVITY
    VISIBILITY
    TIME
    IOT TODAY
    IOT TOMORROW!
    

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97. THANKS!
    @BRANDONSATROM
    BRANDON@PARTICLE.IO
    

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