Supported Thread features

The OpenThread implementation of the Thread protocol supports all features defined in the Thread v1.1.1 specification. This includes:

  • All Thread networking layers:

    • IPv6

    • 6LoWPAN

    • IEEE 802.15.4 with MAC security

    • Mesh Link Establishment

    • Mesh Routing

  • All device roles

  • Border Router support

Support for Thread Specification v1.2

The nRF Connect SDK is gradually implementing features from Thread Specification v1.2.

The features introduced with Thread Specification v1.2 are fully backward-compatible with the Thread v1.1 (more specifically, v1.1.1). The Thread v1.2 improves network scalability, responsiveness, density, and power consumption. For more information about this version, see the official Thread Specification v1.2 Commercial White Paper and the Thread Specification v1.2 Base Features documentation.

In nRF Connect SDK, you can choose which version of Thread protocol will be used in your application. By default, nRF Connect SDK supports Thread Specification v1.1, but you can enable and configure Thread Specification v1.2 by using dedicated options.

Note

Not all v1.2 functionalities are currently supported. See the dedicated options link for the list of v1.2 features currently available in nRF Connect SDK, with information about how to enable them. Currently, the Thread CLI sample is the only sample to offer experimental v1.2 extension.