Elarm, Thread's Q2 2015 winner (along with Amatis Controls), speaks about their experience
The Thread Group is a global alliance of companies that are committed to creating the best way to connect and control IoT products in the home. Together, the group has developed its own networking protocol and certification process. Current board members include such heavy-hitters like Nest Labs, NXP, Samsung, Yale, Qualcomm, and Silicon Labs. Once a device is Thread-certified, it can securely connect with other Thread-certified devices - what IoT startup doesn't want to interoperate with this group?!
Elarm was first introduced to Thread at Freescale's Technology Forum in 2014 (Freescale was recently acquired by NXP), as our engineers were searching for a solution that met the resiliency and security needs of our customers, alongside the communication performance we required. Thread's solution addressed many of the problems we were trying to solve.
IP-Based Mesh Network
Thread's networking protocol, like other protocols, runs on standard 802.15.4 radios. However, Thread uses IPv6 with 6LoWPAN as its foundation - so it's not just MAC-based, it's IP based. A mesh and IP-based network together allows for superior connectivity between Elarm's sensors. And, Thread allows products to have no single point of failure: each device with Thread networking can be a router and transmit data. So, even if a device fails, data can be transported over the network and the system can still operate.
But the benefits of Thread's network don't stop there. Elarm is an IoT security and home monitoring system that uses a distributed sensor network to tell you what's happening at your home.
Since each of our sensors is connected using a NXP Kinetis radio that runs an 802.14.4 Thread-based mesh network, and has the processing power of NXP's iMX6 cores, our sensors are able to compare and cross-correlate data in real-time, which significantly reduces false alerts and enables the system to generate a more complete picture of what's actually happening. This sensor fusion technique is enabled by the Thread IP-based network.
Encryption
Thread's robust encryption was a requirement for Elarm as it's a security product and needs to be, well, secure. Many other wireless protocols' security was an afterthought, and as a result, there are often holes. Thread was built with security at its core - using current smartphone authentication schemes and AES make it among the most secure in the space.
Battery Friendly
Thread boasts extremely low-power consumption by allowing battery-powered devices to efficiently communicate with the system. These devices can be allowed to go to sleep (similar to your computer's sleep mode) until they are triggered, significantly increasing battery life.
Elarm has a sleepy edge device (meaning it has a radio to talk to the other sensors but does not amplify the signal), the Jiggle, which houses an accelerometer and detects vibrations and sudden movement.
It's great for basic security on doors, windows, and valuables so it needs to be as small as possible. Since the Jiggle is not designed to collect constant data like temperature, pressure, or humidity like our environmental sensor, it's able to wait patiently, saving its battery until it's triggered.
Working Together
This is the dream, right? Every smart product in your home (up to 250 devices!) could be connected through the same scalable, reliable, and secure network.
And with Thread, you're not locked into a specific application layer. But, if you're looking for an end-to-end solution, you can leverage Thread's collaboration with ZigBee. Read more about it here: http://www.zigbee.org/zigbee-alliance-creating-end-to-end-iot-product-development-solution-that-brings/
WHAT WILL YOU GET?
The point of the award is to give innovative startups free membership that they probably wouldn't be able to afford. And let's be honest, when you're pre Series A (which is one of the requirements, more on that below) winning an award is awesome, especially one that shows you're forward-thinking and tech savvy.
Contributor Status
There are three levels of membership in the Thread Group: Affiliate ($2.5/yr), Contributor ($15k/yr) and Sponsor ($100k/yr). Thread awards Innovation Enabler winners a year of Contributor-level membership which comes with all kinds of great stuff. You can be part of shaping the alliance by joining (or heading!) committees and work groups. And each company's Thread liaison, not to mention the board and the officers of the company, are high-level employees of other companies, so you'll benefit from working alongside them on committees, trade shows, and three-times-a-year all-member meetings, all of which are open to Contributors. Check out Thread's list of board members here, it's a pretty impressive group. http://threadgroup.org/about/board-officers
Free Certification
Thread uses third-party testing to verify quality, security and interoperability. Then you can market your product as Thread certified when you're done so people know you're awesome.
Press and Marketing
First off, you won an award and Thread will promote the win - that's pretty great. And now your name is connected with a bunch of respected companies - your logo will be right there next to them on the website. But, wait, there's more!
At Elarm we got many great opportunities to be a part of marketing efforts - from being interviewed about Thread to demo-ing in the Thread booth at CES.
If your startup is on social media (just kidding, of course you are!) you can engage with Thread and other members on Twitter and LinkedIn.
DO YOU QUALIFY?
You should be:
- Pre series A funding (projects crowd funded on sites like Kickstarter and Indigogo still qualify)
- Making a Connected Product or service focused on the home that can use Thread
- Planning to ship products within a year of application
The award is given quarterly - get your submission in by June 30th. Apply here and join us! http://threadgroup.org/joinus#Innovationenablerprogram
To learn more about Elarm, visit us at www.elarm.com.