Why Certify?

Certification provides an official, independent proof-point of the product’s functional conformance to the Thread specification and interoperability performance with market-leading Thread reference implementations. Certified products are entitled to valuable benefits:

Market entry and adoption support

  • Intellectual property rights (IPR) for using Thread technology
  • License to display a Thread Group certified product logo (Thread Certified Component or Built on Thread) on the product / packaging
  • Official Thread Group certificate of compliance / interoperability

Marketing support

  • Inclusion in Thread Group website certified product listing
  • Inclusion in featured Thread Group collateral, such as case studies and social media
  • Inclusion in product demonstrations at Thread Group and industry events

Certification Process

 

Certification Process – The Seven Steps of Highly Successful Thread Product Certification Process – The Seven Steps of Highly Successful Thread Product

1. Plan

For many types of Thread end products using Thread Certified Components, it is possible to skip testing and directly inherit the component certification. Special requirements apply – check with your Thread silicon vendor to confirm the details of their inheritance support. See the Certification Overview for more details.

For all other situations, Thread Group members may physically test their products at a global network of independent Authorized Test Labs, many of which are also approved test service providers for complementary networking technologies such as Matter, BLE and Wi-Fi. See the Thread ATL page for the full list.

2. Join

3. Apply

A certification application must be submitted to Thread Group for review and approval. This allows for verification of the correct certification program and mandatory/optional product features to be evaluated.

For physical testing situations, this is a good time to schedule an appointment with an ATL and prepare to transport product samples to the lab.

4. Evaluate

  • For inheritance:
    • The member submits evidence to Thread Group of inclusion of the claimed certified component device and Thread stack library in the end product.
  • For physical testing:
    • The ATL carries out all required tests on the product using the Thread test harness software and the Thread reference devices. All final test results are submitted to Thread Group.

5. Review

Thread Group reviews the submitted data to confirm completeness and accuracy. Additional data submissions, reviews and/or analysis may be required to resolve all questions/concerns.

6. Certify

Product certification is granted after the Review stage has completed with a favorable outcome. A formal certificate is issued for the product, along with the appropriate Thread certified product logo (subject to usage guidelinesand license agreement. If desired, the newly certified product is listed on https://www.threadgroup.org/Certified-Products.