The Thread Group Board of Directors has approved work to extend Thread's standardized, IP-based, low-power mesh networking to the Sub-GHz spectrum. This will address the limits inherent in the fragmented and proprietary solutions available to commercial and industrial IoT markets today.

Commercial and industrial deployments have long depended on Sub-GHz wireless for range and signal propagation. However, the full potential of IoT has yet to be met because there hasn’t been an open standard to bring IP-based, efficient, low-power, low-latency mesh networking to that spectrum. Until now.

The Thread Group is developing a new technology that will bring Thread to a Sub-GHz PHY, using the same consensus-driven process that has proven successful for every Thread specification to date. The technology’s distinct brand will be introduced in the coming months.

This new offering provides a path to unify the fragmented proprietary Sub-GHz approaches around a common, IP-based open standard for commercial and industrial markets. From expansive building automation and healthcare facilities’ lighting retrofits to industrial sites’ property-wide sensor networks, there are limitless use cases that will benefit from Thread’s reliable, secure, open-standards ecosystem.

"Bringing Thread's benefits to Sub-GHz is a natural next step in our mission to deliver reliable, secure, and low-power wireless mesh network to diverse IoT environments," said Ann Olivo, Vice President of Marketing for Thread Group. "To address industry fragmentation and ensure the widest success, the effort will rely on the collaborative input and efforts of our dedicated membership."

Get Involved

With specification development underway, the Thread Group invites companies with Sub-GHz expertise or strategic interest to help shape the effort. Contact Thread Group to learn more.