The nRF5 Software Development Kit for Thread and Zigbee helps you when developing products for these protocols with Nordic Semiconductor's advanced nRF52840 System on Chip (SoC).
The Zigbee stack and examples included in this SDK are considered experimental and are not Zigbee Alliance Certified. The Thread stack and examples are production level.
Release Notes:
nRF5 SDK for Thread and Zigbee v1.0.0
---------------------------
Release Date: Week 16, 2018
This release is the first production-ready release of the Thread features available on the nRF52840 chip.
The nRF52840 running the OpenThread stack is Thread 1.1 Certified (https://www.threadgroup.org/What-is-Thread#certifiedproducts).
Zigbee features included in this release are experimental and should only be used to explore and try out on the nRF52840 chip.
The provided Zigbee solution is not Zigbee Alliance Certified. A production release of the Zigbee 3.0 certified stack is scheduled for mid-2018.
Software components and application examples for MDK, peripherals, BLE, and NFC
have been inherited from nRF5 SDK v15.0.0. Minor changes to the SDK v15.0.0 are
summarized in the following section.
*** Changes to nRF5 SDK v15.0.0
********************************
- Introduced a new option FDS_VIRTUAL_PAGES_RESERVED to the FDS module to prevent
overwriting of persistent data.
- Modified the advertising interval of the BLE Eddystone Beacon Example to work with Timeslot API.
- Modified nrf_drv_power driver to prevent double initialization.
- Modified NFC HAL library to fix race condition in HFCLK requesting procedure.
- Modified the way of handling SoftDevice events in the nrf_sdh_freertos module.
****** Thread ******
The Thread examples in this SDK are built on top of the OpenThread stack: https://github.com/openthread/openthread
*** New features
*****************
- Added support for SPI as a transport for NCP.
- Added a new example for benchmarking the Thread network.
- Added new examples presenting MQTT-SN Sleepy End Devices.
- Added a new USB variant to multiprotocol BLE Proximity & Thread CoAP Server example.
*** Changes
*****************
- Updated pre-built OpenThread libraries for all supported toolchains.
- The Thread Border Router project based on OpenWRT and released in previous releases of nRF5 SDK for Thread was
discontinued and replaced by Nordic OpenThread Border Router based on OpenThread's borderrouter project (Raspbian OS).
- Hardware acceleration using CryptoCell has become the default option in OpenThread repository.
Limitations:
- Interrupts with IRQ priority 2 and 3 should not be used for multiprotocol Thread/Bluetooth LE examples.
- Thread initialization should be done outside of FreeRTOS thread, i.e. before the FreeRTOS thread is created.
- Support for MDK-ARM should be considered as experimental.
Known issues:
- Nordic OpenThread Border Router occasionally fails to initialize access point service. Currently,
a reboot is required in such situations.
- nRF IEEE 802.15.4 radio driver does not implement a workaround for Anomaly 78 (TIMER: High current consumption when
using timer STOP task only). The fix has been applied in the SDK inside the thread_sleep() function.
- Download and Debug procedure fails under IAR Embedded Workbench with Thread/BLE Dynamic MTD CoAP Client and
Bluetooth Low Energy Nordic UART Service (NUS) example. To resolve this issue, flash the firmware using nrfjprog directly,
or proceed as follows:
- Right-click the project name -> Options -> Linker -> Output -> uncheck "Include debug information in output".
- Make the project (F7) and repeat Download and Debug procedure.
- Due to a bug detected in OpenThread libraries for Keil, they have been rebuilt with a specific patch applied
to the OpenThread repository (it can be found in OpenThread project directory).
Compatible tools:
- nrfutil-3.5.0
- nRF Thread Topology Monitor (nRF TTM) v0.11.0-1.alpha
- RaspPi_OT_Border_Router_Demo_v1.0.0-1.alpha.img
These tools are available from https://www.nordicsemi.com/thread#Downloads
The following OpenThread commit has been used to generate pre-built Thread
stack libraries, and for testing and verification:
- https://github.com/openthread/openthread/commit/ec59d7e
The following nRF IEEE 802.15.4 radio driver has been included in pre-built
Thread stack libraries, and used for testing and verification:
- https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/nRF-IEEE-802.15.4-radio-driver/commit/d6fc602 (v1.1.0)
The following wpantund and Border Router commits have been used as part of the
Nordic OpenThread Border Router solution, and for testing and verification:
- https://github.com/openthread/wpantund/commit/1d3e127
- https://github.com/openthread/borderrouter/commit/d8cb0f0c
*** Certification
*****************
The OpenThread stack has been officially certified on nRF52840 as Thread Group Certified Component.
The included stack was internally tested using Thread V1.1 Test Harness 1.3.0 R48 and the complete Thread Test Bed.
The DUT device has been tested in the following combinations:
- PCA10056 v0.11.0 and PCA10056 v0.9.0 - GCC libraries
- PCA10056 v0.11.0 - IAR libraries
All 150 out of 150 tests passed.
The test Router_9_2_10 occasionally fails due to the incorrect test case definition in Thread V1.1 Test Harness 1.3.0 software.
In step 7, the test case checks if unicast MLE Data Response sent to SED includes non-stable data.
Due to Thread Harness issue and non-compliant implementation of Golden Devices in the Thread Test Bed,
several certification tests fail (https://threadgroup.atlassian.net/browse/TESTPLAN-380) with default topology
config file. For seven test cases, 5.6.4, 5.6.6, 5.6.9, 7.1.3, 7.1.5, 9.2.6, 9.2.18, an OpenThread device is
used as a SED Golden Device. The modified topology config is available in the release zip. Thread Certification Laboratories
also use OpenThread devices as SED devices in those test cases. The modified topology configuration is available
in the directory \external\openthread\thread_harness\config. This modification is acceptable by Thread Certification
Laboratories until Thread Harness and Golden Device vendors fix the non-compliance issue.
*** Environment
***************
The following toolchains have been used for testing and verification of the examples:
- GCC: GCC ARM Embedded 6.3 2017-q2-update
- IAR: IAR Workbench 7.80.4
- SES: SES 3.34
- ARM: MDK-ARM version 5.18a (experimental)
- Jlink: 6.20i
Supported SoftDevices for multiprotocol support:
- S140 v6.0.0
Supported boards:
- PCA10056 (from version 0.9.0)
****** Zigbee ******
*** New features
*****************
- Pre-built Zigbee 3.0 stack provided as a library.
- A light control example demonstrating how to implement a basic Zigbee device
using one of the three device types: Coordinator, Router, or End Device.
- A light control example with touchlink commissioning support.
- Zigbee/Bluetooth LE multiprotocol examples:
- an example of a Zigbee Router, acting as a Zigbee dimmable light bulb and Eddystone beacon at the same time.
- an example of a Zigbee End Device, acting as a light switch and Bluetooth Low Energy Nordic UART Service (NUS) at the same time.
A variant of this example with support for touchlink Initiator role is also provided.
The following commit of nRF-IEEE-802.15.4-radio-driver has been used for
building the Zigbee stack radio driver:
- https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/nRF-IEEE-802.15.4-radio-driver/commit/d6fc602 (v1.1.0)
Limitations:
- The provided examples are not power, speed, and size optimized.
- Touchlink support is not certification compliant and has the following limitations:
- The current Zigbee stack is not resilient to sending out of order commands during touchlink commissioning.
- Zigbee End Device can be a touchlink Initiator, but not a target.
- The user callback for the touchlink identify request is not implemented.
- There is no application signal between Scan Response and Network Start/Network Join Router. This also means that neither
touchlink identify request nor reset to factory defaults can be sent during the commissioning process.
- It is impossible to commission the target if it was already commissioned and put into factory default state afterwards.
The Initiator remembers which devices are included in the network and ignores target responses.
- It is impossible for the touchlink Initiator to commission devices if the device has joined a centralized network.
- The touchlink target does not send direct join requests.
- Interrupts with IRQ priority 2 and 3 should not be used for multiprotocol Zigbee/Bluetooth LE examples.
- Zigbee Sleepy End Device role is not supported.
- Zigbee 3.0 Green Power Proxy feature is not supported.
- MDK-ARM IDE and SES IDE are not supported.
*** Environment
***************
The following toolchains have been used for testing and verification of the examples:
- IAR: IAR Workbench 7.80.2 (stack); 7.80.4 (examples)
- GCC: GCC ARM Embedded 6.3 2017-q2-update
- Jlink: 6.20i
Supported SoftDevices for multiprotocol support:
- S140 v6.0.0
Supported boards:
- PCA10056 (from version 0.11.0)
========================================================
nRF5 SDK for Thread v0.11.0
---------------------------
Release Date: Week 47, 2017
This release is an experimental release and should only be used to explore
and try out the Thread features available on the nRF52840 chip.
The Thread examples in this pack are built on top of the OpenThread stack:
https://github.com/openthread/openthread
Software components and application examples for MDK, peripherals, BLE and NFC
have been inherited from nRF5 SDK v14.1.0.
New features:
- Added Segger Embedded Studio (SES) IDE support.
- Added Keil MDK-ARM IDE support.
- Added new examples demonstrating:
- MQTT-SN Publisher and Subscriber
- Measurements of packet error rate (PER)
- NFC pairing in BLE NUS (Nordic UART Service) with Thread MTD running CoAP Client
- Added support for Multicast DFU.
- Added USB transport for CLI and NCP examples.
- Added support for Thread Sleepy End Device role in dynamic multiprotocol solution.
- Added support for Thread sniffer using NCP software.
Changes:
- Updated SDK codebase to nRF5 SDK v14.1.0.
- Updated pre-built OpenThread libraries for all supported toolchains.
- Updated Thread Border Router.
- Introduced Thread and CoAP utils common for all examples.
- Power-optimized all Thread examples.
- Modified the advertising interval of the BLE Eddystone Beacon Example to work with Timeslot API.
Limitations:
- Interrupts with priority 0-4 shall not be used for multiprotocol Thread/BLE examples.
- Due to Thread Harness issue and non-compliant implementation of Golden Devices in the Thread Test Bed,
several certification tests fail (https://threadgroup.atlassian.net/browse/TESTPLAN-380).
- MQTT-SN client does not support SED role.
- Multiprotocol example ble_thread_dyn_hrs_coap_srv_freertos does not work without optimization.
For GCC, SES and Keil, the application running with no optimization has undefined behavior.
nRF5 SDK modification:
- Modified the nrf_drv_clock module to set HFCLK state correctly with the SoftDevice.
- Introduced a new option FDS_VIRTUAL_PAGES_RESERVED to the FDS module to prevent
overwriting of OpenThread's persistent data.
- Added Block2 option support and minor fixes to the IoT CoAP library.
- Modified the Secure DFU library to enable compilation without linking to BLE transport.
Compatible tools:
- nrfutil-3.4.0
- nRF Thread Topology Monitor (nRF TTM) v0.11.0-1.alpha
- RaspPi-Thread-Border-Router-Demo v0.11.0-1.alpha
These tools are available from https://www.nordicsemi.com/thread#Downloads
Supported SoftDevices for multiprotocol support:
- S140 v5.0.0-2.alpha
The following OpenThread commit has been used to generate pre-built Thread
stack libraries, and for testing and verification:
- https://github.com/openthread/openthread/commit/a89eb887
The following wpantund commit has been used as part of the Thread
Border Router solution, and for testing and verification:
https://github.com/openthread/wpantund/commit/418ff17
Certification:
The OpenThread stack has been officially certified on nRF52840 as Thread Group Certified Component.
For certification, the following Thread Harness version has been used:
- Thread V1.1 Test Harness Release 1.1.0 R45
The following OpenThread commit has been used to generate stack libraries:
- https://github.com/openthread/openthread/commit/cfc84c02
- With revert of https://github.com/openthread/openthread/commit/9d66542e commit
The above commit has been reverted because of a known issue in Thread Harness and Thread Test Bed:
- https://threadgroup.atlassian.net/browse/TESTPLAN-380
While performing Thread Certification tests for Nordic Semiconductor's nRF52840 multiprotocol SoC,
the chip was constantly connected as a Bluetooth low energy 5 peripheral device to a Bluetooth low energy central node,
in addition to performing the Device Under Test (DUT) role for Thread Test Bed. The Bluetooth low energy bit rate was 1 Mbit/s,
and the connection interval was 200 ms. Each node transmitted 18-19 ATT payload bytes to the peer in average 1 s interval.
The following toolchains have been used for testing and verification of the
Thread examples:
- SES: SES 3.30
- ARM: MDK-ARM version 5.18a
- GCC: GCC ARM Embedded 4.9 2015q3
- IAR: IAR Workbench 7.80.4
Supported boards:
- PCA10056
========================================================
nRF5 SDK for Thread v0.10.0
------------------------
Release Date: Week 27, 2017
This release is an experimental release and should only be used to explore
and try out the Thread features available on the nRF52840 chip.
The Thread examples in this pack are built on top of the OpenThread stack:
https://github.com/openthread/openthread
Software components and application examples for MDK, peripherals, BLE, and NFC
have been inherited from nRF5 SDK v.13.0.0.
New features:
- Initial release of Thread/BLE dynamic multiprotocol solution which allows for concurrent operation of
Thread and BLE utilizing OpenThread and SoftDevice stacks.
- Examples demonstrating dynamic multiprotocol operation of Thread and BLE:
- BLE NUS (Nordic UART Service) + Thread MTD running CoAP Client
- BLE Proximity Profile + Thread FTD running CoAP Server
- BLE Eddystone + Thread FTD running CoAP Server
- BLE HRS Profile + Thread FTD running CoAP Server + FreeRTOS
- BLE/Thread dynamic multiprotocol template application
- Example demonstrating the use of FreeRTOS with OpenThread.
- Support for IAR compiler for OpenThread stack and all example applications.
Changes:
- Updated pre-built OpenThread libraries. The update includes support for Thread/BLE dynamic multiprotocol solution and implements workaround for nRF52840 Anomaly no.110: http://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/com.nordic.infocenter.nrf52840.EngA.errata/anomaly_840_110.html
- Updated Thread Border Router.
- Advertising interval of BLE Eddystone Beacon Example has been modified to work with Timeslot API.
Limitations:
- Thread/BLE dynamic multiprotocol solution does not support Thread Sleepy End Device role.
- FreeRTOS does not support tickless mode.
Compatible tools:
- nrfutil-3.0.0 or newer
- nRF Thread Topology Monitor (nRF TTM) v0.8.0-1.alpha
- RaspPi-Thread-Border-Router-Demo v0.10.0-1.alpha
These tools are available from https://www.nordicsemi.com/thread#Downloads
Supported SoftDevices for multiprotocol support:
- S140 v5.0.0-2.alpha
The following OpenThread commit has been used to generate pre-built Thread
stack libraries, and for testing and verification:
- https://github.com/openthread/openthread/commit/6a15261b
The following wpantund commit has been used as part of the Thread
Border Router solution, and for testing and verification:
https://github.com/openthread/wpantund/commit/d8259642
The following toolchains have been used for testing and verification of the
Thread examples:
- GCC: GCC ARM Embedded 4.9 2015q3
- IAR: IAR Workbench 7.60.2
Supported boards:
- PCA10056
========================================================
nRF5 SDK for Thread v0.9.0
------------------------
Release Date: Week 19, 2017
This release is an experimental release and should only be used to explore
and try out the Thread features available on the nRF52840 chip.
The Thread examples in this pack are built on top of the OpenThread stack
https://github.com/openthread/openthread
Software components and application examples for MDK, peripherals, BLE, and NFC
have been inherited from nRF5 SDK v.13.0.0.
New features:
- Examples demonstrating multiprotocol support and switching between BLE peripheral
and Thread FTD and MTD roles.
- Thread Border Router has been updated to support Wi-Fi link connectivity.
- Support for DNS64 in Thread Border Router.
- Support for DNSv6 client for Thread nodes.
- Added hardware acceleration for SHA256 and AES-ECB cryptographic procedures
using ARM CryptoCell (hardware acceleration for ECC was already introduced in v0.8.0).
Changes:
- Updated Thread Cloud CoAP Client example to use DNS instead of hardcoded IPv6 address of the
cloud.
- Updated pre-built OpenThread libraries.
Compatible tools:
- nrfutil-2.1.0dev2
- nRF Thread Topology Monitor (nRF TTM) v0.8.0-1.alpha
- RaspPi-Thread-Border-Router-Demo v0.9.0-1.alpha
These tools are available from https://www.nordicsemi.com/thread#Downloads
Supported SoftDevices for multiprotocol support:
- S140 v5.0.0-2.alpha
The following OpenThread commit has been used to generate pre-built Thread
stack libraries, and for testing and verification:
https://github.com/openthread/openthread/commit/030efba
The following wpantund commit has been used as part of the Thread
Border Router solution, and for testing and verification:
- https://github.com/openthread/wpantund/commit/c2cf75a
The following wpantund patch has been applied to add native commissioner
functionality:
- https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/thread_border_router_feeds/blob/master/wpantund/patches
The following toolchains have been used for testing and verification of the
Thread examples:
- GCC: GCC ARM Embedded 4.9 2015q3
Supported boards:
- PCA10056