nRF Thread Topology Monitor - Connecting to a Thread topology

For nRF Thread Topology Monitor to attach the nRF device to the Thread network and send OpenThread CLI commands over serial port, the nRF device must be programmed with the OpenThread CLI example that is included in the the nRF Thread Topology Monitor package as a hexadecimal file.

To set up an nRF52840 DK, nRF52833 DK, or nRF52840 Dongle, complete the following steps:

Connect the development kit or dongle to the computer through the USB port. For development kits, use the J-Link USB.
Locate the hex file for your nRF device in the hex directory at the nRF Thread Topology Monitor installation path.
For example, for an nRF52840 Dongle, the file is called nrf52840_xxaa_mbr_pca10059_usb.hex. The _usb and _uart variants of the DK files allow for different serialization methods, with _usb that uses the nRF USB port (J3), which is located next to the buttons on the DK.
Program the nRF device with the OpenThread CLI example:
- If you are using an nRF52840 Dongle, use nRF Connect Programmer and follow the steps described in Programming the nRF52840 Dongle.
- If you are using an nRF52840 DK or an nRF52833 DK, use nrfjprog from nRF Command Line Tools and run the following command with TTM_InstallFolder corresponding to your installation directory path and nrf_device_name corresponding to the name of the _uart variant of the hex file for your nRF device: nrfjprog -f NRF52 --program TTM_InstallFolder/hex/nrf_device_name.hex --chiperase --reset.
For detailed information about flashing with nrfjprog, see Programming nRF5 SoCs with nrfjprog.
Note: Use the CLI example's hexadecimal file provided in the nRF Thread Topology Monitor package. The tool will not work if you flash the board with a different CLI example.
In the navigation bar, click Select serial port.

Figure 1. Navigation bar

The list of available virtual COM ports appears, one for each connected device.
Select the serial port of the device that you want nRF Thread Topology Monitor to use.
A notification in the log will inform you about the successful opening of the connection, and the status indicator next to the button will light green.
Figure 2. Serial port selection indicator
In the Discovered devices panel, expand the Configuration drop-down menu and check that the mandatory network parameters are correct.
Figure 3. Configuration drop-down list

The following parameters in nRF Thread Topology Monitor must match your Thread network parameters:
- Radio channel
- Network PAN ID (in hex)
- Network Master Key (in hex)
Other parameters, including Perform factory reset, are optional for configuration. See Discovered devices panel description for detailed information.
In the Discovered devices panel, click Start scan to connect the nRF device to the Thread network and to start polling nodes to get information on the current topology.
nRF Thread Topology Monitor starts to communicate with a node using OpenThread CLI by sending commands described in OpenThread CLI Reference.

If the nRF device is the first device to join the Thread network, it becomes the Leader, as shown in the following figure:

Figure 4. First Thread Leader is connected

Example of the Thread Leader connected to the network

At this point, other Thread devices attach themselves to the network.

If there already are devices in the Thread network, the nRF device joins as an End Device, and then becomes a Router within the network.

Eventually, nRF Thread Topology Monitor displays a topology that is similar to the following figure:

Figure 5. Topology panel with Thread nodes

Topology panel with visual representation of Thread nodes and bolded out connections for the currently selected node

You can interact with the topology nodes in the following ways:

Use the mouse scroll to zoom in and zoom out of the network topology.
Press the left mouse button and move the mouse around to move the network topology in the same direction.
Click a node to select it and drag it to a different location within the topology view while keeping the left mouse button pressed.
Click a node to see its particular connections, which will appear as bolded out in the topology view upon selection.
Click a node to see its parameters in the Device parameters panel.
After selecting a node, modify the device name label or ping the device using options in the Device parameters panel. See Device parameters for more information.