HooRii Technology and Google Show the demos of Thread Credential Sharing

Recently, at the Thread Global Members Conference held in Toronto, numerous companies committed to advancing Thread technology gathered. Google, HooRii Technology, and Espressif collaborated to showcase the latest achievements in Thread Credential Sharing, an important feature of Thread 1.4 Draft 1.

Thread Credential Sharing is a network credential sharing mechanism designed to simplify the process of adding Thread devices from different vendors to the same Thread mesh network. It defines a standard way for new Thread devices to obtain network credentials (such as commission passwords) from devices already in the network, allowing them to join the existing Thread mesh network without complex pairing procedures. This mechanism simplifies the setup process and enhances user experience by allowing new Thread devices to acquire the necessary network credentials from already connected devices, eliminating the need for manual input by users.

Despite the advent of Matter technology, there are still limitations in network connectivity between devices from different brands. For instance, Apple's HomePod and Google's Nest speakers remain independent at the network layer. The lack of a unified interoperability standard for smart home devices means users often rely on centralized services (such as Siri or Google Assistant) for cross-brand control. This indirect control via application layers, while capable of basic functions, adds complexity to user operations and may introduce additional security risks due to data being routed through third-party services.

Against this backdrop, Google, HooRii Technology, and Espressif have successfully completed the implementation of the Thread Credential Sharing feature defined in Thread 1.4 Draft 1 and demonstrated it at the conference, receiving high praise from attendees. With the expected official release of Thread 1.4 later this year, there is hope for a unified Thread network across ecosystems, making Thread a significant advancement in network infrastructure akin to Wi-Fi and Ethernet.

The live demonstration showcased how HooRii Technology’s HooMax Gateway successfully established a connection with Espressif’s OTBR and communicated with Google speakers through it. The process involved the following key steps:

1. HooMax Gateway initiated as a Thread border router, responsible for network initialization and generating network keys.

2. Espressif OTBR joined the Thread network led by HooRii’s TBR through a brief key exchange mechanism after confirming HooMax Gateway’s network identity.

3. HooMax Gateway provided the necessary credential information to the Google speaker, which received and applied the credentials, successfully registering as a node in the Thread network.

4. Google Home App scanned QR codes on devices like curtains, sensors, and outlets to add them to the network.

5. Voice commands controlled the connected devices, which received and executed commands through the Thread network.

This demonstration not only highlighted the pivotal role of HooMax Gateway in establishing a secure and stable Thread network but also showcased Espressif OTBR’s technical prowess in secure inter-device communication, and how Google speakers seamlessly integrated into a Thread-based smart home ecosystem. The success of this demonstration proved the immense potential of Thread technology in advancing Matter interoperability and smart home automation. The Thread Credential Sharing mechanism ensures that new devices can smoothly join the same Thread mesh network, laying a solid network foundation for higher-level application interoperability, and facilitating the creation of a unified Thread mesh network, thereby enhancing network reliability and coverage.

As an emerging standard in the smart home field, Matter aims to unify different smart home devices and ecosystems for collaborative operation. The combination of Thread and Matter is expected to bring complementary benefits to these technologies. Through the development of Thread Credential Sharing and other technologies like Matter, future smart home devices are anticipated to achieve true interoperability at both network and application layers, providing users with a smoother experience.

This demonstration fully confirms that tight, efficient, and secure interoperability between devices and brands based on Matter over Thread technology is now possible, marking just the beginning of Thread technology’s development. As more companies and developers join in, Thread technology is poised to bring more anticipated intelligent applications and solutions.