ESP-THREAD-BR is the official Espressif Thread Border Router SDK. It supports all fundamental network features to build a Thread Border Router (BR) and integrates rich product level features for quick productization.
The SDK is built on top of ESP-IDF and OpenThread. The BR implementation is provided as pre-built library in ESP-IDF.
The hardware required for a Thread BR comprises two separate SoCs:
- An ESP32 series SoC (ESP32, ESP32-C, ESP32-S, etc) loaded with ESP Thread BR and OpenThread Stack.
- An ESP32-H 802.15.4 SoC loaded with OpenThread RCP.
The ESP Thread Border Router board provides an integrated module of an ESP32-S3 SoC and an ESP32-H2 RCP. A Sub-Ethernet daughter board is available if an Ethernet-based Border Router is required.
The two SoCs are connected with following interfaces:
- UART and SPI for serial communication
- RESET and BOOT pins for RCP Update
- 3-Wires PTA for RF coexistence
This board is used as the default configuration for the Basic Thread Border Router example.
The M5Stack Thread Border Router is a ready-to-use Thread Border Router solution built with the M5Stack CoreS3 (ESP32-S3) and the ESP32-H2 Thread/Zigbee Gateway Module.
Key features of the M5Stack Thread Border Router:
- Touchscreen Interface: The M5Stack CoreS3's built-in touchscreen enables intuitive interaction for Thread network management and credential sharing.
- Credential Sharing: Supports the Thread 1.4 Credential Sharing feature, allowing secure retrieval and configuration of Thread network credentials via an ephemeral key (ePSKc).
- Wi-Fi Configuration: On first boot, the device starts in SoftAP mode, providing a web-based Wi-Fi configuration interface.
This board is used as the default configuration for the M5Stack Thread Border Router example.
The SDK also supports manually connecting an IEEE802.15.4-capable DevKit (e.g. ESP32-H2) RCP to an ESP32 series DevKit. Communication between RCP and SoC can be achieved using either one out of two supported serial communication protocols: UART or SPI. Please refer to the Standalone RCP Guide for detailed wiring instructions. Specific instructions for the ESP32-P4 can be found here.
Recommended main processor and RCP combinations:
| Main Processor | RCP | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| ESP32-P4 | ESP32-C6 | High-performance applications with AI/ML capabilities |
| ESP32-C5 | ESP32-H2 | Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz) support |
| ESP32-C61 | ESP32-H2 | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) support |
| ESP32-S3 | ESP32-H2 | General-purpose with display/camera support |
For standalone modules, we recommend the ot_br example in esp-idf as a quick start. For a more comprehensive set of features, the Basic Thread Border Router example is also supported.
These features are currently provided by the SDK:
- Bi-directional IPv6 Connectivity: The devices on the backbone link (typically Wi-Fi or Ethernet) and the Thread network can reach each other.
- Service Discovery Delegate: The devices on the Thread network can find the mDNS services on the backbone link.
- Service Registration Server: The devices on the Thread network can register services to the BR for devices on the backbone link to discover.
- Multicast Forwarding: The devices joining the same multicast group on the backbone link and the Thread network can be reached with one single multicast.
- NAT64: The devices can access the IPv4 Internet via the BR.
- Credential Sharing: The BR could safely share administrative access and allow extracting the network credentials of the network.
- TREL: It enables Thread devices to communicate directly over IPv6-based links other than IEEE 802.15.4, including Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
- RCP Update: The built BR image will contain an updatable RCP image and can automatically update the RCP on version mismatch or RCP failure.
- Web GUI: The BR will enable a web server and provide some practical functions including Thread network discovery, network formation, status query and topology monitor.
- RF Coexistence: The BR supports optional external coexistence, a feature that enhances the transmission performance when there are channel conflicts between the Wi-Fi and Thread networks.
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Documentation for the latest version: https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-thread-br/. This documentation is built from the docs directory of this repository.
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Check the Issues section on github if you find a bug or have a feature request. Please check existing Issues before opening a new one.
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If you're interested in contributing to ESP-THREAD-BR, please check the Contributions Guide.