Thread

[中文]

Introduction

Thread is an IP-based mesh networking protocol. It is based on the 802.15.4 physical and MAC layer.

Application Examples

  • openthread/ot_br demonstrates how to set up a Thread border router on ESP32, enabling functionalities such as bidirectional IPv6 connectivity, service discovery, etc.

  • openthread/ot_cli demonstrates how to use the OpenThread Command Line Interface with additional features such as TCP, UDP, and Iperf. This requires a board equipped with an IEEE 802.15.4 module. This example provides instructions on how to set up a network using at least two 802.15.4 boards.

  • openthread/ot_rcp demonstrates how to work with a Host Processor to perform as a Thread border router and function as a Thread sniffer, using a board with an IEEE 802.15.4 module.

API Reference

For manipulating the Thread network, the OpenThread API shall be used. The OpenThread API docs can be found at the OpenThread API docs.

ESP-IDF provides extra APIs for launching and managing the OpenThread stack, binding to network interfaces and border routing features.

Header File

  • components/openthread/include/esp_openthread.h

  • This header file can be included with:

    #include "esp_openthread.h"

  • This header file is a part of the API provided by the openthread component. To declare that your component depends on openthread, add the following to your CMakeLists.txt:

    REQUIRES openthread

    or

    PRIV_REQUIRES openthread

Functions

esp_err_t esp_openthread_init(const esp_openthread_platform_config_t *init_config)

Initializes the full OpenThread stack.

Note

The OpenThread instance will also be initialized in this function.

Parameters

init_config -- [in] The initialization configuration.

Returns

  • ESP_OK on success

  • ESP_ERR_NO_MEM if allocation has failed

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG if radio or host connection mode not supported

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE if already initialized

esp_err_t esp_openthread_auto_start(otOperationalDatasetTlvs *datasetTlvs)

Starts the Thread protocol operation and attaches to a Thread network.

Parameters

datasetTlvs -- [in] The operational dataset (TLV encoded), if it's NULL, the function will generate the dataset based on the configurations from kconfig.

Returns

  • ESP_OK on success

  • ESP_FAIL on failures

esp_err_t esp_openthread_launch_mainloop(void)

Launches the OpenThread main loop.

Note

This function will not return unless error happens when running the OpenThread stack.

Returns

  • ESP_OK on success

  • ESP_ERR_NO_MEM if allocation has failed

  • ESP_FAIL on other failures

esp_err_t esp_openthread_deinit(void)

This function performs OpenThread stack and platform driver deinitialization.

Returns

  • ESP_OK on success

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE if not initialized

otInstance *esp_openthread_get_instance(void)

This function acquires the underlying OpenThread instance.

Note

This function can be called on other tasks without lock.

Returns

The OpenThread instance pointer

Header File

  • components/openthread/include/esp_openthread_types.h

  • This header file can be included with:

    #include "esp_openthread_types.h"

  • This header file is a part of the API provided by the openthread component. To declare that your component depends on openthread, add the following to your CMakeLists.txt:

    REQUIRES openthread

    or

    PRIV_REQUIRES openthread

Structures

struct esp_openthread_role_changed_event_t

OpenThread role changed event data.

Public Members

otDeviceRole previous_role

Previous Thread role

otDeviceRole current_role

Current Thread role

struct esp_openthread_dataset_changed_event_t

OpenThread dataset changed event data.

Public Members

esp_openthread_dataset_type_t type

Dataset type

otOperationalDataset new_dataset

New dataset

struct esp_openthread_mainloop_context_t

This structure represents a context for a select() based mainloop.

Public Members

fd_set read_fds

The read file descriptors

fd_set write_fds

The write file descriptors

fd_set error_fds

The error file descriptors

int max_fd

The max file descriptor

struct timeval timeout

The timeout

struct esp_openthread_uart_config_t

The uart port config for OpenThread.

Public Members

uart_port_t port

UART port number

uart_config_t uart_config

UART configuration, see uart_config_t docs

gpio_num_t rx_pin

UART RX pin

gpio_num_t tx_pin

UART TX pin

struct esp_openthread_spi_host_config_t

The spi port config for OpenThread.

Public Members

spi_host_device_t host_device

SPI host device

spi_dma_chan_t dma_channel

DMA channel

spi_bus_config_t spi_interface

SPI bus

spi_device_interface_config_t spi_device

SPI peripheral device

gpio_num_t intr_pin

SPI interrupt pin

struct esp_openthread_spi_slave_config_t

The spi slave config for OpenThread.

Public Members

spi_host_device_t host_device

SPI host device

spi_bus_config_t bus_config

SPI bus config

spi_slave_interface_config_t slave_config

SPI slave config

gpio_num_t intr_pin

SPI interrupt pin

struct esp_openthread_radio_config_t

The OpenThread radio configuration.

Public Members

esp_openthread_radio_mode_t radio_mode

The radio mode

esp_openthread_uart_config_t radio_uart_config

The uart configuration to RCP

esp_openthread_spi_host_config_t radio_spi_config

The spi configuration to RCP

struct esp_openthread_host_connection_config_t

The OpenThread host connection configuration.

Public Members

esp_openthread_host_connection_mode_t host_connection_mode

The host connection mode

esp_openthread_uart_config_t host_uart_config

The uart configuration to host

usb_serial_jtag_driver_config_t host_usb_config

The usb configuration to host

esp_openthread_spi_slave_config_t spi_slave_config

The spi configuration to host

struct esp_openthread_port_config_t

The OpenThread port specific configuration.

Public Members

const char *storage_partition_name

The partition for storing OpenThread dataset

uint8_t netif_queue_size

The packet queue size for the network interface

uint8_t task_queue_size

The task queue size

struct esp_openthread_platform_config_t

The OpenThread platform configuration.

Public Members

esp_openthread_radio_config_t radio_config

The radio configuration

esp_openthread_host_connection_config_t host_config

The host connection configuration

esp_openthread_port_config_t port_config

The port configuration

Type Definitions

typedef void (*esp_openthread_rcp_failure_handler)(void)

Enumerations

enum esp_openthread_event_t

OpenThread event declarations.

Values:

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_START

OpenThread stack start

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_STOP

OpenThread stack stop

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_DETACHED

OpenThread detached

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_ATTACHED

OpenThread attached

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_ROLE_CHANGED

OpenThread role changed

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_IF_UP

OpenThread network interface up

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_IF_DOWN

OpenThread network interface down

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_GOT_IP6

OpenThread stack added IPv6 address

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_LOST_IP6

OpenThread stack removed IPv6 address

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_MULTICAST_GROUP_JOIN

OpenThread stack joined IPv6 multicast group

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_MULTICAST_GROUP_LEAVE

OpenThread stack left IPv6 multicast group

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_TREL_ADD_IP6

OpenThread stack added TREL IPv6 address

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_TREL_REMOVE_IP6

OpenThread stack removed TREL IPv6 address

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_TREL_MULTICAST_GROUP_JOIN

OpenThread stack joined TREL IPv6 multicast group

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_SET_DNS_SERVER

OpenThread stack set DNS server >

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_PUBLISH_MESHCOP_E

OpenThread stack start to publish meshcop-e service >

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_REMOVE_MESHCOP_E

OpenThread stack start to remove meshcop-e service >

enumerator OPENTHREAD_EVENT_DATASET_CHANGED

OpenThread dataset changed >

enum esp_openthread_dataset_type_t

OpenThread dataset type.

Values:

enumerator OPENTHREAD_ACTIVE_DATASET

Active dataset

enumerator OPENTHREAD_PENDING_DATASET

Pending dataset

enum esp_openthread_radio_mode_t

The radio mode of OpenThread.

Values:

enumerator RADIO_MODE_NATIVE

Use the native 15.4 radio

enumerator RADIO_MODE_UART_RCP

UART connection to a 15.4 capable radio co-processor (RCP)

enumerator RADIO_MODE_SPI_RCP

SPI connection to a 15.4 capable radio co-processor (RCP)

enumerator RADIO_MODE_TREL

Use the Thread Radio Encapsulation Link (TREL)

enumerator RADIO_MODE_MAX

Using for parameter check

enum esp_openthread_host_connection_mode_t

How OpenThread connects to the host.

Values:

enumerator HOST_CONNECTION_MODE_NONE

Disable host connection

enumerator HOST_CONNECTION_MODE_CLI_UART

CLI UART connection to the host

enumerator HOST_CONNECTION_MODE_CLI_USB

CLI USB connection to the host

enumerator HOST_CONNECTION_MODE_RCP_UART

RCP UART connection to the host

enumerator HOST_CONNECTION_MODE_RCP_SPI

RCP SPI connection to the host

enumerator HOST_CONNECTION_MODE_MAX

Using for parameter check

Header File

  • components/openthread/include/esp_openthread_lock.h

  • This header file can be included with:

    #include "esp_openthread_lock.h"

  • This header file is a part of the API provided by the openthread component. To declare that your component depends on openthread, add the following to your CMakeLists.txt:

    REQUIRES openthread

    or

    PRIV_REQUIRES openthread

Functions

esp_err_t esp_openthread_lock_init(void)

This function initializes the OpenThread API lock.

Returns

  • ESP_OK on success

  • ESP_ERR_NO_MEM if allocation has failed

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE if already initialized

void esp_openthread_lock_deinit(void)

This function deinitializes the OpenThread API lock.

bool esp_openthread_lock_acquire(TickType_t block_ticks)

This function acquires the OpenThread API lock.

Note

Every Openthread APIs that takes an otInstance argument MUST be protected with this API lock except that the call site is in Openthread callbacks.

Parameters

block_ticks -- [in] The maximum number of RTOS ticks to wait for the lock.

Returns

  • True on lock acquired

  • False on failing to acquire the lock with the timeout.

void esp_openthread_lock_release(void)

This function releases the OpenThread API lock.

bool esp_openthread_task_switching_lock_acquire(TickType_t block_ticks)

This function acquires the OpenThread API task switching lock.

Note

In OpenThread API context, it waits for some actions to be done in other tasks (like lwip), after task switching, it needs to call OpenThread API again. Normally it's not allowed, since the previous OpenThread API lock is not released yet. This task_switching lock allows the OpenThread API can be called in this case.

Note

Please use esp_openthread_lock_acquire() for normal cases.

Parameters

block_ticks -- [in] The maximum number of RTOS ticks to wait for the lock.

Returns

  • True on lock acquired

  • False on failing to acquire the lock with the timeout.

void esp_openthread_task_switching_lock_release(void)

This function releases the OpenThread API task switching lock.

Note

This API must be called after esp_openthread_task_switching_lock_acquire or esp_openthread_lock_acquire and will cause a crash if the current task is not the task switching lock holder. This error could be caused by calling OpenThread APIs without locking OpenThread stack.

Header File

  • components/openthread/include/esp_openthread_netif_glue.h

  • This header file can be included with:

    #include "esp_openthread_netif_glue.h"

  • This header file is a part of the API provided by the openthread component. To declare that your component depends on openthread, add the following to your CMakeLists.txt:

    REQUIRES openthread

    or

    PRIV_REQUIRES openthread

Functions

void *esp_openthread_netif_glue_init(const esp_openthread_platform_config_t *config)

This function initializes the OpenThread network interface glue.

Parameters

config -- [in] The platform configuration.

Returns

  • glue pointer on success

  • NULL on failure

void esp_openthread_netif_glue_deinit(void)

This function deinitializes the OpenThread network interface glue.

esp_netif_t *esp_openthread_get_netif(void)

This function acquires the OpenThread netif.

Returns

The OpenThread netif or NULL if not initialzied.

void esp_openthread_register_meshcop_e_handler(esp_event_handler_t handler, bool for_publish)

This function register a handler for meshcop-e service publish event and remove event.

Parameters

  • handler -- [in] The handler.

  • for_publish -- [in] The usage of handler, true for publish event and false for remove event.

Macros

ESP_NETIF_INHERENT_DEFAULT_OPENTHREAD()

Default configuration reference of OpenThread esp-netif.

ESP_NETIF_DEFAULT_OPENTHREAD()

Header File

  • components/openthread/include/esp_openthread_border_router.h

  • This header file can be included with:

    #include "esp_openthread_border_router.h"

  • This header file is a part of the API provided by the openthread component. To declare that your component depends on openthread, add the following to your CMakeLists.txt:

    REQUIRES openthread

    or

    PRIV_REQUIRES openthread

Functions

void esp_openthread_set_backbone_netif(esp_netif_t *backbone_netif)

Sets the backbone interface used for border routing.

Note

This function must be called before esp_openthread_init

Parameters

backbone_netif -- [in] The backbone network interface (WiFi or ethernet)

esp_err_t esp_openthread_border_router_init(void)

Initializes the border router features of OpenThread.

Note

Calling this function will make the device behave as an OpenThread border router. Kconfig option CONFIG_OPENTHREAD_BORDER_ROUTER is required.

Returns

  • ESP_OK on success

  • ESP_ERR_NOT_SUPPORTED if feature not supported

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE if already initialized

  • ESP_FIAL on other failures

esp_err_t esp_openthread_border_router_deinit(void)

Deinitializes the border router features of OpenThread.

Returns

  • ESP_OK on success

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE if not initialized

  • ESP_FIAL on other failures

esp_netif_t *esp_openthread_get_backbone_netif(void)

Gets the backbone interface of OpenThread border router.

Returns

The backbone interface or NULL if border router not initialized.

void esp_openthread_register_rcp_failure_handler(esp_openthread_rcp_failure_handler handler)

Registers the callback for RCP failure.

esp_err_t esp_openthread_rcp_deinit(void)

Deinitializes the connection to RCP.

Returns

  • ESP_OK on success

  • ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE if fail to deinitialize RCP

esp_err_t esp_openthread_rcp_init(void)

Initializes the connection to RCP.

Returns

  • ESP_OK on success

  • ESP_FAIL if fail to initialize RCP

esp_err_t esp_openthread_set_meshcop_instance_name(const char *instance_name)

Sets the meshcop(e) instance name.

Note

This function can only be called before esp_openthread_border_router_init. If instance_name is NULL, then the service will use the hostname as instance name.

Parameters

instance_name -- [in] The instance name, can be NULL.

Returns

  • ESP_OK on success

  • ESP_FAIL if fail to initialize RCP

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