3.0. Hardware / Network Setup

To start running some of the examples available in this Codelab, the following requirements must be fulfilled:

Hardware Requirements

The table below shows the device requirements for each example in this codelab:

Devices required for example:	3.1, 3.2, and 3.3	3.4	3.5	3.6
	Bi-directional IPv6 Connectivity, Multicast Forwarding, Service Discovery	NAT64	Web GUI	Thread Radio Encapsulation Link (TREL)
ESP Thread Border Router (BR)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Thread CLI device (e.g. ESP32-H2)	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Linux Host Machine	Yes	-	Yes	-
TREL enabled Wi-Fi device (e.g. ESP32-S3) * does not need to have built-in 802.15.4 capabilities	-	-	-	Yes

In addition, access credentials for a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network (SSID and password) are also required.

• Note: to run the curl http://www.espressif.com command in NAT64 example, this Wi-Fi network must be connected to the internet.

Project Configurations

The devices must be flashed with the appropriate examples available in esp-idf or esp-thread-br:

• ESP Thread Border Router flashed with the Thread BR Example

• Thread CLI device flashed with the Thread CLI Example

• TREL enabled Wi-Fi device flashed with the TREL Example

Run idf.py menuconfig in each example directory to open a text-based configuration menu to configure the projects. The following projects should be configured accordingly before they are built:

The Thread BR should be configured to enable TREL feature, which can be found in:

idf.py menuconfig
    → Component config
    → OpenThread
    → OpenThread
    → Thread Core Features
    → Thread Trel Radio Link
    → Enable Thread Radio Encapsulation Link (TREL)

Both the Thread BR and Wi-Fi device should be configured to join the same Wi-Fi network using:

idf.py menuconfig
    → Example Connection Configuration
    → WiFi SSID
idf.py menuconfig
    → Example Connection Configuration
    → WiFi Password

If users do not wish to provide Wi-Fi credentials via menuconfig, the credentials may also be provided at runtime via:

> wifi connect -s <ssid> -p <psk>

Network Topology

In order to use the ESP Thread BR, two networks will be set up:

• Wi-Fi network (provided by Wi-Fi router)

• Thread network

Thread / Wi-Fi Network Topology

Note: while any FTD (full-thread device) can take on the role of LEADER in the Thread network, the ESP Thread BR will be used by default in this Codelab.

ESP Thread BR join network

1. Build and flash the Thread BR Example on the ESP Thread BR device, and wait a few moments for it to connect to the Wi-Fi network automatically (if configured in menuconfig).

2. Check that the ESP Thread BR device is connected to the Wi-Fi network:

> wifi state
connected
Done

3. Use the ESP Thread BR device to form a Thread network:

> ifconfig up
Done
> thread start
Done

4. Check that the ESP Thread BR device has assumed the role of LEADER in the Thread network:

> state
leader
Done

5. Obtain the Thread network details for use later:

> dataset active -x
0e080000000000010000000300001835060004001fffe00208fe7bb701f5f1125d0708fd75cbde7c6647bd0510b3914792d44f45b6c7d76eb9306eec94030f4f70656e5468726561642d35383332010258320410e35c581af5029b054fc904a24c2b27700c0402a0fff8

Thread CLI device join network

1. Build and flash the Thread CLI Example on the Thread CLI device.

2. Set the Thread network details on the Thread CLI device, and wait a few moments for it to join the Thread network:

> dataset set active 0e080000000000010000000300001835060004001fffe00208fe7bb701f5f1125d0708fd75cbde7c6647bd0510b3914792d44f45b6c7d76eb9306eec94030f4f70656e5468726561642d35383332010258320410e35c581af5029b054fc904a24c2b27700c0402a0fff8
> ifconfig up
Done
> thread start
Done

3. Check that the Thread CLI device has joined the Thread network and assumed the role of ROUTER or CHILD:

> state
router # child is also a valid state
Done

TREL enabled Wi-Fi device join network

1. Build and flash the TREL Example on the TREL enabled Wi-Fi device, and wait a few moments for it to connect to the Wi-Fi network automatically (if configured in menuconfig).

2. Check that the TREL enabled Wi-Fi device is connected to the Wi-Fi network:

> wifi state
connected
Done

3. Set the Thread network details on the TREL enabled Wi-Fi device, and wait a few moments for it to join the Thread network:

> dataset set active 0e080000000000010000000300001835060004001fffe00208fe7bb701f5f1125d0708fd75cbde7c6647bd0510b3914792d44f45b6c7d76eb9306eec94030f4f70656e5468726561642d35383332010258320410e35c581af5029b054fc904a24c2b27700c0402a0fff8
> ifconfig up
Done
> thread start
Done

4. Check that the Thread CLI device has joined the Thread network and assumed the role of ROUTER or CHILD:

> state
router # child is also a valid state
Done