FOTA / DFU in a OpenThread mesh

[ChriglSEI]

Hi there

Does anybody now if there is a implementation / reference project / company which solves the firmware over the air update of several devices inside a OpenThread mesh network with the "new nRF Connect SDK ? Especially handling lost packages, maybe Multi-casts to enhance performance, ...

I have found this old guide for nRF SDK5: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/guides/short-range-guides/b/mesh-networks/posts/thread-tutorial-practical-guide-for-device-upgrade-ota.

Does anybody know, what happened with the implementation. Does nordic plan to implement the thread device upgrade ota also with the nRF Connect SDK?

Or was the implementation not working properly and hence not further 

We will develop devices based on nRF52840, but we will also have a Gateway to the Internet based on ESP32 which would initiate/manage the firmware in the network.

There are devzone posts which mention the SMP over UDP examples, but is there not a better/more efficient way to update a mesh network, then to update every device by point to point SMP updates?

Building everything from scratch seems a lot of effort and we think that we should not be the only company who wants to make FOTA in a OpenThread mesh network.

Any comments / notes / references / helps are very welcome.

Kind regards,
Chris 

[Maria Gilje]

Hi Chris,

Does anybody now if there is a implementation / reference project / company which solves the firmware over the air update of several devices inside a OpenThread mesh network with the "new nRF Connect SDK ? Especially handling lost packages, maybe Multi-casts to enhance performance, ...

This is a good question for the community here on DevZone, so I hope that anyone with experience on this can share something with you.

Does anybody know, what happened with the implementation. Does nordic plan to implement the thread device upgrade ota also with the nRF Connect SDK?

I don't think there are any plans to implement a sample in nRF Connect SDK which has DFU capabilities.

The implementation in tthe Thread Secure OTA DFU Example in nRF5 SDK for Thread and Zigbee is still available for download, though as you know the nRF5 SDK is not recommended for new projects.

There are devzone posts which mention the SMP over UDP examples, but is there not a better/more efficient way to update a mesh network, then to update every device by point to point SMP updates?

One sample which can be helpful for your usecase is the UpdateHub sample from Zephyr. Give it a read and let me know if it fits your usecase.

Another tool that could work, but which I have not tested, is the DFU over Thread command in nrfutil. The command supports unicast and multicast upgrades.

Best regards,

Maria