Matter has emerged as the unified application standard for the Internet of Things, relying on Thread as its primary low-power mesh networking protocol. The performance of a Matter ecosystem, specifically its responsiveness and battery life, is heavily dependent on the underlying Thread topology. This thesis explores how the distribution of device roles (Routers vs. REEDs) impacts the delivery of Matter-layer traffic, seeking to optimize the trade-off between network resilience and energy efficiency in Matter-over-Thread deployments.

This thesis investigates the impact of device role distribution in Thread networks on energy consumption, communication performance, and resilience. The study focuses on Routers, Router-Eligible End Devices (REEDs), and Minimal Thread Devices (MTDs), whose interactions determine the dynamics of the mesh network. Using Nordic Semiconductor hardware running Zephyr RTOS and the OpenThread stack, the student will evaluate how varying the proportion of Routers and REEDs influences network efficiency.
Key activities include:
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Matter Traffic Modeling: Generating consistent application-layer traffic patterns
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Performance Benchmarking: Measuring Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), end-to-end latency, and power consumption across various configurations.
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Resilience Analysis: Introducing controlled node failures to evaluate the network's self-healing behavior and the resulting impact on Matter service availability.
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Statistical Analysis: Using observed data to quantify the trade-offs between energy efficiency and network robustness.
The objective is to derive empirical insights into optimal role distributions to ensure reliable and power-efficient Matter-over-Thread mesh networks.

Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA): https://csa-iot.org/all-solutions/matter/
Thread Group Standards: https://www.threadgroup.org/support#specifications
OpenThread Documentation: https://openthread.io/guides
Zephyr Project Documentation: https://docs.zephyrproject.org/