Matter protocol in a smart home: The new foundation for connected things
Smart home devices are now commonplace, yet their connectivity can be frustratingly complicated. The Matter protocol emerged to solve this existential challenge in the IoT space by connecting compatible devices and systems.
Foundationally, Matter aims to make IoT devices secure, reliable, and seamless, regardless of manufacturer or ecosystem. In several ways, the Matter protocol is what the IoT industry has long yearned for to break down the barriers between smart home technologies. This article examines the Matter smart home protocol, its key features, and how it can revolutionize smart home devices.
What is Matter protocol?
Matter protocol is a new, open-source connectivity standard for IoT devices officially released in October 2022. Formerly known as Project CHIP (Connected Home over IP), Matter is an industry collaboration to develop a royalty-free, secure, and reliable connectivity standard.
The collaboration was initiated by the Zigbee Alliance, now called the Connectivity Standards Alliance, consisting of over 500 companies worldwide. IoT device pioneers Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung, IKEA, Huaweei, and Schneider all participate. The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) maintains a searchable list of Matter smart home devices, which can also be identified by the Matter logo.
Matter technology is expected to be widely utilized, with over 4000+ products already available and many more devices soon becoming available to consumers.
How Matter smart home protocol works
Matter provides interoperability, security, and flexibility to the IoT and smart home market. Matter protocol enables two core functionalities: Multi-Administration and Multiple Network Transport.
Multi-administration
Multi-administration functionality in Matter protocol is what directly enables interoperability of Matter-certified devices. Multi-Admin can connect Matter-certified devices to any Matter-supporting ecosystems, ranging from a single app to smart home platforms like Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Samsung SmartThings.
For example, if a smart home user owns a Google Nest doorbell, a Hue Lightbulb, and an Amazon Echo Speaker, and all devices are Matter-certified, they can communicate seamlessly. When a patron rings the Nest doorbell, the Hue lightbulb can light up and the Amazon Echo can announce someone is at the door. Today, without Matter, this integration could be extremely challenging for a standard smart home user to accomplish.
Matter’s multi-admin functionality democratizes a user’s choices in the smart home industry, enabling better competition of devices and eliminating the limitations of a single smart home ecosystem. Users that prefer Google Home software and Apple HomeKit hardware can utilize Matter-certified devices to maximize their experience in multiple ecosystems locally, securely, and simultaneously.
Multiple network transport
Matter also unites the benefits of Wi-Fi, Thread, and their common Internet Protocol (IP) foundation to create a seamless, reliable network that can support experiences across different ecosystems and technologies. Multiple network transport technology allows IoT and smart home devices connected to Wi-Fi or ethernet to connect directly to cloud services and each other.
Thread technology, a wireless mesh network technology commonly used in lower bandwidth, long-distance smart home devices, also integrates with Matter protocol. Thread-based, low-power consumption smart devices such as smart sensors, smart outlets, smart bulbs, and more can be connected to Matter-certified Thread routers to unlock the true value of Matter.
With Matter, a Thread router can connect to a Thread bridge and a Wi-Fi router. So long as every device in that chain is Matter-certified, every device connected to the Wi-Fi and Thread routers can now be connected to each other. Matter-compliant bridges can actually be built into a number of devices, enabling non-matter devices to connect to them and be placed within the Matter network.
The reduced fragmentation accomplished via Matter allows developers to create smart home IoT devices that work with each other, regardless of brand or smart home platform, creating unified interfaces that can agnostically control a multitude of smart home Matter-compliant devices.
The value of Matter protocol in a smart home
Matter technology aims to make smart home devices simple to use as a layperson. By providing a common communication framework between ecosystems, Matter allows users to mix and match Matter-certified devices from different manufacturers. And by allowing transport between multiple IP-based networks, Matter can connect a wide array of different device types, further unifying smart home technologies and reducing technological fragmentation. The development of the unified and user-focused Matter protocol smart home breaks down the barriers between smart home ecosystems and reduces the complexity of smart home devices.
Learn more about how Matter solves IoT and smart home challenges.
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