Matter 1.0 Standard Finally Officially Released
The initial release of Matter will support a variety of common smart home products, including lighting and electrical, HVAC controls, safety and security sensors, door locks, and more.
DAVIS, Calif. — After numerous delays, the Matter 1.0 wireless specification has finally arrived. The Connectivity Standards Alliance, the international community of more than 550 technology companies committed to open standards for the Internet of Things, has announced the release of the Matter 1.0 specification and the opening of the Matter certification program.
Member companies who make up all facets of the IoT now have a complete program for bringing the next generation of interoperable products that work across brands and platforms to market with greater privacy, security and simplicity for consumers.
As part of the Matter 1.0 release, authorized test labs are open for product certification, the test harnesses and tools are available, and the open-source reference design software development kit (SDK) is complete — all to bring new, innovative products to market. Further, Alliance members with devices already deployed and with plans to update their products to support Matter can now do so, once their products are certified.
“What started as a mission to unravel the complexities of connectivity has resulted in Matter, a single, global IP-based protocol that will fundamentally change the IoT,” says Tobin Richardson, president and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance. “This release is the first step on a journey our community and the industry are taking to make the IoT more simple, secure, and valuable no matter who you are or where you live. With global support from companies large and small, today’s Matter 1.0 release is more than a milestone for our organization and our members; it is a celebration of what is possible.”
Over 280 member companies — including Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Google, Samsung SmartThings, and Signify — have brought their technologies, experience, and innovations together to ensure Matter met the needs of all stakeholders including users, product makers, and platforms. Collectively, these companies led the way through requirements and specification development, reference design, multiple test events and final specification validation to reach this industry milestone.
“We would not be where we are today without the strength and dedication of the Alliance members who have provided thousands of engineers, intellectual property, software accelerators, security protocols, and the financial resources to accomplish what no single company could ever do on their own,” says Bruno Vulcano, chair of the Alliance Board and R&D manager for Legrand Digital Infrastructure. “With members equally distributed throughout the world, Matter is the realization of a truly global effort that will benefit manufacturers, customers and consumers alike, not just in a single region or continent.”
Matter 1.0 Test Certification
More than just a specification, the Matter 1.0 standard launches with test cases and comprehensive test tools for Alliance members and a global certification program including eight authorized test labs who are primed to test not only Matter, but also Matter’s underlying network technologies, WiFi and Thread.
WiFi enables Matter devices to interact over a high-bandwidth local network and allows smart home devices to communicate with the Cloud. Thread provides an energy efficient and highly reliable mesh network within the home. Both the Wi-Fi Alliance and Thread Group partnered with the Connectivity Standards Alliance to help realize the complete vision of Matter.
“Matter and Thread resolve interoperability and connectivity issues in smart homes so manufacturers can focus on other value-adding innovations,” Thread Group President Vividh Siddha says. “Thread creates a self-healing mesh network which grows more responsive and reliable with each added device, and its ultra-lower power architecture extends battery life. Combined, Thread with Matter is a powerful choice for product companies and a great value for consumers.”
“Matter leverages WiFi’s sophisticated network efficiency, global pervasiveness of more than 18 billion devices in use today, and robust standards-based foundation to help deliver the IoT vision,” says Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO, Wi-Fi Alliance. “Together, WiFi CERTIFIED and Matter bring simple and secure interoperability for a better user experience with a wide range of IoT devices.”
Matter is also striking new ground with security policies and processes using distributed ledger technology and Public Key Infrastructure to validate device certification and provenance. This will help to ensure users are connecting authentic, certified, and up-to-date devices to their homes and networks.
This initial release of Matter, running over Ethernet, WiFi, and Thread, and using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for device commissioning, will support a variety of common smart home products, including lighting and electrical, HVAC controls, window coverings and shades, safety and security sensors, door locks, media devices including TVs, controllers as both devices and applications, and bridges.
The CSA has several Authorized Test Labs: Allion Labs, Bureau Veritas, Dekra, Element, Eurofins Digital Testing, Granite River Labs, TUV Rheinland, and UL Solutions.
The Connectivity Standards Alliance, formerly the Zigbee Alliance, was established in 2002 with the aim to create and evolve universal open standards. The Connectivity Standards Alliance Board of Directors is comprised of executives from Amazon, Apple, ASSA ABLOY, Comcast, Google, Huawei, IKEA, Infineon Technologies AG, The Kroger Co., Latch Systems, LEEDARSON, Legrand, LG Electronics, Lutron Electronics, Midea, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors, OPPO, Resideo, Samsung SmartThings, Schneider Electric, Signify, Silicon Labs, Somfy, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Tuya, and Wulian.
Learn more about the Alliance at www.csa-iot.org, and Matter at www.buildwithmatter.com.
This article first appeared on SSI sister site CEPro.com.
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About the Author
Jason Knott
Jason Knott is Chief Content Officer for Emerald Expositions Connected Brands. Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990, serving as editor and publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He joined CE Pro in 2000 and serves as Editor-in-Chief of that brand. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He has been a member of the CEDIA Business Working Group since 2010. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California. Have a suggestion or a topic you want to read more about? Email Jason at [email protected]
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