Matter, formerly Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP), is a proprietary

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

for

home automation Home automation or domotics is building automation for a home, called a smart home or smart house. A home automation system will monitor and/or control home attributes such as lighting, climate, entertainment systems, and appliances. It ...

that is

royalty-free Royalty-free (RF) material subject to copyright or other intellectual property rights may be used without the need to pay royalties or license fees for each use, per each copy or volume sold or some time period of use or sales. Computer standard ...

, with manufacturers only incurring certification costs. Announced on 18 December 2019, Matter aims to reduce fragmentation across different vendors, and achieve interoperability among

smart home Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * ''SMart'', a children's television ser ...

devices and

Internet of things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other com ...

(IoT) platforms from different providers. The project group was launched and introduced by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

, Google,

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

and the

Zigbee Alliance The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), formerly the Zigbee Alliance, is a group of companies that maintain and publish the Zigbee standard and the soon to be Matter standard. The name Zigbee is a registered trademark of this group, and is not ...

, now Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). Subsequent members include

IKEA IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been ...

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smart ...

, and

Schneider Schneider may refer to: Hospital * Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel People *Schneider (surname) Companies and organizations * G. Schneider & Sohn, a Bavarian brewery company * Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG, the former owner of the D ...

. Matter-compatible software updates for many existing hubs became available in late 2022, with Matter-enabled devices and software updates Version 1.0 of the specification was published on 4 October 2022. The Matter specification is provided at no charge upon request after providing full name, company name, email address and consenting to their privacy policy, but cannot be redistributed without permission from CSA. The Matter

software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific ...

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

under the Apache License.

Background

In December 2019, Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung

SmartThings SmartThings Inc. is an American home automation company headquartered in Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a populati ...

and the Zigbee Alliance announced the collaboration and formation of the working group of Project Connected Home over IP. The goal of the project is to simplify development for smart home products brands and manufacturers, while increasing the compatibility of the products for consumers. The standard is based on

Internet Protocol The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network layer communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet. ...

(IP) and works through one or several compatible border routers, avoiding the use of multiple proprietary hubs. Matter products run locally and do not rely on an internet connection, although the standard is designed to talk to the cloud easily. It is intended to enable cross-platform of smart home devices, mobile apps, and cloud services, and defines a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification. The project group is also expected to be joined by some other board member companies of Zigbee Alliance.

Versions

Updates to the standard are planned to occur every six months, although the next version is expected to be published 18 months after the first version was published and include new features, devices, device types and certification methods. * Version 1.0 of the specification was published on 4 October 2022. It introduced support for lighting products (such as

mains power plugs AC power plugs and sockets connect electric equipment to the alternating current (AC) mains electricity power supply in buildings and at other sites. Electrical plugs and sockets differ from one another in voltage and current rating, shape, s ...

, electric lights and

switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type ...

es),

doorlock Door lock may refer to: Automotive * an automobile's door lock, which may include a remote * Power door locks Film * ''Door Lock'' (film), a 2018 South Korean film directed by Lee Kwon Household and commercial uses * a deadbolt lock * a ...

thermostat A thermostat is a regulating device component which senses the temperature of a physical system and performs actions so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint. Thermostats are used in any device or system tha ...

s and

heating, ventilation, and air conditioning Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...

controllers, blinds and shades, home security sensors (such as door, window and

motion sensors Motion detection is the process of detecting a change in the position of an object relative to its surroundings or a change in the surroundings relative to an object. It can be achieved by either mechanical or electronic methods. When it is done by ...

), and televisions and streaming video players. * , version 2.0 of the specification

Supported devices

Devices are currently being certified. *

Nanoleaf Nanoleaf is a consumer electronics company specialising in LED lighting. The limited company was founded in 2012 by three engineers, and launched it's first two products with crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter. History Nanoleaf was founded in ...

* Meross *

Philips Hue Philips Hue is a line of color-changing LED lamps and white bulbs which can be controlled wirelessly. The Philips Hue line of bulbs was the first smart bulb of its kind on the market. The lamps are currently created and manufactured by Signify ...

hub and sub-devices are available for developer testing. *

Eve Home Eve Systems GmbH (branded as Eve and formerly called Elgato Systems GmbH) is a German smart home and home automation producer founded on June 27, 2018. The brand originally existed as a line of smart home products manufactured by Elgato Systems, ...

* Some device elements from

Tuya A tuya is a flat-topped, steep-sided volcano formed when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet. They are rare worldwide, being confined to regions which were covered by glaciers and had active volcanism during the same period. As lav ...

have been certified. *

Schneider Electric Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational company that specializes in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automation ...

's Wiser hub is certified and sub-devices are compatible. * Aqara and two new Thread-enabled devices. * Without giving a timeframe, Wiz has announced that their existing products will receive a Matter update and that they are working on new Matter-enabled products. *

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

has launched their Assure Lock 2 line, which can become compatible with Matter through an upcoming add-on. * Without providing a timeframe, Level Lock has said it will update its locks over Thread.

References

External links

* {{Comcast Amazon (company) Apple Inc. Google Comcast Computer-related introductions in 2019 Home automation Internet of things

Background

Versions

Supported devices

See also

Further reading

References

External links