Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1520713
T his past year has seen many changes in the smart home ecosystem. As Matter matures and more devices adopt the unifying standard, the accelerating growth of smart home devices and users leads to a more dynamic Internet of Things (IoT) landscape. A few interesting trends and discussion topics in IoT and the smart home are on the rise, including multi-protocol scenarios, mesh networking, the Matter ecosystem, and future smart home technologies. The Promise of Matter The original goal of Matter, which started as Project CHIP (Connected Home over IP), was for the major players in the smart home industry to converge on a unified application layer standard for connected devices for the home. In this way, Matter was designed to make it easier for manufacturers to create secure and reliable smart home products that are easier for developers and certainly much more streamlined for end users. Moreover, Matter solutions are intended to be interoperable with major smart home ecosystems, such as Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, and Amazon Alexa. Matter-certified devices that use Thread for the transport layer, along with Wi-Fi ® and Ethernet, must also include Bluetooth ® Low Energy capability for commissioning smart The smart home ecosystem is evolving with the integration of Matter, advancements in mesh networking, and the advent of multi-protocol scenarios. home devices, as Bluetooth Low Energy is instrumental in adding new devices to the network. The Matter protocol is positioned below the device application layer and above the transmission control protocol (TCP) layer, connecting the IP layer in the communications stack. Matter comprises six functional layers—data model, interaction model, action framing, security, message framing/routing, and IP framing/transport management—and acts as an interoperable application layer solution. The transport management layer of Matter handles the link to individual protocols, such as Wi-Fi and Thread. STMicroelectronics 2024 9 Smart Home Trends Benefit Developers and Users JJ DeLisle for Mouser Electronics