Decoding IoT: The Power of Matter
Image Source: carballo/Stock.adobe.com; generated with AI)
By Jon Gabay for Mouser Electronics
Published August 16, 2023
Internet of Things (IoT) technology continues to embed itself into every aspect of our daily lives, especially as home automation systems begin to tie together. This modern approach takes what once was a simple electrical switch and transforms it into a local wireless (typically Wi-Fi® or Bluetooth®) network node connected to an aggregator or access point to the internet, where global networks, cloud services, security wrappers, and redirects should work together to control a single local bit: on or off. Designers of products for the IoT marketplace need to navigate each IoT device's functionality and create route paths, apps, and programs for cell phones, tablets, computers, and even in-home speech recognition.
With so many connected cameras, light controllers, speech interfaces, door locks, and more, trying to tie together every wireless device that wants to connect to the internet is not trivial. Simplifying these connections requires a comprehensive standard that can address this local connectivity issue directly.
That's what a 300-member global group called the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) is trying to do with a new standard called Matter. The emerging standard—now at version 1.1—is a single protocol that links compatible devices to one another locally without the need for the internet. But it can also work with the internet through a gateway, router, access point, or aggregator.
What Is Matter?
Matter is a set of standards, underlying code, and development tools aimed at simplifying the demands of fitting into the IoT—the conglomeration of all the devices in the world that communicate wirelessly, whether it's a bulb that changes color, a speaker that streams music, or a doorbell camera that watches for a delivery.
The IoT is growing explosively, with the number of connected devices expected to grow from 12 billion in 2021 to 27 billion by 2025—and an increasing number of us depend on it to keep our homes and daily lives functioning smoothly when it comes to entertainment, security, comfort, and convenience. If set up correctly, the smart devices in our personal corner of the IoT can work together to provide a seamless control experience.
Ensuring such seamless, automatic control can pose significant challenges for smart-device developers, given the variety of protocols and ecosystems they must navigate. These professionals may excel in areas like door locks or toaster ovens, yet they may not want to become adept in wireless protocols. Constructing a comprehensive system for the IoT often turns into a highly complex endeavor.
It can be trying for users, too: Setting up different smart devices can mean mastering multiple apps and remote controls, misunderstanding complex setup procedures, and realizing that some devices just won't work together.
This is where Matter comes in, standardizing all the code needed to create a nonproprietary IoT ecosystem that any smart-device developer can plug into easily—and that can connect users' smart gadgets under one control interface, be it an app, a remote, a voice assistant, or any combination. This simplifies setup and use and lets users create features and functions that are now possible with interoperability.
Matter offers a reliable, secure, seamless way to interconnect devices from different manufacturers, allowing a new level of interoperability. Its unified approach lets all users define what devices they want to control and how to manage them. And with high-power companies as members of the alliance, adoption of Matter is moving forward.
Members of the CSA include manufacturers of home control interfaces, such as Amazon, Google, Samsung, and Apple, and chip makers like NXP Semiconductors, Nordic Semiconductor, Silicon Labs, and Texas Instruments, who are working on highly integrated chips and development kits, software example code, and modular evaluation platforms. Communications and power infrastructure companies like Comcast, Huawei, LeGrande, and Schneider Electric are also part of this effort.
How Does Matter Work?
To enable developers to build Matter-compatible devices easily, Matter spells out high-level control options for specific types of devices. Developers specify what kind of user commands they want their devices to handle. For example, commands for a smart window shade might include messages such as "fully open," "fully close," or "open 50%." Such commands are all Matter needs to generate the low-level code needed for the target operation, and the developer can just plug into the Matter code at a high level.
Matter can already handle the most popular types of smart devices, and the CSA continually adds new device types as well as the ability to provide more types of commands. There are still problems to solve, especially with more complex devices and tasks. But new Matter capabilities, compatibilities, and tools are coming online quickly now that the CSA has officially launched the standards.
That progress will only accelerate as Matter makes inroads into the market by bringing more manufacturers into the ecosystem and gaining more recognition and interest from users. Just as in the early days of the internet and social media, there will be a network effect. That is, the more companies and people participate, the more valuable Matter becomes, and the more other companies and people will want to join. Chip makers will be essential to this expansion because they sit between Matter and device developers, providing plug-and-play, Matter-compatible hardware and software components and tools.
How Will Matter Benefit Users?
Matter can provide the glue that holds smart home networks together—going so far as to update and even future-proof some older smart devices. Instead of replacing a smart refrigerator whose automation no longer works, a consumer can implement Matter-compatible devices and network them to remotely monitor and control the existing refrigerator with the same up-to-date app they use to control everything else—even if the appliance's original proprietary app or remote becomes obsolete.
Matter may be able to keep entire networks updated, too. Consider the many advances that have been made in IoT ecosystems and apps since they were first developed years ago, especially with protocols and security. By implementing Matter, device owners gain the advantage of an ecosystem designed with the latest features.
What Is the Future of Matter?
Matter will likely stimulate the creation of new applications and remote controls specifically engineered for Matter-friendly home IoT networks. This will empower users to interchange and update to the most recent systems as needed. Moreover, Matter's compatibility with existing major ecosystems from providers like Google, Apple, and Amazon ensures a substantial pre-existing user base, offering a promising start.
Moreover, manufacturers and developers will be free to create customized versions of Matter, retaining its core features and compatibilities while adding their own look and feel along with any special features. It allows developers to provide users with enhanced experiences without reinventing the wheel.
Some proprietary, single-device control apps and remotes will likely always be needed for special applications. For example, some garage-door openers connect to their remote controls over proprietary networks capable of blasting signals down long driveways. No technology will be perfect for every use case, but there will be cases where proprietary approaches make more sense. Matter compatibility can still be helpful with the ability to monitor device activity remotely over the Matter network.
A pivotal factor of Matter's widespread adoption is consumers' ability to readily identify and trust its compatibility claims when purchasing new devices. To assure consumers, the CSA is developing stringent testing and validation procedures, including a unique logo (Figure 1) to make certified products easily recognizable.
Figure 1: The Matter logo and wordmark, which will be applied to certified devices. (Source: Connectivity Standards Alliance)
Conclusion
For developers seeking to integrate their devices into the Matter framework, rigorous testing and certification of designs are critical. The CSA supports this area, even operating testing labs to endorse new designs.
With a well-structured, top-down approach, Matter stands poised to unify the IoT landscape in a way never seen before.