Tech

What Is Matter: Everything You Need To Know

March 4, 2024

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If you’re interested in the smart home industry, you have probably heard about Matter. It is a new connectivity standard for smart homes that is being developed by major brands in the industry. Its goal is to provide better compatibility between smart home devices.

Previously, Matter was known as Project CHIP, but it was renamed earlier this year. The name might be a play on words, indicating how essential this standard is for smart home technology.

In this article, we will provide a comprehensive overview of Matter, including what it is, how it will work with your current and future smart home devices, and whether it will make your life easier.

What is Matter?

Matter is a new smart home connectivity standard that is being created by a group of over 200 companies. It was founded by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which was formerly the Zigbee Alliance. This new standard uses the Internet Protocol (IP) including Bluetooth LE, WiFi, and Thread that will work together to make smart home products compatible with each other using a single standard instead of the many disparate standards that exist today.

This group is taking an open-source approach to developing the SDK, that will enable companies to bring their products to market with Matter support even faster, once the standard is completed.

What’s the point of Matter though? Well, Matter is going to help make it easier for companies and developers to build new smart home appliances as well as Internet of Things or IoT products that will work seamlessly together with Google Home/Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Samsung SmartThings. It’s going to simplify the buying process of these products. You won’t have to think about whether this Nest Doorbell works with other platforms than just Google Assistant.

What companies are part of the alliance?

While we can’t list the over 200 companies that are part of the alliance for Matter, here are the bigger names:

ADT Security Services
Google LLC
Plume Design
Afero Inc
grandcentrix GmbH
POLYNHOME
Alarm.com
Amazon
Apple Inc
ARM Ltd
ARRIS Solutions Inc
Assa Abloy AB
ATLANTIC Group
Atmosic
Axis Communications
Ayla Networks
Becker Antriebe GmbH
BEGA Gantenbrink-Leuchten KG
Beken
BELIMO Automation AG
Belkin International Inc
BOE Technology Group Co Ltd
Bosch IO GmbH
Bouffalo Lab
BrightAI
BRK Brands
BSH Hausgerate GmbH
Buffalo Inc
Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services
Busch-Jaeger Elektro
Cable Television Laboratories
CAME SpA
Card Access Engineering LLC
Chameleon Technology UK Ltd
Charter Communications
China Electronics Standardization Institute
Comcast Cable Communications Management
Connectivity Standards Alliance
Control4
Coway
Crestron
Cypress Semiconductor Corp
Danfoss A S
Datek Smart Home AS
DEKRA
Delta Dore
Delta Electronics
Deutsche Telekom AG
Develco Products
DigiCert Inc
digitalSTROM AG
D-Link Corporation
dormakaba Holding AG
DSP Group
DSR Corporation
DT&C Co., Ltd.
Easee
Eaton
ecobee
EDF RD
EDMI Ltd
Eglo Leuchten GmbH
Element Materials Technology Ltd
Eltako GmbH
Emerson Commercial Residential Solutions
EnOcean GmbH
Espressif Systems
Essence Group
E-surfing Smart Home Technology
Eurofins Digital Testing
Eve Systems
Exegin Technologies Ltd
Facebook Inc
Fortune Brands Global Plumbing Group
Future Home AS
Futurewei Technologies
Gardena GmbH
GE Current – A Daintree Company
GEWISS SpA
Granite River Labs
Green Energy Options
Grundfos
Guangzhou Elite Education Technology Co Ltd
Hager Controls SAS
Haier
Hangzhou Sky Lighting Co Ltd
HDC I-Controls
Honor Device Company Limited
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
IKEA of Sweden
Infineon Technologies
innovation matters iot GmbH
Inspur Software Technology Co Ltd
Insta GmbH
iRobot
iThinx GmbH
Itron Inc
Jasco Products Company
JiangXi Innotech Technology
Johnson Controls Inc
Kee Tat Manufactory Holding Limited
Kirale Technologies SL
Kroger Co
Kwikset
Landis Gyr AG
Latchable Inc
LEDVANCE LLC
Leedarson Lighting Co Ltd
LEGRAND
Lennox International
Level Home Inc
Leviton Manufacturing Company
LG Electronics
Liberty Global B V
LIFX
Logitech
Lumi United Technology Co Ltd
Lutron Electronics
Mastercard
MediaTek Inc
Microchip Technology
Midea Group
Miele-Cie KG
Mill International
Mitsubishi Electric
Mitsubishi Electric US
MMB Networks
Morse Micro
mui Lab Inc
Nanjing IOT Sensor Technology
Nanoleaf
National Technical Systems
Netatmo
Niko nv
Ningbo Sunpu
Ningbo Suntech Lighting Technology Co Ltd
NodOn
Nordic Semiconductor ASA
Nortek Control
NquiringMinds Ltd
NXP Semiconductors Netherlands BV
ON Semiconductor
OPPO
Optus
Orange SA
Origin Wireless Inc
Osram Sylvania Inc
Otodo
Panasonic Corporation
Panasonic Marketing Europe GmbH
Panasonic North America
PanKore Integrated Circuit Technology Co Ltd
Perspecta Labs
Piaro
Powerley
Procter and Gamble
PROFALUX
Proxy Inc
Qingdao Yeelink Information Technology Co Limited
Qorvo
Qualcomm
Remotec Technology Ltd
Resideo Technologies
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch Smart Home GmbH
ROCA SANITARIO SA
Roku
Ruckus Wireless
Sagemcom SAS
Salto Systems
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Savant Company
Schlage Lock Company LLC
Schneider Electric
Sectigo Ltd
Secure Meters UK Ltd
Sengled Co Ltd
Shanghai MXCHIP Information Technology Co Ltd
Shenzhen CoolKit
Shenzhen Heiman Technology Co Ltd
Shenzhen Orvibo Technology Co Ltd
Shortcut Labs AB
Siemens Industry Inc
Siemens Schweiz AG
Signify Netherlands B V
Silicon Labs
SimpliSafe
SITERWELL Electronics
SmartThings
SoftAtHome
Somfy
STMicroelectronics SAS
Synaptics
System Level Solutions Inc
TCL
TeLink Micro LLC
Tesla
Texas Instruments
TietoEVRY
TP-Link Corporation Limited
Trane Technologies
TUV Rheinland of North America
Tuya Global Incorporated
Ubilogix
ubisys technologies GmbH
Underwriters Laboratories
Universal Electronics
Velux AS
Viessmann Elektronik GmbH
Vimar SpA
Vivint Smart Home
vivo Mobile Communication Co Ltd
Whirlpool Corporation
WS Audiology Denmark AS
Wyde Labs
Wyze Labs Inc
X-HEMISTRY Inc
Xiaomi Communications
Xylem Inc
Yandex LLC
Yo Labs Inc
Zehnder Group Vaux Andigny
Zuma Array Ltd
Zumtobel Group AG
Z-Wave Europe GmbH
Zyax AB

What is Thread?

Thread is a big part of Matter. And it’s essential to understand what it is, as well. Thread is a wireless mesh protocol that is similar to WiFi and Bluetooth. It enables seamless communication between devices. It is based on IPv6 and uses an edge router, or “border router,” to connect that network to other networks like WiFi, Ethernet, and the Cloud. Basically, Thread serves as the connection between devices, while Matter is the language that those devices will use to communicate. And it sits on top of Thread, working as an application layer.

Thread apparently has “no single point of failure and includes the ability to self-heal”. That is because all the devices on the network can communicate with each other as opposed to having one centralized controller like other protocols. This means that if the Leader router fails, another router will take its place in the network.

When will products that are Matter-certified be available?

So when can you get your hands on products that are Matter-certified? Well, today. Quite a few newer smart home products are Matter-certified, while older products are slowly but surely getting Matter updates to work the new standard. These include products from Philips Hue, Nanoleaf, Google, Amazon, Apple and many more.

You will need a Thread Border router for the best experience with Matter. The good news is, that many products already on the market support Thread Border router, including all of these:

Will Matter Succeed?

I firmly believe it will. Why? Well, it’s simple. The CSA, formerly the Zigbee Alliance, has every large company in this space in the alliance. Including Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft. That’s going to make it hard not to succeed. But we would still need the smaller companies that sell the majority of smart home products to make it succeed.

At this point, it’s a little too early to say whether it will succeed or not. But we are preparing for Matter v1.2 pretty soon. So that’s a good sign. Matter is slowly making the smart home space easier and easier to use, which is a big thing for this industry.

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