Matter 1.0 standard released
The Connectivity Standards Alliance, formerly the Zigbee Alliance, has announced the release of the Matter 1.0 specification and the opening of the Matter certification program. Matter is intended as an industry-unifying, IP-based connectivity protocol for the smart home.
Member companies who make up all facets of the IoT, says the organization, 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.
In addition, says the organization, 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, Signify and SmartThings — 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.
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 that are primed to test not only Matter, but also Matter’s underlying network technologies, Wi-Fi and Thread. Wi-Fi 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, says the organization, 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.
Connectivity Standards Alliance
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