lamaPLC communication: Matter

Matter is a freely available connectivity standard for smart home and IoT (Internet of Things) devices. It aims to improve interoperability and compatibility between different manufacturers and security, and always allowing local control as an option.

Matter originated in December 2019 as the Project Connected Home over IP (or CHIP for short) working group, founded by Amazon, Apple, Google and the Zigbee Alliance, now called the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA).Subsequent members include IKEA, Huawei, and Schneider. Version 1.0 of the specification was published on 4 October 2022. The Matter software development kit is open-source under the Apache License.

A software development kit (SDK) is provided royalty-free, though the ability to commission a finished product into a Matter network in the field mandates certification and membership fees, entailing both one-time, recurring, and per-product costs. This is enforced using a public key infrastructure (PKI) and so-called device attestation certificates.

Matter-compatible software updates for many existing hubs became available in late 2022, with Matter-enabled devices and software updates starting to release in 2023.

Matter is using Thread, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet for transport and Bluetooth LE for commissioning. All Matter devices based on Thread are required to feature Bluetooth LE concurrently to enable adding new devices to a network. Wi-Fi can be used for high bandwidth applications. It can be used for devices in range of the local Wi-Fi.

Matter steps in and provides a shared foundation on which to build an application. The goal is to have interoperability between devices and ecosystems. As the former project name suggests, it is based on the Internet Protocol (IP). The IP is the most common network layer used in homes and offices. This makes it ideal for delivering on interoperability and security to devices and services.