Skip to main content

'Matter' and 'Thread' to Improve Smart Home Connectivity & Interoperability

After years of wondering if smart devices and gadgets in home made by multiple vendors would be able to talk to each other, there is a hope. Two new protocols, Matter and Thread, are enabling devices to quickly talk to each other.

The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) is responsible for Matter and describes it as:

Matter is the foundation for connected things. This industry–unifying standard is a promise of reliable, secure connectivity—a seal of approval that devices will work seamlessly together, today and tomorrow. Matter is creating more connections between more objects, simplifying development for manufacturers and increasing compatibility for consumers.

The Thread Group explains Thread as follows:

Thread is a low-power and low-latency wireless mesh networking protocol built using open and proven standards. Thread solves the complexities of the IoT, addressing challenges such as interoperability, range, security, energy, and reliability. Thread networks have no single point of failure and include the ability to self-heal. 

The Internet runs on IP. From phones, to routers, to connections across the globe, IP is how devices communicate directly with each other, regardless of what connectivity technologies they use (i.e. Ethernet, Wi-Fi, 5G and LTE). Thread brings the Internet to the Internet of Things by using the Internet’s proven, open standards to create an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) based mesh network.

Thread devices seamlessly integrate with larger IP networks and don’t need proprietary gateways or translators. This reduces infrastructure investment and complexity, removes potential points of failure and reduces maintenance burdens. Thread also securely connects devices to the cloud, making it easier to control IoT products and systems from devices such as mobile phones and tablets.

This video from CSA explains in a simple way how they work with each other and how Thread complements Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.

During CES back in January, there were announcements from Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, etc., about the support for Matter. The following is an extract from Semiconductor Engineering:

Matter was everywhere at CES 2022, and smart home ecosystems all talk about Matter when launching new devices. Matter helps IoT devices like your coffee maker and smart speaker talk to each other easily so that you as the end user don’t need to read complex user manuals or become an IoT connectivity expert. 

The Matter initiative started because major market players recognized that the existing smart home “walled gardens” are not quite working for either product development companies or consumers. Today, there are incompatible ecosystems between Apple, Amazon, and Google, so device makers and consumers have to make a choice or live with split systems in the home. On top of this challenge is the fundamental challenge of wireless device incompatibility across technologies: depending upon the application attribute, the device maker may choose Wi-Fi, BLE, or Thread/ZigBee over 802.15.4 – e.g., a smart door lock could use Wi-Fi while a lightbulb could use Thread or ZigBee. The usage of multiple wireless technologies creates the need for gateway or bridge devices. The enthusiasm for Matter to become the solution for the smart home is driven by major smart home ecosystem players like Apple, Amazon, and Google under the auspices of the Connectivity Standards Alliance standardization body, and it has resulted in hundreds of companies coming together and collaborating on the specification development, open source software development, testing, and certification efforts.​

Since Matter is built on top of standard Internet Protocol IPv6, it is agnostic to the underlying communication medium, allowing application to application communication regardless of whether one application is sending data over Wi-Fi and the other one is receiving over Thread. Initially, support will be provided on Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Thread (a low power, low data rate network built on IEEE 802.15.4 wireless devices). Matter also provides standard bridging functionality to allow ZigBee devices and other deployed devices to appear as native Matter devices, ensuring consumers can continue to use these devices as Matter becomes more widespread. ​

For consumers, announcements from Apple, Google, Amazon, and other ecosystem providers indicating native support for Matter with software updates in 2022 and making it easy-to-use are positive signs. Consumers will be able to easily and securely bring in a new Matter device like a light bulb which will seamlessly interact with other Matter devices. New devices can be purchased with confidence that they will interoperate with those existing devices in the home.

Matter also provides new avenues for device makers. They no longer need to support different wireless technologies and protocols depending on the ecosystem they are trying to connect with. Support from all the major brands means device makers can use Matter in their new products and improve their customer satisfaction because of the seamless installation and operation, and reduce product and support costs.

Matter 1.0 standards were released in October and in a launch event in November, 100 media and analysts representing 15 countries learned about the latest certified Matter devices, and heard from member leaders on key topics including energy management, security, and empowering Matter developers. Those attending in person were able to see live Matter product demonstrations from 20 companies.

We will have to wait and see if Matter and Thread are able to unite the whole Smart Home devices and gadgets and help them communicate with everything seamlessly.

Other interesting articles from around the web:

  • Samsung: CSA Releases Matter 1.0 Specification and SDK for Smart Home IoT Standardization (link)
  • Thread Group Opens Access To Third Evolution Of Its Wireless Networking Protocol, Enabling Matter, Improving Seamless Connectivity In Smart Homes And Buildings (link)
  • Omdia: Matter support and Wi-Fi sensing will help operators reignite their growth potential in the smart home (link)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Laser Inter-Satellite Links (LISLs) in a Starlink Constellation

When we first talked about Starlink back in 2019 , we saw in the video that the concept involved laser communication to communicate between the satellites. While the initially launched satellites did not have the laser communication mechanism built in, it looks like they are being added to the newer ones.  A report from Fast Company in late 2021 said: One of the next big upgrades in telecom will involve satellites firing lasers at each other—to beam data, not blow stuff up. The upside of replacing traditional radio-frequency communication with lasers, that encode data as pulses of light, can be much like that of deploying fiber-optic cable for terrestrial broadband: much faster speeds and much lower latency. “Laser links in orbit can reduce long-distance latency by as much as 50%, due to higher speed of light in vacuum & shorter path than undersea fiber,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted in July about the upgrade now beginning for that firm’s Starlink satellite constellation. The
1 comment
Read more

IEEE 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability (UHR), a.k.a. Wi-Fi 8

Back in 2020 we looked at the introductory post of Wi-Fi 7 which was followed up by a more detailed post in Feb 2022. We are now following on with an introductory post on the next generation Wi-Fi.  A new paper on arXiv explores the journey towards IEEE 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability (UHR), the amendment that will form the basis of Wi-Fi 8. Quoting selected items from the paper  below: After providing an overview of the nearly completed Wi-Fi 7 standard, we present new use cases calling for further Wi-Fi evolution. We also outline current standardization, certification, and spectrum allocation activities, sharing updates from the newly formed UHR Study Group. We then introduce the disruptive new features envisioned for Wi-Fi 8 and discuss the associated research challenges. Among those, we focus on access point coordination and demonstrate that it could build upon 802.11be multi-link operation to make Ultra High Reliability a reality in Wi-Fi 8. The IEEE 802.11bn UHR: Whose Study Gro
Post a Comment
Read more

NTT Docomo's Disaster Countermeasures to Keep People Connected

Recently I blogged about Disaster Roaming in 3GPP Release-17. While this will take time to be implemented worldwide, it is already available in Japan, maybe not in the 3GPP standardised way. Similarly, back in 2011, I blogged about Earthquake and Tsunami Warning service (ETWS) from NTT Docomo's Journal, it was two days before the  2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit. Japan is no stranger to earthquakes, typhoons, and other natural disasters, which can have a devastating effect on infrastructure. To ensure that the mobile networks keep functioning, operators work extremely hard to ensure people remain connected one way or another. NTT Docomo has released a video detailing the countermeasures to keep everyone connected in case of emergencies. The following detail is provided with the video: DOCOMO's network is no exception, and our services could get cut off by a base station power outage, disconnected fiber-optic cable, or other malfunctions. DOCOMO established the three pr
Post a Comment
Read more