Matter (standard)

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 manufacturer 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

Background
In December 2019, Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung SmartThings and the Zigbee Alliance announced the collaboration and formation of the working group of Project Connected Home over IP. The goal of the project is to simplify development for smart home product brands and manufacturers while increasing the compatibility of the products for consumers.

The standard operates on Internet Protocol (IP) and functions via one or more controllers that connect and manage devices within your local network, eliminating the need for multiple proprietary hubs. Matter-certified products are engineered to operate locally and do not depend on an internet connection for their core functions. Leveraging IPv6 addressing, the standard facilitates seamless communication with cloud services. Its goal is to facilitate interoperability among smart home devices, mobile apps, and cloud services, employing a specific suite of IP-based networking technologies such as mDNS and IPv6. By adhering to a network design that operates at the Application Layer of the OSI 7 layer model, Matter differs from protocols like Zigbee or Z-Wave and theoretically can function on any IPv6-enabled network. Presently, official support is limited to Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and the wireless mesh network Thread.

Versions
Updates to the standard are planned to occur biannually.
 * Version 1.0 of the specification was published on 4 October 2022. It introduced support for lighting products (such as mains power plugs, electric lights and switches), door locks, thermostats and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning controllers, blinds and shades, home security sensors (such as door, window and motion sensors), and televisions and streaming video players.
 * Version 1.1 of the specification was published on 18 May 2023. Although a new version, it did not include any new categories, only bug fixes and enhancements to existing SDK, API and devices.
 * Version 1.2 of the specification was published on 23 October 2023. This version added nine new device types (refrigerators, portable air conditioners, dishwashers, laundry washers, robotic vacuum cleaners, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, air quality sensors, air purifiers, and fans). It also provides revisions and additions to existing categories, improvements to the specification and SDK, and certification and testing tools.
 * Version 1.3 of the specification was published on 8 May 2024. This version added support for water and energy management devices as well as appliance support for microwave ovens, ovens, cooktops, extractor hoods, laundry dryers, and Matter-casting media players. Scenes and command-batching were also added.

For future versions, the working group has been working on support for ambient motion and presence sensing, environmental sensing and controls, closure sensors, energy management, Wi-Fi access points, cameras, and major appliances.

Supported devices
CSA maintains the official list of Matter-certified products, and restricts use of the Matter logo to certified devices. Matter product certification is also stored on the CSA's Distributed Compliance Ledger (DCL), which publishes attestation information about certified devices.

Supported ecosystems and hubs
* denotes Thread support included

Benefits
The primary goal of Matter is to improve interoperability for the current smart home ecosystem. CSA and its members aim for the Matter logo to become ubiquitous and for consumers to instantly recognise it as a smart home device that will "just work".

There are numerous other benefits that Matter brings when compared to the current smart home ecosystem:


 * Local control
 * Multi-admin control
 * More competition among smart home manufacturers
 * Lower technical overhead for IoT device developers