The CHIP (Connected Home over IP) project group is working on a manufacturer-independent smart home standard that ensures that devices from different manufacturers can interact without any problems. Industry giants such as Google, Apple and Amazon belong to it, along with around 170 other companies. Now the project is taking shape.
The jointly developed connection protocol should be called “Matter”, as reported by the Zigbee Alliance, which has also been renamed “Connectivity Standards Alliance”. Companies such as Signify (Philips Hue), Samsung, Ikea and Huawei are also part of the project group and want to integrate the new wireless standard in the future so that hardware and software from different manufacturers are compatible with one another.
IP-based, license-free standard
The confusion is still not off the table, because Matter does not use a single radio standard, so it does not stand for a single radio protocol, but is IP-based. With support for Bluetooth Low Energy, WLAN, Ethernet and Thread, several transmission standards are supported. Google and Apple are already installing Thread in their new devices, although Google is not yet using Thread, but wants to activate the function when the standard is finalized. The smart home standard should be able to be used license-free.
Philips Hue simply updates the bridge
The first devices that support Matter are expected in the third or fourth quarter of this year, and Matter should be officially available in the fourth quarter. Developers will get access in the second quarter. At Matter's announcement, Signify, which includes smart home brands Philips Hue and WiZ, announced that it would support the new standard in the future. The Philips Hue Bridge is automatically expanded to include the Matter protocol, which means that all connected Philips Hue products will be compatible with the new, cross-industry, uniform standard.
WiZ and Yale bring new products
The second smart home brand von Signify, WiZ, has announced that it intends to bring new Matter-enabled products onto the market as early as September this year. Yale, which sells smart home devices with the Linus Smart Lock (test) and WiFi cameras, has also announced that it will support Matter. Yale will develop new Smart Locks for Matter that support the standard. It is not yet known whether old devices can also receive an update.