The Connectivity Standards Alliance has released the Matter 1.0 specification for open standards for IoT. The Alliance has also opened the Matter certification programme, providing member companies with a programme for bringing interoperable products designed to work across brands and platforms to market with greater privacy, security, and simplicity for consumers.

As part of the Matter 1.0 release, authorised 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. Alliance members with devices already deployed and with plans to update their products to support Matter can also now do so, once their products are certified.

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 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 test tools for Alliance members and a global certification programme including eight authorised test labs who will 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 realise the complete vision of Matter.

Matter also provides 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.

This initial release of Matter, running over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Thread, and using Bluetooth Low Energy for device commissioning, will support a variety of common smart home products, including lighting and electrical, HVAC controls, window coverings and shades, safety and security sensors, door locks, media devices including TVs, controllers as both devices and applications, and bridges.

“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,” said 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 organisation and our members; it is a celebration of what is possible.”

“We would not be where we are today without the strength and dedication of the Alliance members who have provided thousands of engineers, intellectual property, software accelerators, security protocols, and the financial resources to accomplish what no single company could ever do on their own,” said Bruno Vulcano, Chair of the Alliance Board and R&D Manager for Legrand Digital Infrastructure. “With members equally distributed throughout the world, Matter is the realisation of a truly global effort that will benefit manufacturers, customers and consumers alike, not just in a single region or continent.”

“Matter and Thread resolve interoperability and connectivity issues in smart homes so manufacturers can focus on other value-adding innovations,” Thread Group president Vividh Siddha said. “Thread creates a self-healing mesh network which grows more responsive and reliable with each added device, and its ultra-lower power architecture extends battery life. Combined, Thread with Matter is a powerful choice for product companies and a great value for consumers.”

“Matter leverages Wi-Fi’s sophisticated network efficiency, global pervasiveness of more than 18 billion devices in use today, and robust standards-based foundation to help deliver the IoT vision,” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO, Wi-Fi Alliance. “Together, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED and Matter bring simple and secure interoperability for a better user experience with a wide range of IoT devices.”