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A growing world of smart home devices

The world of IoT home devices is growing at an exponential rate. In fact, , more than 895 million smart home devices shipped in 2021, and that the average American household has approximately 22 smart devices connected.

Matter is the new global standard

The Matter protocol was created by the , in partnership with world leaders in technology, like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Samsung. The goal of Matter was designed to address two problems with home devices:

• The inability to connect easily, regardless of manufacturer or controller
• Vulnerabilities to cyberattacks and security software issues (including updating and cloud connectivity requirements)

CSA is the body behind Zigbee and Z-Wave, previous connectivity standards for low-powered, low-cost wireless IoT network technology. While these protocols moved the industry toward better interoperability, smart homes still lacked truly seamless inter-device and cross-platform communication with high assurance security.

From the beginning, the CSA and its partners worked to build a new global standard that always works for any Matter-compliant device. Based on Project Connected Home Over IP (CHIP), Matter is an IP-based, open-source IoT security standard allowing manufacturers to create secure, consumer-ready, and universally interoperable smart home IoT.

What does matter promise?

Engineered with proven technologies, Matter helps manufacturers speed time-to-market while delivering best-in-class devices that work with any connector. For both manufacturers and consumers, Matter makes a better product and a better user experience.

Matter for smart home delivers ease-of-use and high assurance in four ways:

Without a standard, IoT smart home devices often roll off the line with attributes that frustrate consumers and make the devices vulnerable. These include:

• The absence of device identity (strong identity includes authenticating to hubs and networks for setup and communication, as well as current security status)
• Unique and specific languages, software, or hardware
• Unique and specific setup processes, often with single-use, individualized apps (not only must devices be compatible with hubs and platforms, but apps must also be compatible, meaning consumers end up with multiple proprietary apps that are not always or often updated, and they must navigate the complicated process of ensuring the apps work with platforms according to their home device needs)
• Interoperability barriers which force consumers to buy devices based on the connector platform of their choice, or run multiple platforms to cover the variety of devices they own
• Support issues, especially for smaller manufacturers and consumers purchasing their devices (including device software updates, app updates, remediation of security issues, and other concerns or optimizations)

Matter solves major manufacturing and consumer pain points

While many manufacturers have already seen the potential benefits of adopting Matter, some companies may worry that meeting Matter compliance creates challenges in manufacturing processes or marketability. In reality, though, Matter helps manufacturers build a better product for consumers while broadening marketability.

By operating on a universal standard, Matter compliance offers several advantages to manufacturers, including:

Simplified setup

Regardless of manufacturer, Matter enables simple setup and connection on any ecosystem. Confusing, proprietary setup processes are replaced by standardized, straightforward connect-and-run steps. Matter promises true plug-and-play ease, meaning consumers are more likely to buy, because they know the device will work without effort.

Interoperability

Universal standards help manufacturers create unique products that integrate seamless interoperability, so devices connect to and run on any Matter ecosystem. For example, a consumer will no longer have to buy a different device because the one they’re considering only works with Google Home and the rest of their devices run on Amazon Alexa.

Improved brand visibility and reputation

When a manufacturer is certified as Matter-compliant, they can put the Matter logo on their product, packaging, and marketing. This serves as a signal to consumers that the device has met the universal standard for interoperability, reliability, simplicity, and security. Consumers can buy, trusting that the device will connect and run with ease and strong privacy and data protection—a trust which is extended to the manufacturer meeting Matter compliance.

Decreased resource allocation

Universal standards simplify development, manufacturing, and update operations by eliminating the need to create and maintain in-house proprietary systems and processes. Once integrated, the Matter protocol acts as the backbone of smart home communication and security, freeing up resources that used to go to ensuring devices would connect to hubs, platforms, and home ecosystems.

Improved innovation

As a global standard where the responsibility for ensuring reliability and making improvements rests with the members of the initiative, Matter helps manufacturers shift attention away from basic compatibility issues, giving teams and companies more time and resources for engineering and building new and improved smart home devices.

Reliability and support

With its widespread adoption, concerns and issues will more quickly identified and remedied, as hundreds and eventually thousands of manufacturers and organizations work with the same Matter protocol every day. Information about solutions and improvements disseminates quickly, and support for devices improves as this information helps individual manufacturers quickly and easily update devices and communicate with consumers.

Higher revenues

With Matter, manufacturers produce a better product—one that is reliable, secure, and easy to use—at a lower cost of time and resources invested. This helps manufacturers more quickly put stronger products on the shelf, even as it broadens markets by allowing consumers to buy any Matter-enabled device, regardless of the connector ecosystem they use at home. All this offers the opportunity for higher revenues.

What is matter compliance and how do you meet the standards of the protocol?

Before enabling Matter on your device, it’s important to understand the foundation of the protocol. There are two components of the Matter standard: security and certification.

Device Attestation Certificates (DAC)

Matter relies on a specific form of PKI certificate, known as a Device Attestation Certificate, or DAC. DACs are a X.509 certificate that ascribe identity and provide integrity and encryption to Matter-enabled devices for node-to-node and device-to-cloud secure communication.

Device Attestation Certificates must be issued on trusted roots, so their integrity meets the highest standard of connected security.

Once issued, certificates can be easily managed using automated processes that power OTA updates, scanning and indexing, renewal, revocation, and reissuance. ����TV maintains Matter compliance for these certificates, all of which are issued on roots trusted around the world to protect web, email, servers, software, and many forms of IoT.