What is the "Matter"?

In 2019, Apple, Google, Amazon, and other giants jointly established an organization called "Connected Home Over IP" (CHIP for short) to develop and formulate a set of smart home connection standards based on IP protocol, simplifying the connection between devices and devices. Transferring information between them while strengthening the protection of private security.

In May 2021, CHIP released Matter, a new connection standard. So far, this "universal language" jointly promoted by Apple, Google, Amazon, etc., has become a "thing" that smart homes and the entire Internet of Things industry look forward to.

The interconnection and interoperability under the Matter standard mean that equipment manufacturers can "attach" their terminal products to the Apple Home APP for control without tedious certification and compatible development. They can also ensure stable operation under the Matter standard security mechanism. As far as Apple is concerned, the wealthy functions of those devices that support the Matter protocol can be used for it, expanding the product matrix of the HomeKit ecosystem without much effort.

As a highly standardized, generalized, and easy-to-use interconnection standard, Matter can help ecosystem service providers, device manufacturers, and end users to eliminate the dilemma of IoT fragmentation and avoid homogeneous competition at the same time. On the other hand, it will also promote the differentiation of the whole house intelligent industry to complete the competition dimension, from the pursuit of the breadth of the scene to the "to the broadest and the most subtle," that is, to actively serve, integrate into the new development pattern, and also promote innovation Go to the "specialization" in their respective advantageous fields and work hard.

Currently, the Matter standard's products are mainly divided into two categories. One is the entrance responsible for interaction and device control, which can be called controller, such as mobile APP, speakers, central control screen, etc.; the other is terminal products and sub-devices. It can be called a device, such as switches, lights, curtains, home appliances, etc.

Under the interconnection framework formulated by Matter, the high compatibility of the platform and the ease of use of the device maximize the functional value of smart products, thereby promoting the competitiveness of enterprises from essential functions to more vertical and deeper features, such as The program source, content support, voice interaction capability of speakers, interactive methods for convenient device control, abstract integration of application scenarios, etc.