Matter Protocol Launch Delayed Until Fall as CSA Adds 9th Test Event

The Matter connectivity protocol, expected to launch mid-year (see 2112280033), has been delayed again, this time until fall, blogged the Connectivity Standards Alliance Thursday. The launch was originally slated for 2020 when it was the Connected Home over IP project, led by the Zigbee Alliance. Since then, the Zigbee Alliance rebranded as CSA, and Project CHIP morphed into Matter.

CSA says Matter derives from a "shared belief that smart home devices should be secure, reliable, and seamless to use." Building on IP, Matter will "enable communication across smart home devices, mobile app, and cloud services, and define a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification."

CSA added a ninth Matter test event for spring after returning from CES, where it said members discussed what was left to deliver to create “a robust specification and SDK” and a “vibrant ecosystem of devices.” The alliance decided to extend testing and validation events “to further improve code quality and stability and accommodate the breadth of Matter devices and platforms.”

CSA is currently doing its eighth test event and will complete the software development kit as planned, it said. The test harness and tools will be “feature complete,” with version 0.9 of the Matter specification made available to all alliance members mid-year, it said. Developers' focus now is on code quality, stability and clean-up of access control functions, device interaction functions, and device attestation and security for the Distributed Compliance Ledger and Public Key Infrastructure, it said.

The alliance extended efforts to allow the build and verification of more than 16 development platforms so Matter will launch “with a healthy supply chain of compatible platforms to support new Matter devices, apps, and ecosystems,” it said. The ninth test event this spring will cover operating systems and chipsets for the 16-plus platforms, it said.

A Matter Specification Validation Event (SVE) planned for summer is expected to include more than 130 devices with 15 device and sensor types from over 50 member companies. SVEs produce “formal compliance results and are crucial to certification of these first products," CSA said, saying the event will validate the final spec and prepare test labs for the start of the formal certification program. Given the importance of the SVE, “we will devote the time and resources needed to do it right,” it said.

The formal certification program will be open to all companies wanting to certify Matter devices, said CSA, which expects members to announce launch plans, after the fall standard release, for new products and devices supporting Matter software upgrades. “The biggest brands in the world continue to invest countless hours in Matter,” CSA said, giving the member list at over 240. Matter is “in the home stretch,” with remaining work coming down to “quality, stability, and validation."