Supported Features
Key Features Supported by Matter
The Matter protocol is designed to provide fast, reliable, and secure connectivity for smart home and IoT devices. Below is an overview of some of the key features supported by Matter:
Connectivity and Interoperability
Matter aims to achieve seamless connectivity and operation between devices, regardless of the device manufacturer or platform. By using a standardized protocol, it ensures that devices from different brands and categories can communicate and interoperate easily. This feature addresses the fragmentation issues within the smart home ecosystem.
Security and Privacy
Security and privacy are highly prioritized in the Matter protocol, featuring several key measures:
Encrypted Communication: All communication between Matter devices is end-to-end encrypted, ensuring that data is not intercepted or tampered with during transmission.
Device Authentication: Each Matter device must undergo a stringent authentication process before registering on the network and communicating, preventing unauthorized devices from joining the network.
User Privacy Protection: The Matter protocol employs several privacy protection mechanisms (e.g., frequent device identifier changes) to ensure that personal information and user behaviors are not misused or tracked. This is similar to Bluetooth’s Resolvable Private Address (RPA), which frequently changes the device’s unique identifier in the network to prevent long-term tracking.
Routing and Network Management
Matter supports efficient network routing and management to ensure stable operation even in large-scale deployments. Key features include:
Mesh Network: Utilizing a mesh network topology, Matter devices can automatically organize, configure, and reconfigure the network, resulting in greater coverage and reliability.
Border Router: Supports multiple border routers to bridge the Matter network with other network types (e.g., Wi-Fi, Ethernet), ensuring smooth cross-network communication.
Low Power Operation
Matter focuses on energy management and efficiency to enhance the battery life of powered devices. Key characteristics include:
Energy-Efficient Communication Protocol: The Matter protocol incorporates several energy-saving technologies to reduce device power consumption.
Sleep Cycles: Devices can enter low-power sleep modes as needed while maintaining the ability to respond to events.
Extensibility and Flexibility
Matter offers a highly flexible and extensible architecture that can adapt to future technological developments and evolving requirements.
Modular Design: Matter supports a modular design, allowing the addition or removal of specific functional modules based on needs, suitable for different application scenarios.
Compatibility with Existing Standards: The Matter protocol is compatible with various existing communication standards and technologies like Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Thread, and Bluetooth, facilitating integration with existing devices.
Device Discovery and Configuration
The Matter protocol simplifies the process of discovering and configuring new devices, providing a more user-friendly experience.
Rapid Pairing: Supports simple scan-and-tap operations to quickly add new devices to the network.
Automatic Configuration: Offers automatic device recognition and configuration, eliminating the need for users to manually set numerous parameters.
These features make Matter an ideal connectivity standard for smart home and IoT devices, providing higher interoperability, reliability, and security for a better user experience.
Below is a table summarizing the Matter features supported by the RTL87x2G SDK:
Feature Name |
Supported |
|---|---|
Connectivity and Interoperability |
Yes |
Security and Privacy |
Yes |
Routing and Network Management |
Yes |
Low Power Operation |
Yes |
Extensibility and Flexibility |
Yes |
Device Discovery and Configuration |
Yes |
Thread Support |
Yes |
Border Router Support |
Yes |
Modular Design |
Yes |
Bluetooth Connectivity |
Yes |
Wi-Fi Connectivity |
No |
Energy Efficiency Management |
Yes |
Over-the-Air (OTA) Updates |
Yes |
Development Tools and Example Code |
Yes |
Supported Clusters
The Matter protocol defines device functionality through Clusters. These Clusters contain different groups of functions and can be divided into Client (client-side) and Server (server-side) roles to facilitate communication and interoperability between devices.
Below is a table of commonly used Matter Clusters and their Client and Server roles:
Cluster |
Client Support |
Server Support |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Basic |
Yes |
Yes |
Provides basic device information such as vendor name, product name, and product version. |
Groups |
Yes |
Yes |
Manages device groups, allowing devices to be assigned to one or more groups and send commands to groups. |
On/Off |
Yes |
Yes |
Controls the on/off state of devices. |
Level Control |
Yes |
Yes |
Controls the brightness or output level of devices, applicable to dimmable lights and similar devices. |
Color Control |
Yes |
Yes |
Controls the color parameters of devices, including hue, saturation, and brightness. |
Temperature Measurement |
Yes |
Yes |
Provides temperature measurements of devices or the environment. |
Pressure Measurement |
Yes |
Yes |
Provides pressure measurements of devices or the environment. |
Flow Measurement |
Yes |
Yes |
Provides flow measurements of devices or the environment. |
Relative Humidity Measurement |
Yes |
Yes |
Provides relative humidity measurements of devices or the environment. |
Illuminance Measurement |
Yes |
Yes |
Provides illuminance measurements of devices or the environment. |
Occupancy Sensing |
Yes |
Yes |
Detects occupancy status of devices or the environment, such as motion detection. |
Timer |
Yes |
Yes |
Provides current time information to support other time-dependent functions. |
Thermostat |
Yes |
Yes |
Controls and reports the temperature setting and regulation status of devices. |
Door Lock |
Yes |
Yes |
Controls and reports the state of door locks, including locking and unlocking. |
Window Covering |
Yes |
Yes |
Controls and reports the state of window coverings like curtains and blinds. |
OTA Software Update Provider |
Yes |
Yes |
Provides the OTA software update functionality for devices. |
OTA Software Update Requestor |
Yes |
Yes |
Requests OTA software updates. |
These Client and Server roles in Clusters define how smart home devices send and receive different types of control commands and status information, enabling interoperability among devices from different brands on the same network.
The official documentation lists the types of application devices supported by Matter in the device library specification, and the corresponding supported application clusters are defined in the application cluster library. These two documents, as well as the Matter specification documents, can be found on the CSA members’ website: Specification Download Request.