The Internet of Things (IoT) is fundamentally changing the way we interact with devices and the world around us. Today, modern homes are equipped with a variety of intelligent, connected devices, from thermostats to security systems.

However, the technology is still in development, leaving the industry with several unresolved challenges. Matter, a connectivity standard for the IoT, enables new IoT use cases that would otherwise be impossible. This makes smart homes more sustainable and environmentally friendly than ever before.

This article explores the challenges facing advanced smart homes, Matter's role, and how it's enabling more energy-efficient and sustainable smart homes.

■ Challenges of Smart Homes

The lack of interoperability between devices is one of the key challenges facing IoT-enabled smart homes.

A modern smart home consists of a variety of intelligent devices, such as light bulbs, control panels, and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems, each of which may come from different manufacturers. For example, a smart home might include Amazon Alexa-enabled light bulbs, a Google Nest thermostat, a Ring doorbell camera, and a security system.

The problem is that these devices weren't designed to be interoperable. Each device was custom-built by a different manufacturer. Previously, if consumers wanted a set of devices to communicate with each other, they had to purchase them all from a single manufacturer.

But this is far from an ideal solution, as no single manufacturer can provide all the smart devices consumers want. Moreover, this limits consumer choice.

In light of the IoT's goal of connecting devices to build an ecosystem, the inability of different devices from different manufacturers to communicate with each other has become a major obstacle.

■ Introduction to Matter

To overcome these challenges, all the major players in the industry, including Amazon, Google, and Samsung, joined forces to develop Matter.

Matter is a standard established by the Connectivity Standards Alliance, designed to enable interoperability between different smart home devices. Matter aims to standardize communication between IoT devices, enabling devices from any manufacturer to communicate effectively with devices from any other manufacturer.

In addition to enabling connectivity between different devices, another key feature of Matter is that it was developed with security in mind. Specifically, the Matter standard incorporates security measures such as verified device identification/authentication, secure communication, and access control to protect the smart home ecosystem from threats such as hackers.

Thanks to Matter, any Matter-compatible device can safely and securely interoperate with any other Matter-compatible device. This allows consumers to build an IoT ecosystem using any device they choose, confident that this ecosystem will unite them in a consistent and standardized manner.

■ Sustainable Smart Home

Introducing Matter to enable interoperability between IoT devices in the smart home opens up exciting use cases. One such use case is making smart homes more sustainable and energy efficient.

A Matter-enabled smart home allows devices to share data with each other and determine actions based on the collected data. From an energy-efficient perspective, smart home devices can minimize energy consumption by understanding occupants' behavior and patterns.

For example, when you leave home for work in the morning, the smart door lock detects that you've left and the front door is locked. Simultaneously, a connected motion sensor inside the home detects no movement. By sharing information from these two devices, the smart home control panel can accurately predict when someone is leaving for work that day. This allows it to maximize energy efficiency accordingly.

When your smart home detects that no one is home, it can lower the temperature of your heating system, turn off connected light bulbs, and lower the temperature of your connected water heater to save energy.

Matter-based smart homes can dynamically maximize energy savings even when people are home. Energy efficiency is a collaborative effort between devices, individuals, and utilities. Utilities are developing policies that reward customers who use generated power efficiently and positively impact their carbon footprint.

For example, a control panel could make subtle adjustments, such as raising or lowering blinds, to maintain a room temperature without necessarily using a heating system. Through these and similar measures, Matter-enabled smart homes can significantly reduce energy use and increase sustainability.

Matter, Maximizing Smart Home Energy Efficiency

The IoT is transforming how we live and interact with devices within our homes. The introduction of Matter opens the door to maximizing energy efficiency in smart homes without human intervention. Ultimately, Matter enables the design of smart homes that realize a more convenient and sustainable future.

※ author
Courtesy of Mouser Electronics


Written by Tom Klein
Tom Klein is a Senior Director of IoT Business Development at DigiCert. He has over 40 years of experience in IT, specializing in IoT security. He has extensive experience working at IBM, Microsoft, AWS, and leading security companies.