For a long time, the smart home industry has always faced a core contradiction: devices are getting smarter, but the home experience has not become “simple”.
Although TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, sweeping robots, door locks and various sensors all have networking capabilities, due to the separation of communication protocols, ecosystems and platform standards, the actual user experience is still stuck in the “single product intelligence” stage, and it is difficult to achieve true collaboration between devices.
The emergence of the Matter protocol has redefined the connection logic of the smart home industry.
The greatest value of the Matter protocol is that it builds a unified application layer framework based on IP and runs uniformly on the IPv6 network layer.
At the same time, IPv6 networks are compatible with different underlying communication technologies such as Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Thread.
This means that no matter what underlying connection method the device adopts, as long as it complies with Matter standards, interconnection and interoperability can be achieved within a unified framework.
In the Matter system, high-bandwidth devices such as TVs, video doorbells, and cameras can be connected to the home network through Wi-Fi; while low-power devices such as door locks, sensors, and thermostats can achieve long-term stable operation through the Thread network.
The two networks are highly complementary and form an efficient and parallel network collaboration architecture.
Wi-Fi is one of the most mature and popular wireless connection methods in current smart homes.
For devices such as TVs, video doorbells, and cameras that need to be continuously connected to the Internet and transmit large amounts of data, Wi-Fi has the advantages of high bandwidth, mature network infrastructure, and strong compatibility, and can meet the data communication needs in complex scenarios.
Under the Matter framework, Wi-Fi devices can directly access the home IP network and achieve unified control and scene linkage with other Matter devices.
For example, when a Wi-Fi smart camera detects abnormal movement, it can simultaneously push a reminder to the household owner’s mobile phone and link other smart devices to keep watch.
Thread is a wireless Mesh network standard designed specifically for IoT scenarios and is suitable for building low-power device networks.
For devices such as smart door locks, sensors, and thermostats, Thread has the advantages of ultra-low power consumption, strong self-organizing network capabilities, and high communication stability, and can meet the communication needs of long-term online devices, low-latency response, and battery-powered scenarios.
Under the Matter framework, Thread devices can achieve localized and rapid linkage through the Mesh network and work together with other Matter devices.
For example, when the Thread sensor detects that the user returns home, it can link the smart lighting system to automatically turn on, and simultaneously trigger the air conditioner to enter the preset mode, thereby achieving a more natural and efficient whole-house smart experience.
With the accelerated development of the Matter ecosystem, the industry has generally recognized its important value as a unified interconnection infrastructure for smart homes.
However, for manufacturers, developing Matter equipment from scratch still needs to face challenges such as radio frequency design, multi-protocol development and complex certification processes. It will also drive up research and development costs and lengthen the product launch cycle.
Therefore, the integrated and modular Matter solution has become an efficient choice for enterprises to quickly deploy the Matter ecosystem.
Take the Matter module solution launched by Huapu Micro as an example. It has covered two major routes, Matter over Thread and Matter over Wi-Fi, and can provide one-stop software and hardware solutions to truly help customers implement Matter products.
Among them, HM-MT2401 is a Matter over Thread wireless communication module based on the 2.4GHz frequency band.
It uses the high-performance, highly integrated radio frequency processing chip EFR32MG24, embedded with a 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M33 core, and supports wireless communication technologies such as Matter, Thread, and BLE. It can be used for low-power terminal equipment such as door locks, sensors, smart switches, and thermostats, helping traditional products to be quickly upgraded to smart home devices that meet Matter standards.
HM-MT7201 is a Matter over Wi-Fi wireless communication module based on the 2.4 GHz frequency band.
It is a highly integrated single-chip Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) solution designed for compact size applications.
It integrates a powerful 32-bit MCU and a comprehensive set of peripheral interfaces, and also provides high integration and low power consumption in a very small package.
For home appliances such as TVs and cameras that require high-bandwidth communication capabilities, this type of Matter over Wi-Fi solution can more efficiently achieve device networking and scene linkage.
The modular Matter solution can not only lower the threshold for Matter development, but also help manufacturers complete intelligent upgrades at lower costs and shorter cycles (increasing R&D speed by up to 70%).
Developers only need to connect the Matter module to the original main control through simple interfaces such as serial ports, without the need to reconstruct product logic.
