According to news on June 23, Silicon Microelectronics, an innovator in low-power wireless solutions, and Signify, a global leader in the lighting industry, announced a new cooperation to apply Concurrent Multi-Protocol (CMP) communication technology to selected Philips Hue smart light bulbs, enabling a single device to support both Zigbee and Matter over Thread protocols, breaking the past industry limitations of smart home devices needing to choose between different communication protocols.
After the implementation of this cooperation, Philips Hue users can not only enjoy the simple operation and cross-platform interoperability brought by the Matter protocol, but also continue to use the unique advanced functions, immersive experience and deep ecological integration capabilities of the Hue platform, taking into account the needs of new and old smart home ecosystems.
As the smart home market continues to develop, smart devices in consumers’ homes often belong to different platforms. Whether it is Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings or Philips Hue’s own ecosystem, the demand for cross-platform collaboration continues to increase.
This upgraded new generation of Hue smart bulbs uses Xinke Technology’s MG26 and SiMG301 wireless systems on a chip (SoC), which brings greater flexibility to users without lowering Philips Hue’s high-end lighting experience standards.
George, CTO of Philips Hue, a subsidiary of Signify
Yianni said: “Philips Hue has always been committed to changing the way users use home lighting, from atmosphere creation, convenient control to entertainment scene linkage. Excellent lighting experience and simple operation procedures are our core pursuits. Matter is an important development milestone in the smart home industry, which has greatly lowered the threshold for setting up and using Internet-connected devices. Cooperation with Xinke Technology allows us to rely on the Matter standard to provide users with the required cross-ecological interoperability, while fully retaining the special functions, entertainment experience and innovation capabilities of the Hue ecosystem.”
It is understood that Philips Hue’s existing ecosystem has formed a rich and reliable product matrix. Dynamic scenes, entertainment synchronization, automated control, immersive lighting and other functions realized based on Zigbee technology are its core differentiation advantages.
The core value of the Matter protocol is to simplify smart home connection logic so that devices of different brands and platforms can operate together without any barriers.
After upgrading the concurrent multi-protocol technology, consumers can either directly connect the new Hue bulbs to the mainstream smart home ecosystem for daily control, or unlock all advanced lighting functions within Hue’s own ecosystem, without giving up some of their usage needs to adapt to one ecosystem.
Silicon Technology’s concurrent multi-protocol technology is the core support of this upgrade. It enables Zigbee and Matter over Thread protocols to run simultaneously on the same wireless chip, eliminating the need for manufacturers and users to choose between different protocols. The device can be connected to multiple ecosystems at the same time, and also opens up the connection channel between the existing deployed smart home infrastructure and the future Matter interoperability environment.
Ross Sabolcik, senior vice president of the product line of Xinke Technology, said: “The future of smart homes has never been about letting users choose between different ecosystems, but allowing users to freely match their preferred products and platforms. Signify has always been an industry leader in smart lighting innovation and the popularization of Matter standards. This cooperation combines Philips Hue’s leading lighting experience with Xinke Technology’s concurrent multi-protocol technology to jointly create a simpler, more flexible and more intuitive smart home experience for users.”
This cooperation is also an extension of the long-term collaborative relationship between the two parties, reflecting the two companies’ shared vision of promoting the implementation of open standards in the smart home industry, improving cross-device interoperability, and adhering to user-oriented innovation.
Currently, selected Philips Hue smart bulbs equipped with Xinke Technology’s MG26 and SiMG301 wireless SoCs have been launched one after another. At this stage, the Zigbee or Thread protocol needs to be manually selected during initial product setup. A software update will be pushed later this year to unlock the dual-protocol concurrent operation function, further simplifying the user process.
