The Connectivity Standards Alliance Eases Matter Makers' Paperwork with Dev Kit, SDK Certification

The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), the organization behind the cross-vendor Matter standard for home automation systems, has announced Matter Compliant Platform Certification — building on the existing Zigbee Compliant Platform program to ease the release of formally-certified Matter-compliant development kits, hardware, and software.

"For the first time within Matter, silicon vendors can certify their development platforms, hardware, and software development kits against the standard," the CSA explains of the program. "This creates a trusted foundation for device makers to build upon. Building on this milestone, Espressif Systems, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors, and Silicon Labs are among the first to achieve Matter Compliant Platform certification, with Realtek Semiconductor indicating plans to bring a certified platform to market. This momentum underscores the commitment and strength of the silicon supply chain in advancing the Matter ecosystem."

Originally known as Project Connected Home over IP, Matter — developed by a consortium formed of Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung, and what was known at the time as the Zigbee Alliance — Matter delivers a fix for what was an increasingly fragmented the smart home connectivity market. Any Matter device can be connected to any Matter network and controlled with any Matter-compliant software — regardless of the manufacturer of the device, hub, or app.

This, of course, requires that all devices implement the standard correctly, which is why Matter offers certification: if a smart bulb is Matter certified, then you know it'll work with your existing Matter setup regardless of who made it. Today's announcement extends the CSA's certification offering beyond finished products, though, offering a new certification targeting development boards, systems-on-chips, and software development kits — and ensuring that if you use them to build a Matter-compliant device you can inherit the same certification, simplifying the process of bringing a design to market.

"The certification program applies to specific combinations of software and hardware provided by Matter Compliant Platform vendors," the CSA explains. "Certification ensures that core Matter functions, such as device setup, Bluetooth LE [Low Energy] discovery, Thread, or Wi-Fi integration, encryption, and secure messaging, are thoroughly tested and validated. By inheriting these components, device makers reduce their development burden and accelerate certification of their end products."

More information is available on the CSA website.