1. Introduction
Matter is a new smart home communication standard that allows different devices to work together easily, regardless of the manufacturer. It's designed to simplify the smart home experience and maintaining security and privacy.
One of the favors of Matter is that it's an open standard, which means that any device manufacturer can use it. Matter is an initiative of the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), and developed through collaboration amongst all the leaders of the IoT industry.
Matter is an application protocol running on top of several transport layers (Wifi / Ethernet / Thread). Matter relies on IPv6.
Matter SW is provided as open source by CSA and is available under github.
2. Device Roles in Matter Network
Smart homes utilize Wi-Fi or Thread technologies to operate connected devices. Each device has a distinct role within the Matter network.
| Matter Nettwork |
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- End devices are connected objects serving a final application like thermostats, light bulbs, door locks, and other smart home devices that can be controlled through a smart home platform. .
- Bridges are devices that enable communication between devices that use different communication protocols. For example, a bridge can enable a device that uses Wi-Fi to communicate with a device that uses Zigbee.
- Controllers are devices such as smartphones or tablets used to commission an end device into a Matter network through Bluetooth® Low Energy. Controllers are devices that serve as the central hub for the smart home network.
- Border Router is a device that acts as a gateway between a Thread network and other IPV6-based networks, such as the internet or other local networks. The border router plays a crucial role in Matter ecosystem.
3. Matter Stack overview
Matter protocol is designed to be compatible with existing IP-based networks, making it easier for manufacturers to adopt and integrate into their products.
Matter stack is composed by the following layers:
- Application layer: This layer includes the application-specific functionality and user interfaces that are built on top of the Matter protocol. It includes the presentation and the session layers.
- Transport layer: This layer includes the transport protocols used to transmit data over the network, such as TCP and UDP. BTP is provided as a transport protocol for commissioning. TCP and UDP are provided as transport protocols for operational messaging.
- Network layer: This layer includes the IPv6 network layer, which provides end-to-end connectivity for devices and services on the network.
- Link layer: This layer includes the data link layer, which provide the transmission of data frames over the Physical layer.
The link and physical layers can vary depending on the type of network being used, such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, 802.15.4, or Thread.
| Matter Stack Overview |
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4. STM32WB Matter
The STM32WB is ideal for Matter networks because it can run concurrently Thread and Bluetooth® Low Energy used for device commissioning. It features 1 Mbyte of flash memory and 256 Kbytes of RAM to support application layer and connectivity stacks as well as Quad-SPI peripherals to extend the memory size externally. It allows over-the-air firmware updates, regardless of the application and the connectivity stack.
The STM32WB MCU is available on the NUCLEO-WB55RG[1] and the STM32WB5MM-DK[2] discovery board with sensors, external flash memory, a screen, and touch sensors.
| Product Types |
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We propose several samples showing the usage of Matter :
- Matter gateway MP1 Border Router [3]:
OpenThread Border Router(OTBR) is composed of a Radio Co Processor(RCP) STM32WB55 and an STM32MP157F-DK2, which are connected through a serial connection using an FTDI cable.
- Matter End Device [4]:
This package shows several matter end device sample applications. Those examples are based on Matter and behave as a Matter accessory communicating over a 802.15.4 Thread network.
- Matter Bridge [5]:
Matter bridge sample provides an example of Matter bridge with NUCLEO-H753ZI-Q board with Ethernet connectivity. Basically, It adds the non-matter device as endpoints on a bridge who act as Matter device.
5. Acronyms and definitions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| BTP | Bluetooth Transport Protocol |
| TCP | Transmission Control Protocol |
| UDP | User Datagram Protocol |