The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) on Tuesday announced a new program designed to simplify and streamline Matter device development.
The program, called Matter Compliant Platform Certification, allows chip vendors to certify their entire development kits. The goal (as stated in a CSA press release sent to Matter Alpha) is to build a “trusted foundation for device makers to build upon.”
This is another step aiming to boost Matter certification, in addition to the Wi-Fi for Matter Certification, and FastTrack programs.
A shift in the development dynamic
This program represents a subtle but important shift for all parties in the Matter ecosystem. Typically, device makers and solution providers rely heavily on development kits from chip vendors. A Software Development Kit (SDK) – for instance, Simplicity Studio from Silicon Labs – provides a full suite of tools for building features on top of the hardware.
The new program allows these platforms (a specific combination of hardware and SDK) to be tested and certified for essential features, including device setup, Bluetooth LE discovery, Thread or Wi-Fi integration, encryption, and secure messaging.
"Platform certification primarily includes the certification of foundational and mandatory features and clusters, so device manufacturers do not need to conduct tests on these aspects and can instead inherit the certification from the chip manufacturers if there would be no changes," Sky Liu, Senior Manager, APJ Ecosystem at Silicon Labs, told us (based on translation).
"However, when it comes to testing the functionality of a device, application layer, this is the responsibility of the device manufacturers," he added.
For example, a smart door lock may have various features such as scenario control, and each manufacturer may offer different functionalities. Therefore, testing is conducted based on the specific features for certification. On the other hand, standard functions and processes like device commissioning and status reporting can inherit the tested and certified stack from the chipmakers.
Device manufacturers can, in the future, declare an intention to test only the parts that have changed with an upgrade. Liu estimated that Matter Compliant Platform Certification can significantly reduce the amount of testing work required.
This approach helps expedite the certification process, reduce the workload of testing labs, and lower testing costs, as Liu summarized, chip companies will actively support and expedite platform certification.
A Matter innovation booster
“Most smaller device manufacturers primarily earn revenue through production fees and often focus on basic device types like lights or switches,” said Finn Chen, CEO of Longan Link Tech, a company specializing in Matter consulting and R&D services.
He believes the new program can contribute to significant cost savings by allowing them to use a single certified hardware module across multiple product categories.
Ultimately, the new program should be a booster for smaller Matter device makers, allowing them to worry less about the underlying spec and instead allocate more resources to product design. This could lead to more innovative Matter-enabled devices from startups and smaller brands, as well as faster product release cycles from larger companies.
The program also makes Matter more future-proof, as it can be used in conjunction with the Rapid Recertification and Matter FastTrack programs, which accelerate certification for firmware updates.
However, a source familiar with this matter showed their concern on the new program as the FastTrack Recertification program (FRP) announced last year “neither achieved cost savings nor improved efficiency” in the end.
The CSA announced that “Espressif Systems, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors, and Silicon Labs are among the first to achieve Matter Compliant Platform certification,” along with Realtek Semiconductor. This group covers most of the mainstream Matter solutions on the market today. However, notable chipmakers like Qorvo (whose Thread chips are in Eero devices) and Telink Semiconductor (found in some Ikea Matter devices) are missing from the first batch.
(Source: CSA, Image Source: CSA)
