Simplifying Smart Homes: Learn How Matter, Thread and Wi-Fi are Revolutionizing IoT Connectivity

Consumers choose smart devices to enhance home security, safety, convenience, energy saving and efficient health and safety. Although individual features and functions may meet their needs, many struggle with interoperability across their network. As the number of devices increases, managing multiple interfaces through various technology standards like Thread, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® often becomes frustrating.

Matter addresses this fragmentation challenge in smart homes with its industry-standard framework, promoting seamless interconnectivity, reliability and security. It independently supports Wi-Fi, Thread and Ethernet, allowing developers, device manufacturers and consumers to concentrate on application and use cases rather than technology or standard. This ensures a more interoperable and efficient smart home environment.

Figure 1: Early stages of the IoT ecosystem (left) and the new Matter-enabled ecosystem (right).

Matter provides IoT manufacturers and platform vendors, such as Amazon, Google, Apple and the smart home device market, with the necessary interoperability and control via a single interface. The main drivers that Matter brings forth are shown in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: The main drivers around Matter.

Matter simplifies the smart device ecosystem by standardizing development and supporting product certification. This allows retailers to address consumer concerns about wireless ecosystems and interconnectivity.

So, where does the wireless standard Thread fit within this Matter story? Thread is based on the IEEE 801.15.4 standard and uses Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) as a networking protocol. Thread offers several benefits such as powerful encryption, low latency and low power consumption and can accommodate several hundred devices in a single network.

This wireless technology is built specifically for smart home Matter devices, helping to extend the overall strength, capacity, and reach of Matter-enabled devices. Later in this article, we will explore Thread more, but for now, let’s provide a quick review of Matter.

Matter and Its Software Architecture Stack

As shown in Figure 3 below, Matter utilizes a layered architecture with a physical layer at the base and an application layer at the top, incorporating several IP technologies, including transmission control protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP)—common protocols used for web browsing. At its core, Matter uses IPv6, an internet layer protocol that enables end-to-end data transmission across various networks, found in everyday devices like laptops and smartphones.

Figure 3: Matter layered architecture.

This framework allows Matter to establish a secure application layer over IPv6-based transport protocols, facilitating message routing. Unlike current systems like Bluetooth or Zigbee, using IP technology enables direct communication across all network devices—for example, your laptop can interact with an IP-enabled light bulb using Wi-Fi without needing cloud-based translation or gateway interpretation.

Moreover, Matter supports multiple physical layers for connectivity, including Ethernet and Wi-Fi. It also introduces the option of using Matter over Thread. This Thread-enabled standard enhances latency and power efficiency for battery-operated devices. Let’s explore how Thread provides the catalyst needed for a more efficient and reliable home network.

Thread's Technology Superiority

Thread is a wireless mesh network standard designed for low-power IoT devices, including battery-powered devices. Its low power consumption significantly prolongs battery life, making it ideal for end devices like thermostats, locks and home sensors that operate using sleep modes.

Thread is designed to make IoT devices work faster, have fewer points of failure, use less power and communicate with each other more seamlessly. Thread focuses on devices that need to conserve battery by sleeping for extended periods, briefly waking to send data before returning to sleep.

Overall, Thread is a low-power, fast communication standard that creates a mesh. This allows it to create redundancies in the network and communicate faster than Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy.

Thread only requires one border router in the network, and it can be built into any Wi-Fi network device, like a lightbulb, thermostat, etc. However, the more border routers in the network, the more efficient and reliable the network will be. Thread border routers communicate across these varied physical layers, and having more Thread-enabled devices and border routers, as illustrated in Figure 4 below, enhances the efficiency and reliability of the network.

Figure 4: Matter's IoT smart home ecosystem.

Thread creates a mesh network so light bulbs, thermostats, light switches, smart blinds, sensors and more can talk to each other free of the constraint of having to go all the way back to a Wi-Fi or network hub or bridge. A Thread network does not require a hub because if a device fails in the network, the data is simply relayed to the next device (i.e., a light bulb or sensor).

Thread's Interoperability and Futureproofing

The ultimate smart home will have a universally compatible ecosystem of devices that communicate no matter who the manufacturer is. This is the goal of Matter. To achieve this, Matter must incorporate a technological standard that ensures future-proofing. Investing in a technology like Thread guarantees this, as it is designed to evolve over time with updates like Thread 1.4.0, which prepares the home for future advancements in IoT. It is an IP-based open technology that is not tied to specific manufacturers or market strategies.

The IoT will soon have devices with little or unrecognizable latency. The Thread protocol is already designed for these low-latency, high-throughput, real-time scenarios. Whether transmitting data to the cloud or between network devices, Thread ensures effectiveness and efficiency with minimal latency. It also supports multi-path routing, so as more Matter-based IoT devices become available to consumers, they can easily be incorporated into the network.

Security is always vital in a network, and security breaches are a concern in the IoT space. Thread provides a highly secure mesh network, using financial-class security encryption. Thread incorporates a 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for all network data traffic, giving users a high level of security.

Thread Offers:

• Enhanced Flexibility - Thread allows every device to act as a mini-hub within a self-healing, self-organizing mesh network, eliminating the need for a central hub and ensuring the network remains operational even if a device goes offline.
• Interoperability - is internet protocol (IP) based, which means it can directly connect to any other IP-based device on the network, such as smartphones, tablets, computers and Wi-Fi routers.
• Low-Latency - benchmark tests reveal that Thread is a low-latency communication standard.
• Security - Thread ensures a highly secure mesh network for IoT and smart homes by using 128-bit AES encryption for all network traffic, financial-class security measures to close common security gaps, and unique network keys for each device to prevent unauthorized access and ensure all communications are encrypted and tamper-resistant.
• Self-Healing - If one router or border router goes offline, another takes over, ensuring network reliability.
• Easy Setup and Integration - Thread’s use of IP allows developers and manufacturers to maintain direct communication with products and users, enabling faster market launches and updates to application layers and cloud services over time using standard internet tools.
• Real-Time Communication - Thread is designed for low latency and high throughput, optimizing real-time IoT communications by supporting multi-path routing and ensuring reliability with no single failure point, even if devices go offline or out of range.
• Scalable Network - A low-power, low-latency wireless protocol for IoT supporting up to 250 devices and maintains connectivity via a mesh network using border routers. It does not require a central hub or bridge as each Thread device can talk directly to each other.
• Highly Compatible - Thread leverages existing technologies and IEEE 802.15.4 radio on the 2.4 GHz band for global deployment, energy efficiency, and ease of installation, with its open standard and backing by major brands enhancing compatibility and integration within the Thread mesh network.
• Lower Power Consumption - Operates as a routed mesh, with devices proactively finding the best routes, leading to reduced power consumption and latency.

Overcoming the Matter/Thread Headwinds

Ok, so it’s not all unicorns and rainbows for Thread and Matter. At least not yet. But, just like when Wi-Fi and Bluetooth were starting out, there were some headwinds. Ultimately, Matter leaders chose to use Wi-Fi and Thread for their wireless communications.

The Connectivity Standards Alliance and the Thread Group realize the headwinds, so they have encouraged Thread adoption by integrating its competitors; for example, Thread uses Bluetooth for initial device discovery and allows ZigBee’s application layer to run on its network, ensuring compatibility with existing ZigBee software.

As with any new standard, there are challenges, and adoption will take time. However, the many advantages Thread brings will ultimately make it one of the go-to standards for secure IoT Matter-enabled devices.

Ultimately, the overall solution for Thread involves platforms and manufacturers agreeing on a unified method to share network credentials across devices and create an industry standard for securely establishing a single Thread network within homes. Today, the CSA and Thread Group are decisively addressing these headwinds by encouraging unity and outlining a clear strategic roadmap.

A Final Word

This article has delved into how Matter and Thread collectively enhance the IoT landscape, offering a robust framework for smart home devices. Matter simplifies network complexity and ensures device interoperability through its open-source, IP-based standard, which supports a variety of physical layers, including Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Thread. Thread, specifically designed to complement Matter, excels in creating efficient, reliable mesh networks that support a wide array of devices without the need for a central hub. Its features, like low latency, high security with 128-bit AES encryption, and self-healing capabilities, address many current IoT challenges. Despite facing headwinds, solutions are emerging through industry collaboration to standardize network credential sharing, aimed at reducing platform fragmentation and enhancing user experience in smart homes. The combined efforts of Matter and Thread are setting the stage for a universally compatible, scalable and secure IoT ecosystem.

About the Authors

Our authors bring a wealth of technical expertise in developing and optimizing IoT connectivity solutions for advanced technologies. With a deep understanding of customer needs and industry trends, they collaborate closely with our design teams to drive innovation and deliver cutting-edge solutions that support industry-leading products.

Thank you to our main contributors to this article, Chitra Mysore (Sr, Product Marketing Manager), David Schnaufer (Technical Marketing Manager), Marcel Virjkorte (Sr. Mgr. Applications Engineering) and Abnob Abdelnour (Sr. RF System Engineer) for their contributions to this article, ensuring our readers stay informed with expert knowledge and industry trends.