It seems that Matter is the way forward for a more streamlined IoT, but how can you start using it, and what does it enable in reality? Renesas makes that pretty clear!
For ipXchange’s second very practical demonstration of Renesas’ technology at Embedded World 2024, Eamon chats to Alex Kengen about the full smart door lock design shown in part 1, which focussed purely on the NFC aspect.
This time, the smart door lock setup is demonstrated in conjunction with several other IoT end nodes and Apple’s HomeKit framework. This setup covers a wide variety of wireless protocols, supported by the DA14680 for the Apple HomeKit and key encryption, but the main component on show is Renesas’ Matter-ready DA16600 ultra-low-power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE module.
As Alex shows us, by simply holding his iPhone to the smart door lock, he can enter the home and all the lights are turned on for him – this is smart home automation in action!
Alternatively, a user can punch in a code on the number pad for the same effect, but obviously that would not demonstrate the NFC functionality of the complete phone + home ecosystem; this NFC setup is described in much more detail in the previous video.
The Matter side of the demo is where things get interesting as Alex shows us how ecosystems like Alexa, Google, and Apple can be seamlessly combined.
This means that iPhone users and Android users can share the same ability to control aspects of their smart home. Alex also shows the two-way functionality of the setup, where the iPad can control the smart door lock, for example, to let someone in.
As previously mentioned, the key component that enables this shared ecosystem is the DA16600, thanks to its Matter compatibility and support for multiple wireless protocols.
If you want to build a variety of connected smart home devices, appliances, and sensors, or simply want to add Matter compatibility for a unified IoT, the DA16600 grants you that ability, with a powerful Cortex-M4F heart and efficient operation to support battery-operated products.
Renesas provides ready-to-go software for you to get started with Matter, Thread over Matter, and more should you choose to start a design with the DA16600, so head to the board page below and apply to evaluate this technology today!
Keep designing!
Love Renesas’ practical demos? Check out our interview about the NFC chip in this setup, as well as our videos from Embedded World 2023:
Smaller-BOM, better-performance NFC with Renesas
A person detection system running on the World’s first Cortex-M85 MCU
Modular IoT platform enables rapid prototyping with software to support virtual builds