Matter (smart-home standard)

Matter is an IP-based connectivity standard that lets compatible smart-home devices communicate with controllers and services across different ecosystems.

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Matter application layer: The Matter layer that defines device types, data models, commands, and interactions. It gives devices from different manufacturers a shared language for functions such as lighting and temperature control.
Internet Protocol: The network-layer protocol that routes packets between devices across interconnected networks. Matter carries its application traffic over IP rather than defining an isolated network stack.
Connectivity Standards Alliance: An industry organization that develops and promotes standards for connected devices. The alliance develops Matter and manages its specification and certification program.
Matter controller: A device or software component that commissions and controls Matter devices. Controllers provide the operational bridge between users, ecosystems, and Matter devices.
Zigbee: A low-power wireless mesh networking standard used by connected devices. Unlike Matter, Zigbee defines a separate networking and application ecosystem, though bridges can connect them.
Matter commissioning: The process of securely adding a Matter device to a fabric and configuring its network access. Commissioning establishes trusted membership before a controller can operate a device.
IPv6: The Internet Protocol version that uses 128-bit addresses for networked devices. Matter relies on IPv6 addressing across its supported network transports.
Project Connected Home over IP: The original industry initiative that developed the project later named Matter. Matter began as a cross-industry effort to build a shared IP-based smart-home standard.
Matter bridge: A device that exposes compatible non-Matter devices to a Matter ecosystem. Bridges extend Matter control to devices that do not implement Matter natively.
Z-Wave: A wireless communication protocol designed primarily for home automation devices. Z-Wave is a competing smart-home protocol rather than a transport defined by Matter.