Matter Testing and Certification Services

Matter is an industry-unifying open standard that manufacturers can use to improve the reliability and security of Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems. Backed by major brands, it was developed through collaboration within the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), previously known as the Zigbee Alliance. The organization consists of hundreds of companies working to create, maintain and deliver open global standards for the Internet of Things.

The CSA developed Matter to make it easier for manufacturers to build products that are compatible with smart home and voice services, such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant and others. It also employs a variety of state-of-the-art security techniques to increase compatibility and ease of use for consumers, boosting the adoption of IoT devices worldwide.

According to ABI Research’s application analysis report, within five years, more than half of the world’s key smart home devices will ship supporting Matter.

Matter testing, assessment and certification services

UL Solutions is an active member of the Matter working group and our engineers have an average of 15 years of experience in the smart home technologies and certification fields.

Our global laboratories follow standardized testing plans and have synchronized reporting systems, so you can expect consistent results no matter where you do business with us. Our network of global laboratories provides redundancy and the ability to move staff and projects around to meet surge demands for accelerated product launches.

We can provide nearly all your smart device testing, verification and compliance needs in one location, increasing efficiency and decreasing costs and time to market launch.

For your convenience, we also offer remote witnessed testing that allows you see in real time how we test your products without the need to spend time and money traveling to a test laboratory.

The benefits of the Matter protocol

Matter is a protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one another. Matter is built on market-proven technologies using the Internet Protocol (IP).

Currently, Matter runs on Wi-Fi, Thread and Ethernet network layers and uses Bluetooth Low Energy for commissioning.

Network protocols let devices connect to each other. But to do anything useful over those connections, devices need to speak the same language — that’s the application layer, i.e., Matter.

Matter uses a common application layer and data model that delivers interoperability between devices, allowing them to communicate with each other — regardless of the underlying network protocol or ecosystem.

Several benefits of Matter adoption exist for smart devices. For consumers, this includes:

• A more consistent setup experience.
• Multi-admin works across and with multiple ecosystems.

For developers:

• Develop once/deploy everywhere.
• Secure-by-design approach.
• Community of support.

For retailers:

• Simplified purchasing experience.
• Minimized returns.

For commercial/builders:

• Future-proofed ecosystem compatibility.
• Flexibility for users.

Benefits of Matter testing, assessment and certification services

Matter is a unifying, IP-based connectivity protocol built on proven technologies. The Matter logo is the seal of approval that says smart devices work reliably together. In order to use the Matter logo, a product must demonstrate compliance with Matter specifications and obtain certification.

Currently, products enabled for Matter 1.2 include:

• Lighting and electrical, e.g., light bulbs, luminaires, controls, plugs, outlets.
• HVAC controls, e.g., thermostats, air conditioning units.
• Access control products, e.g., door locks.
• Safety and security sensors.
• Window coverings/shades.
• TVs, e.g., smart TVs, streaming video players, set-top boxes, and bridges.
• Appliances, e.g., washing machines, air purifiers and fan controls.

CSA members are already working to define further device types to be supported in future Matter releases.

Why UL Solutions for Matter testing?

Innovation leaders

Leveraging our know-how into your product development process can help you avoid costly errors and accelerate time to market. Our pre-compliance testing may help you detect and resolve potential design flaws early in the process to reduce design costs and accelerate market launch.

End-to-end service offerings for IoT certifications

• UL Solutions is an accredited test laboratory for Bluetooth SIG, Thread, Zigbee and Matter.
• We offer traditional electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and safety testing services with multiple locations around the world (U.S., Europe and Asia).

Matter advisory, certification and interoperability services

At UL Solutions, we offer a complete set of services around Matter technology, including:

• Matter certification testing.
• Matter Rapid Re-Certification Program.
• Pre-test services.
• Advisory services – We’ll help you understand Matter certification requirements and the compliance process.
• Interoperability testing.

Matter 1.2

As an Authorized Testing Laboratory for Matter, UL Solutions offers Matter 1.2 certification testing.

Matter 1.2 was released on October 23, 2023. It creates an improved path forward for developers, offers new user experiences, and to more easily certify products they’ve developed and get them to users faster.

The new device types under Matter 1.2 include laundry washers, refrigerators, dishwashers, room air conditioners, robotic vacuum cleaners, air quality monitors, air purifiers, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and fan control devices.

Matter 1.2 also introduces changes to its core specification, such as an improved mechanism for endpoint composition and semantic tags, new Intermittently Connected Devices Monitoring and OperationalState clusters, and enhancements to Test Harness, controller test cases and further automation of scripts.

When it comes time for testing and certifying the devices they’ve built, new enhancements to testing automation make it easier for device makers to pre-qualify their products and verify they will pass certification. This is also an improvement for Authorized Testing Laboratories (ATLs) with improved automation making testing more efficient and comprehensive.