Unify SDK Bridges Matter with Other Protocols

Feb. 28, 2023

In the Z-Wave pavilion at CES 2023, Silicon Labs showed off a Matter-over-Thread switch connected to a hub running the Unify SDK along with Z-Wave and Zigbee radios.

David Maliniak

This video appeared in Microwaves & RF and has been published here with permission.

Check out more of our CES 2023 coverage. This video is also part of the TechXchange: Why Matter Matters.

As a vendor of wireless chips, Silicon Labs already supports a broad range of wireless protocols, each of which exists within their own ecosystems. At CES 2023, SiLabs set up shop in the Z-Wave booth to demonstrate how its wireless chips (in this case, the EFR32MG24 Series Multiprotocol Wireless SoC) can combine with the company's Unify software development kit (SDK) to greatly simplify IoT hub design using multiple protocols and ecosystems.

The Unify SDK makes it unnecessary for system designers to be experts in Z-Wave, Zigbee, Bluetooth LE, Wi-Fi, or, for that matter, the Matter protocol. In this video, Konrad Szupinski, senior field applications engineer at Silicon Labs, shows how Unify SDK uses the well-proven MQTT architecture in a simple API that enables Matter devices to communicate with Z-Wave devices in the home.

In this case, a Matter-over-Thread switch is connected to a hub that has Z-Wave and Zigbee radios. When the switch is turned on, the hub can turn on both a Z-Wave-enabled power outlet and a Zigbee-enabled light.

For more CES 2023 news, information, and videos, CLICK HERE.

David Maliniak | MWRF Executive Editor

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.