COVER FEATURE SMART HOME
the standard, helping to “de ne a
speci c set of IP-based networking
technologies for device certi cation.”
While that is certainly
commendable, more names will mean
more pieces to try and t together.
The expectation is that compliant
devices will implement at least one
supported networking technology, but
not necessarily all.
The rst speci cation releases
for the network and physical wireless
protocols will likely be for Wi-Fi,
up to and including the 802.11ax
(now known as Wi-Fi 6); Thread over
802.15.4 operating at 2.4GHz; and
IP implementations of all existing
avours of Bluetooth (including BT Low
Energy).
It should be noted that the working
group is speci cally not adopting the
forthcoming Zigbee 3.0 spec, but what
is proposed is pretty similar to what
that speci cation is targeting.
Over time, other networking
technologies are likely to be
embraced, including Ethernet,
broadband and cellular.
Speeding up development
To speed the development of the
protocol, the working group will
commence with components of
existing smart home technologies from
the Zigbee Alliance, Google, Amazon
and Apple.
Any open source code the working
group decides is appropriate to
incorporate will then be copied into the
CHIP project and modi ed as needed.
As such it can draw on existing and
on-going developments and protocols
from Amazon’s Alexa Smart Home,
Apple’s HomeKit, Google’s peerto
peer Weave and the the Zigbee
Alliance’s Dotdot. The latter, based on
IPv6, is itself a collaboration between
teams to create a common language
at the application layer between
Zigbee’s and Google’s Weave-related
Thread protocol that, like Zigbee, is
built around the IEEE 802.15.4 mesh
networking principle.
As of course is the well-established
Z-Wave option, but the two are
currently incompatible in a home
environment.
However, this means that a
number of requirements will need
to be reconciled, not least the fact
that Alexa and Google Assistant both
use a cloud-to-cloud protocol. And
any new standard under the CHIP
umbrella will need to satisfy Apple’s
existing HomeKit requirements,
notably that most communications
take place locally. It is also important
to note that Apple sees any new
protocol as “complementing existing
technologies”, which would suggest
the plan is not to eliminate any of the
above standards, but nd common
ground between them.
It is also worth stressing that the
Thread Group has been working for
a while on a similar concept. Indeed,
Grant Erickson, president of the group,
welcomed the CHIP initiative and said
the group feels vindicated on two
fronts.
“First, to create this uni ed app
layer protocol Project CHIP is taking
the same IP-based approach we
have used, and second, they have
designated Thread as a network layer
for low powered devices.”
He added the project will confer
tangible, meaningful bene ts to both
manufacturers and consumers alike,
since the smart home device should
‘just work’, regardless of the radio
involved.
The CHIP initiative of course joins
a number of efforts that are already
trying to achieve the same ends, if
using different means. Some are open
source, such as the Open Connectivity
Foundation’s IoTrivity, which followed
the once promising AllSeen Alliance’s
AllJoyn speci cation before embracing
it with bridging and plug in support.
Those two groups subsequently
merged.
Many companies involved with the
OCF are also members of the Zigbee
Alliance, but the effort is more focused
on the IoT space.
In January at CES, the OCF
reminded interested parties that they
are still very much in the game, and
one of its core members, Samsung,
launched its OCF Universal Cloud
Interface (UCI). The UCI is targeted
more at the developer community than
consumers, and aims to create an
open standard that will allow different
manufacturers’ cloud services to
communicate with one another as well
as devices.
The OCF also said that products
targeting the smart home market
from many of its members (such as
Resideo, Samsung, LG and Haier) will
complete OCF2.1 certi cation later
this year.
“The smart home today is anything
but smart; there are too many apps
and competing communication
protocols to make it happen and
homeowners are increasingly
frustrated” said Scott Harkins, VP
and general manager at Resideo’s
Connected Home business. He said
the UCI standard will greatly simplify
IoT cloud-to-cloud communications.
Despite some misgivings, analysts
contacted by New Electronics have
welcomed the CHIP initiative.
“It is really promising that the
‘big three’ are willing to get to the
table, and that the Zigbee Alliance
will be at the core of the project. Of
course success for such an effort is
not guaranteed, especially with the
enormous corporate egos that will be
present in the room,” Jack Narcotta,
a senior analyst within the Intelligent
Home group of Strategy Analytics told
New Electronics.
But he cautioned, “the Alliance
will have to tread carefully and
diplomatically, not least because the
likes of Google, Amazon and Apple
do not have a notable track record for
following an open approach in such
matters.
“To some extent, they are following
an ‘if you can’t beat them, let’s join
them’ situation.”
Narcotta suggested the industry is
likely to get a litmus test of how the
collaboration is going late summer,
“We are fully on
board with the
goal of trying
to unify the
application layer
over multiple radio
technologies.”
Jake Alamat
www.newelectronics.co.uk 25 February 2020 11
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