The launch of the smart-home standard Matter has been delayed again, this time till autumn this year.

It was originally scheduled for spring 2022 and then delayed until the summer.

A statement from the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) said that after its members returned from CES in Las Vegas they looked at what was left to do to deliver on Matter’s promise of not just a robust specification and SDK, but also a vibrant ecosystem of devices.

To improve code quality and stability and accommodate the breadth of Matter devices and platforms, they decided to extend the testing and validation events. This will have the effect of pushing the public launch of Matter 1.0 by a few months, but the hope is it will launch with a larger pipeline of Matter-enabled devices, and a robust supply chain of development platforms for more devices to come.

The CSA has conducted seven test events and is now conducting its eighth, saw contributions to the SDK double by the end of 2021, and finished the year with more than 130 devices and sensors that are on their way to being the first Matter-capable and certified devices in the market.

Developer focus is now largely on code quality, stability and clean-up. This includes work in a few key areas of the specification, such as access control functions, device attestation and security related to the distributed compliance ledger and public key infrastructure, and device interaction functions.

Furthermore, the CSA extended efforts to allow for the build and verification of more than 16 development platforms including operating systems and chipsets so Matter will launch with a healthy supply chain of compatible platforms to support new Matter devices, apps and ecosystems.

To address this, it is adding a ninth test event this spring. That will be followed by the Matter Specification Validation Event (SVE), now planned for summer. This validation event will be the alliance’s most complex and largest ever, as it expects to see more than 130 devices representing 15 device and sensor types from more than fifty member companies.

Unlike regular test events, SVEs produce formal compliance results and are crucial to certification of these first products, validating the final specification, and readying test labs for the start of the formal certification programme.

“Given this, we will devote the time and resources needed to do it right,” said the CSA statement.

This spring, the CSA will finish its regular test events, and the SDK will be feature complete as planned. The test harness and test tools will also be feature complete; and version 0.9 of the Matter specification will be made available to all Alliance members at mid-year.

The SVE will follow and, once complete and validated, the launch of Matter 1.0 will happen in the autumn. After that, the formal certification programme will be open to all companies wanting to certify Matter devices. It is expected then that alliance members will follow with additional announcements and launch plans for new products and existing products supporting Matter software upgrades.

“We know that a change in schedule, even a small one, can be disruptive or disappointing to everyone excitedly waiting for Matter’s launch, but we believe what will make the biggest impact in the market are quality developer tools and assets, a great selection of Matter-enabled products and a robust supply chain of platforms to build the next ones,” said the CSA statement. “We also know our alliance members are all-in, the finish line is in sight, and we are reaching milestones with confidence, quality and massive support. The biggest brands in the world continue to invest countless hours in Matter, alongside their colleagues from more than 240 member companies. It’s clear to us that, without exception, commitments stand strong for those leading the charge on Matter. And on that point, we couldn’t be more excited, and more determined than ever.”