The Connected Home over IP (CHIP) project, the so-called but interesting smart partnership for smart homes between Apple, Amazon, Google and 170 other companies that should make everything more compatible, should start showing some results at the end of this year. According to a webinar hosted by the Zigbee Alliance earlier this week, companies participating in the program will be able to get standard-certified smart home devices by the end of 2021, which means we could see a few things on the shelves for the holiday shopping season. . The first wave of devices will include things like lighting, blinds, HVAC controls, TVs, door locks, garage door openers, security systems and Wi-Fi routers.
The CHIP standard is built around three technologies: Bluetooth LE for setup, WiFi for high-bandwidth use cases, such as streaming video from a security camera, and the still-born Thread mesh network protocol for wideband devices low bandwidth, such as motion sensors. (Thread has been a work in progress for some time, but it’s now on the Apple HomePod Mini, the newest Google Nest Hub, and Eero routers, so maybe it’ll eventually happen.)
Manufacturers will also be able to support CHIP products through older bridges, so there is a chance that the devices you have will work with CHIP products in the future.
The program, which was first announced at the end of 2019, had some delays due to the pandemic. Initially, it should have products under the CHIP standard by the end of 2020, but then the group announced in September last year that we will not see anything until sometime in 2021. It seems that time is The end from 2021, so it is very possible that this launch will slip even further in 2022.
The purpose of CHIP is to provide a unified standard for smart home products, so that customers do not have to worry about whether a device they buy will work with the other devices they already have. Its technologies replace older protocols for smart homes such as Zigbee and Z-Wave and are designed to work with any preferred voice assistant. Of course, a new standard is not a guarantee to solve any confusion, and it is very possible that the CHIP program will add yet another option to the list of existing standards.
Stacey the Higgenbotham Stacey On IOT has a deep dive into all the announcements made by the Zigbee Alliance this week, including how it intends to improve smart home security through … blockchain, so I suggest you read her review for more on this topic.