Matter
Matter Fundamentals
Course description
Matter Fundamentals is a self-paced, hands-on online course designed to introduce developers to the core concepts and practical skills needed to build Matter-enabled smart home and IoT devices. The course covers the essentials of the Matter protocol, including its architecture, transport layers, and security model, and guides participants through the structure of Matter applications and the use of Matter APIs, with a focus on the nRF Connect Matter API and Thread networking.
Through a series of practical exercises, learners will gain experience testing Matter applications, commissioning and controlling Matter devices, and working with endpoints, clusters, attributes, and commands, including adding and extending clusters with proprietary functionality. Exercises cover both Matter over Thread and Matter over Wi-Fi.
In addition, the course explores power optimization techniques for Matter devices, including enabling Matter Intermittently Connected Devices and the use of the Online Power Profiler for Matter over Thread. Participants will also learn how to implement secure firmware updates using Matter Firmware-Over-The-Air (DFU OTA) and Bluetooth LE. By the end of the course, you will have a solid understanding of Matter fundamentals and hands-on experience developing, optimizing, and maintaining Matter devices on Nordic Semiconductor platforms.
What you'll learn
- Develop a foundational understanding of the Matter protocol, including its architecture, transport layers, and security model.
- Learn how to structure Matter applications and utilize Matter APIs, through the nRF Connect Matter API.
- Acquire knowledge of Thread networking and its role in Matter-based device communication.
- Gain insights into Matter device types, endpoints, clusters, attributes, commands, and events.
- Explore power optimization strategies for Matter devices, including support for Intermittently Connected Devices (ICD) and the use of the Online Power Profiler for Matter over Thread.
- Learn how to implement secure firmware updates using Matter Over-The-Air (DFU OTA) and using Bluetooth LE.
- Apply your learning through hands-on exercises to test Matter applications and commission, control and customize Matter devices.
- Practice through hands-on exercises adding clusters to a Matter application, extending clusters and creating fully custom clusters.
Who should enroll in this course?
You should enroll in this course if you are interested in learning about the Matter protocol and want to build a Matter device using Nordic Semiconductor’s products. The course is aimed at embedded software engineers, firmware developers, or anyone interested in microcontrollers and embedded systems.
Having some basic knowledge of C++ is recommended.
Estimated time
The estimated time needed to finish this course is about 6 to 8 hours.
Learning Objectives
Acquire knowledge about what Matter is and its role in smart device ecosystems.
Learn about the Matter architecture and how its components interact.
Familiarize yourself with the transport layers used in Matter communication.
Gain insights into the Matter security model and its importance.
Practice through hands-on exercise flashing on testing a Matter application on Nordic hardware.
Understand the software designs and integration of a Matter application with other software components
Learn about the Matter API available in nRF Connect SDK
Familiarize yourself with Matter samples available in the nRF Connect SDK and their structure
Learn about Thread network device types and their use cases
Learn how to run the CHIP Tool Matter controller
Practice through hands-on exercises, building and programming your first Matter sample and setting up and using the CHIP Tool Matter controller
Develop an understanding of Matter device types and their characteristics.
Learn about endpoints and clusters, and how they organize device functionality.
Acquire knowledge about attributes, commands, and events in Matter.
Practice through hands-on exercises adding clusters to a Matter application, extending an existing cluster with proprietary functionality, and building a full proprietary cluster.
Learn strategies for reducing power consumption in Matter-enabled devices.
Acquire knowledge about Intermittently Connected Devices (ICD) and their benefits.
Familiarize yourself with the Online Power Profiler for Matter over Thread.
Practice through hands-on exercises how to enable Matter ICD, explore other operating modes and optionally measuring the power consumption with the PPK II.
Gain insights into Matter Over-The-Air (OTA) update mechanisms, including using Bluetooth LE.
Practice through hands-on exercises by performing Matter Device Firmware Update (DFU) OTA.
Details
Prerequisites
- Basic knowledge in the C programming language.
- Some experience in developing software for embedded systems.
- nRF Connect SDK Fundamentals course
- (Required) Lesson 1
- (Recommended) Lesson 2 – Lesson 8
Hardware Requirements
The course exercises support both Matter over Thread and Matter over Wi-Fi. Please pick a list of hardware based on the transport option.
Matter over Thread
- Any nRF54L Series development kits (nRF54L15 DK, nRF54LM20 DK)
- One of the following DK’s: nRF54LM20 DK, nRF54L15 DK, nRF52840 Dongle, nRF52840 DK, nRF52833 DK
Matter over Wi-Fi
General
- For Windows and macOS users: 1x Raspberry Pi Model 3B+ or newer (along with an SD card with at least 8 GB of memory)
- (Optional) Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings*
- (Optional) Power Profiler Kit II
*Will only be used in Lesson 1 Exercise 1
System Requirements
- A computer running Windows, macOS, or Linux
- An up-to-date web browser
Software Requirements
Supported SDK versions
- nRF Connect SDK v3.3.0 – v3.2.0
