Quick-Start Guides for Matter over Thread and Matter over Wi-Fi#

Overview#

The procedures here describe how to make a simple network of a light, a switch, and a Matter hub, and to use the switch to control the light. First, set up your hardware and software as described below. Then you will follow a step by step procedure to:

  • Create a Matter hub on a Raspberry Pi.

  • Compile and load a light and a switch example application onto two Silicon Labs development boards to make light and switch Matter Accessory Devices (MADs).

  • Create a Matter network with the MADs and the Matter hub.

  • Test the light through the Matter hub.

  • Bind the switch MAD to the light MAD, so that the switch can control the light.

Initial Setup#

Both the Matter over Wi-Fi and Matter over Thread demos require that you have set up a simple development environment with Simplicity Studio, two EFR32MG24-based development boards, and a Raspberry Pi used as a Matter hub. The following requirements are common to both demos. The Thread demo also requires a radio co-processor (RCP) as part of the Matter Hub. The requirements for this are provided in the introduction to the Thread demo.

Hardware Requirements#

Software Requirements#

Simplicity Studio 5: Download and install Simplicity Studio 5 for your operating system from the silabs.com Simplicity Studio page. While the installation process is easy to follow, instructions are provided in the Simplicity Studio v5 Getting Started section.

Silicon Labs Matter GSDK Extension: Once Simplicity Studio 5 is installed you will be prompted to install the Gecko SDK Suite (GSDK). Here you should also install the Matter Enablement Package by making sure the extension is checked, as shown.

Installing the Matter Extension

Matter Hub Raspberry Pi Image: A copy of the pre-built image from the Silicon Labs web services can be downloaded in this zipfile. Note this is a large file and will take some time to download.

Note: The Matter hub for Matter over Thread requires an additional device, a radio co-processor. See the introduction to the Matter over Thread demo for more information.

Matter Hub Bootloader Image: The EFR32MG24 devices must be programmed with a bootloader. Obtain those here: Silicon Labs Matter Artifacts.

SSH Client: Managing the Matter hub often requires connecting to it remotely. An SSH client is needed to follow the step-by-step example in this document (PuTTY is used). Install software such as PuTTY, Terminal or a similar application for access to the Raspberry Pi-based Matter hub.

SD Card-Flashing Software: Many different applications can be used to prepare an SD card for the Raspberry Pi, such as the Raspberry Pi Imager, balenaEtcher and Rufus. The step-by-step example in this document uses the Raspberry Pi Imager.

Next Steps#

Now that you have your environment you can create a Matter over Thread network or a Matter over Wi-Fi network.