The most important aspect of smart home technology is interoperability. Previously, the developers of the Matter standard, supported by Apple, Amazon, Google and Samsung, tried to solve this problem. But large home appliances required a new solution proposed by the Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA).
The HCA coalition was formed in late 2021 – Samsung was one of the founders, LG only joined the project the following summer. Developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), the Matter protocol is local and optionally supports cloud connectivity. A different strategy was adopted for large home appliances: Samsung said that while the company has announced support for Matter, it’s important to it to tie all the devices consumers already have in the home into a single system. Cloud infrastructure proved to be the most obvious way to solve the problem, so the HCA decided not to join the CSA and abandon Matter in its current form: Large household appliances connect via WiFi, which means they work via the cloud – So the new standard provides the interaction of cloud resources.
The HCA 1.0 specification was released in January 2023 and only now Samsung and LG have announced joint support for it. In the fourth quarter, two Korean giants will present their implementation in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, the US, Turkey and France, and by next year the list of project participants will be expanded. Turkish company Vestel has joined Samsung and LG, but so far several other well-known brands are missing from the alliance: German companies Bosch and Thermador, and American company Whirlpool.
The implementation of HCA support means that if there are large household appliances of different brands in the house: washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, ovens, robot vacuum cleaners, TVs, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, all of this can be controlled via a single application who receives work notifications. However, the initial configuration must still be done using the manufacturer’s application. The HCA 2.0 specification, to be released in 2024, will include advanced power management and support for electric vehicle chargers.
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