Silicon Labs' New Connectivity Lab Unites Ecosystems and Developers

In an effort to support developers through the entire device development journey, Silicon Labs has opened a new Connectivity Lab in our Boston office. We hosted a grand opening event last week where we had the opportunity to demonstrate the new cutting-edge lab, which has been designed to test IoT devices in real-world smart home scenarios.

With the Connectivity Lab, developers have access to a home-like environment with a variety of smart home devices, including lighting, locks, thermostats, and entertainment systems, throughout the kitchen and living room.

The Connectivity Lab is designed so developers can test connectivity and interoperability for Matter devices within the most common Matter ecosystems, including Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. These are the primary ways consumers interact with smart home devices, so the Lab allows developers and designers to gain knowledge about their products and confidence in their products' real-world performance. 

The Connectivity Lab moves beyond testing Matter devices in single-use environments or focusing solely on how the Matter application layer functions in a connectivity stack; those scenarios aren’t representative of the operating environment. Matter was designed to make life easier for consumers, retailers, and developers by driving convergence between major IoT ecosystems. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds on the technical side and forget to zoom out. With a “home within a lab” setting, developers can explore many different variables and configurations that consumers might have in their homes. The insights gained through troubleshooting in the Lab can help developers deliver better products and technologies.

"I attended the Silicon Labs open house to experience their new Connectivity Lab; what a great event,” said Kevin Kraus, VP Technology Alliances, Yale & August Smart Residential Group. “It did a nice job of replicating a home environment, and the team from Silicon Labs really thought things through to create an effective interoperability lab."

Understanding how to create better out-of-box experiences for consumers starts with testing connectivity and interoperability for Matter devices with common ecosystems like Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. Consumers primarily interact with smart home devices through ecosystems like these, and the Lab allows developers to center the user and gain confidence in their products' performance under many different conditions.

At Silicon Labs, we feel an immense responsibility to support developers in their efforts. Adding to our knowledge base articles, code snippets, reference designs, and a vibrant online community, the Connectivity Lab is yet another resource to help developers move the industry forward.

To learn more about Matter, check out Silicon Labs' Matter technical training series free on-demand