Silicon Labs and Signify announced their collaboration to bring concurrent multiprotocol (CMP) communications to select Philips Hue smart bulbs, enabling support for both Zigbee and Matter over Thread concurrently on a single device.
Bringing greater choice to the smart home
The collaboration allows Philips Hue users to benefit from the simplicity and interoperability of Matter while continuing to access the advanced features, immersive experiences, and deep ecosystem integration that have made Hue a leading smart lighting platform.
As smart homes become increasingly diverse, consumers want products that work seamlessly with the platforms they already use – whether that’s Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, or the Philips Hue ecosystem. By leveraging Silicon Labs’ MG26 and SiMG301 wireless SoCs, Signify is enabling a new generation of Hue smart bulbs designed to deliver greater flexibility without compromising the premium lighting experiences consumers expect from Philips Hue.
“Philips Hue aims to transform how users use lighting inside their home whether it be for ambiance creation, convenience or entertainment. A big part of achieving this is to remove complexity for consumers while continuing to deliver the exceptional lighting experiences. Matter represents an important step forward for the smart home industry because it makes connected devices easier to set up and use,” said George Yianni, Chief Technology Officer Philips Hue at Signify. “Our collaboration with Silicon Labs allows us to support the interoperability consumers want through Matter while preserving the advanced capabilities, entertainment experiences, and innovation available through the Hue ecosystem.”
Combining matter simplicity with the hue experience
Philips Hue delivers a rich and reliable ecosystem with unique differentiated features and experiences including dynamic scenes, entertainment synchronisation, automation capabilities, and immersive lighting experiences based on ZigBee technology. Matter was created to simplify smart home connectivity by enabling devices from different brands and platforms to work together more easily. With Matter-enabled Hue bulbs, consumers can have the freedom to integrate directly into leading smart home ecosystems for everyday controls while still unlocking advanced lighting centric functionality within the Hue ecosystem.
Silicon Labs’ concurrent multiprotocol technology makes this possible by enabling Zigbee and Matter over Thread to operate simultaneously on a single wireless device. Rather than forcing manufacturers or consumers to choose between protocols, CMP allows devices to participate in multiple ecosystems at the same time, helping bridge today’s installed smart home infrastructure with tomorrow’s interoperable Matter-based environments.
Powering the next generation of connected lighting
“The future of the smart home isn’t about choosing one ecosystem over another – it’s about giving consumers the freedom to use the products and platforms they prefer,” said Ross Sabolcik, Senior Vice President of Product Lines at Silicon Labs. “Signify has been a leader in advancing both smart lighting innovation and Matter adoption. By combining Philips Hue’s industry-leading lighting experiences with Silicon Labs’ concurrent multiprotocol technology, we’re helping create a smart home experience that is simpler, more flexible, and more intuitive for consumers.”
The collaboration builds on a long-standing relationship between Silicon Labs and Signify and reflects a shared commitment to advancing open standards, interoperability, and user-centric innovation across the smart home industry.
Select Philips Hue smart bulbs leveraging Silicon Labs MG26 and SiMG301 wireless SoCs are available now or are being introduced across Philips Hue product lines. Currently these products require choosing ZigBee or Thread at commissioning time but the software update to enable concurrent operation will be rolled out later this year simplifying the experience for consumers.
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