MediaTek and Google partner to develop dedicated smart home chipset

Smart home devices are getting a lot smarter, thanks to improvements in standards like what Matter has introduced to the industry. To facilitate that, Google and MediaTek are partnering up to introduce a new Filogic chip dedicated to smart home products.

Since Matter made an introduction to the smart home market, things have drastically changed. It’s now much easier to use devices with multiple smart home ecosystems. For instance, if a device supports the Matter standard and it was marketed as a Google Home product, it can very likely also be used with Apple HomeKit or Samsung SmartThings. On top of that, the introduction of the Thread protocol means devices connect more efficiently without weighing down vital data highways in the home.

Today, MediaTek announced that it has been working with Google on a new chip that’s purpose-built for smart home devices. This new chipset would be utilized in Google Home’s ecosystem mainly, offering more “robust and responsive smart home experiences.” The new SoC is known as the MediaTek MT7903 — very easy to remember.

MediaTek notes that this new chipset will integrate tri-band Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 6, and IFEE 802.15.4/Thread radios. Essentially, it’s up to connect devices with the most up-to-date standards. On the manufacturer’s end, it’ll also be easier to integrate the Thread protocol, and supporting Matter means it will have a wide use case.

One of the main features of the Filogic SoC is its “Thread border router offload” — a low-power feature that sets the chipset to sleep while maintaining a connection with other devices. MediaTek says this feature will help push sustainability in the smart home.

According to the company, devices will start seeing the new MediaTek MT7903 in the first half of 2025, with no other information on what sort of devices might incorporate the new chipset.