Enabling ECHONET Lite Devices in the Matter Ecosystem: A Bridge Solution

This paper aims to highlight the similarities and differences between ECHONET Lite, a matured protocol for smart homes in Japan, and Matter, a novel protocol considered to be the future of smart homes. On top of that, we propose and implement a bridge solution that enables devices supporting the ECHONET Lite protocol to seamlessly integrate as native Matter devices. We have successfully deployed the bridge in an experimental smart home environment, which includes a combination of commercial and experimental ECHONET Lite home appliances. Through extensive testing, we confirmed that the bridge solution facilitated correct operations and achieved seamless integration with minimal overhead between the ECHONET Lite devices and the Matter ecosystem.