Oslo, Norway - April 10, 2025 - Nordic Semiconductor, a global leader in low - power wireless connectivity solutions, and Qorvo, a leading provider of RF and power technologies, have joined forces to offer a reference application for access control systems that complies with the Aliro and Matter specifications of the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). This collaboration aims to simplify and speed up the development of access control applications for smart locks, enabling manufacturers to bring innovative products to market more quickly.
The solution is based on Nordic's nRF54L series of ultra - low - power multi - protocol system - on - chip (SoC) and Qorvo's QM35825 ultra - wideband (UWB) SoC. By combining these technologies, developers can easily design access control applications that meet the Aliro and Matter standards, opening the door for any manufacturer to create and produce smart locks.
Luc Darmon, Qorvo's senior director of global marketing and applications, emphasized the significance of this collaboration. "Through our partnership with Nordic, we continue to demonstrate how UWB and low - power Bluetooth technologies complement each other. Meeting Aliro compliance is a shared goal, as it enables more intuitive and reliable location - based features in next - generation ultra - secure access solutions, similar to those already seen in smartphone and automotive access applications," he said.
Bjørnar Hernes, Nordic Semiconductor's senior product director for short - range communication, also commented on the collaboration. "Nordic is dedicated to driving innovation in secure, energy - efficient wireless solutions. By combining our expertise in low - power Bluetooth, Thread, and Wi - Fi with Qorvo's UWB technology, we can help developers create the next generation of smart access solutions. This partnership clearly shows our commitment to simplifying development while maintaining the highest standards of security and reliability."
Aliro, a communication protocol being developed by the CSA, aims to standardize key - replacement solutions for smartphones or wearable devices such as smartwatches. The reference application developed by Nordic and Qorvo will assist in creating applications based on Nordic's low - power Bluetooth, Thread, and Wi - Fi solutions, along with Qorvo's UWB technology. These applications will comply with the CSA's upcoming Aliro v1.0 specification and certification program.
This reference application offers a versatile solution, allowing developers to customize and support various combinations of wireless protocols and application layers. These include Aliro (NFC, low - power Bluetooth, UWB), Matter over Thread, Matter over Wi - Fi, and low - power Bluetooth proprietary application layers.
The QM35825 UWB SoC provides micro - positioning accuracy and reliable distance measurement, meeting the precision and security requirements of Aliro. On the other hand, Nordic's nRF54L series SoC integrates an ultra - low - power multi - protocol 2.4 GHz radio and an Arm Cortex - M33 MCU. This integration enables the ultra - low - power operation and high - level security required for smart locks. The nRF54L series SoC features secure start - up, firmware updates, and storage capabilities, along with a trusted execution environment supported by Arm TrustZone, an encryption engine with side - channel leakage protection, and a tamper detector.
An early version of the Aliro and Matter smart lock reference application developed by Nordic and Qorvo is now available to early technology adopters. The application will be regularly updated to add new features, ensuring that developers have access to the latest tools and capabilities for creating advanced smart lock solutions. This collaboration between Nordic Semiconductor and Qorvo is set to have a significant impact on the smart lock industry, accelerating the development and deployment of secure, innovative access control solutions.
