Broadcom adds Apple HomeKit support to SDK

Broadcom has announced that it has added support for Apple Homekit to its Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices SDK. This allows developers to use Broadcom’s Bluetooth and WiFi for IoT applications, among other things.

HomeKit from Apple, which is part of iOS 8, makes it possible to control peripherals that support the protocol via iPhone apps and the digital assistant Siri. For example, home automation equipment must be able to be addressed via WiFi or Bluetooth.

HomeKit-compatible equipment is only slowly coming onto the market, but chip manufacturers are starting to embrace the standard. After Marvell announced in March that it would use HomeKit, Broadcom, manufacturer of, among other things, WiFi and Bluetooth chips, has now also announced that it will also support Apple’s standard.

Broadcom wants to make HomeKit accessible to developers through its Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices SDK, or Wiced. According to Broadcom, this allows applications to be built that can control peripherals using the manufacturer’s wireless network chips and the HomeKit protocol. In addition, Broadcom also announced the BCM20706 chip that supports bluetooth smart. The BCM20706 chip would also enable higher throughput speeds of up to 2Mbit/s and would therefore already be compatible with the presumed Bluetooth 5.0 standard.