Does RTL8720DN (BW16) hardware fulfill the requirement needed to be develop as a HomeKit Accessories?

Technical Discussion Hardware
1

Hi Community,

I’m not sure if this is the correct place to post this question.
Currently I’m trying to figure out which hardware that could fulfill the requirement to be develop as a HomeKit Accessories.
I have come across RTL8720DN (BW16) and doing some basic information gathering.

If someone have done similar research I would be thrilled if you could share some of the insight.

2

Hi @J500,

Welcome to the Ameba IoT forum and thanks for choosing RTL8720DN (BW16) development board.

First of all, I would like to have a basic introduction about this module/board:

  • Realtek RTL8720DN is a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth IC
  • supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz dual bands Wi-Fi
  • supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.0
  • detailed peripherals could be found here
  • a brief Getting Start about this RTL8720DN (BW16)

Besides, could you please provide more details on your requirement to develop your HomeKit Accessory?

Thank you

3

Hi @dakamaster ,

Thank you for the information.
I would like to develop a Wi-Fi based simple smart switch with an end goal of getting it to be MFi Certified.
Currently I’m looking at the security requirements, I’m aware that RTL8720DN have the capability to handle crypto hence I’m wandering if it still need an external security chip from Apple.
I’m not an expert in crypto but I did a quick check on HomeKitADK Documentation and cross check it with the crypto API on Standard SDK of AmebaD Family.
Some of the algorithm are not available.
Another requirement hardware requirement would be the dual band Wi-Fi support.

I have come across a very old news article released on Realtek website stating that RTL8711 series offer full support for Apple HomeKit.
(Realtek Introduces Ameba & iCOM IoT Solutions with Full Support for Apple HomeKit - REALTEK)

The layman question would be, can the RTL8720DN hardware fulfill the MFi Certification requirements.
I hope you could share your opinion on this.

4

Hi @J500 ,

Based on the news provided and after searching in AmebaD internal SDK, the Apple HomeKit application is supported.

However, it will not release to the open-source environment. Therefore, you might need to provide more details listed below:

  1. Name and Email
  2. Company Basic Information including:
  • Name
  • Location
  • Company Website
  • Number of years established
  • Company’s major product
  1. IC/Module Part Number
  2. Purchase quantity
  3. Intended Application
  4. What kind of support is needed
  5. Could you please provide the MFi ID in order to use the HomeKit Accessory?

before proceeding to sign NDA and have a dedicated FAE to support this feature on AmebaD.

Thanks.

5

@dakamaster, Thanks for the reply. I will DM you for us to move forward from here

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