The lottery to get a ThingsIX Mapper assigned from the evaluation batch for EU868 is now open. It will stay open until 15-Februari-2023 13:00 (GMT+1), so there's no need to hurry. During this time anybody can buy a ticket at the price of 250 USDC (ERC20 on Polygon: 0x2791Bca1f2de4661ED88A30C99A7a9449Aa84174) by using their Polygon wallet.

The 250.0 USDC will be used to pay for the administration, packing and shipping of the ThingsIX Mappers. We use this lottery to ensure a fair distribution of the mappers and to avoid a hurdle. Based on the draw of the lottery you will either get a mapper shipped to you or you can get your USDC back.

For this first batch of ThingsIX Mappers we will include 1 gateway-onboarding, so we can ensure that those who receive a mapper at least can map their own first gateway and start receiving rewards. The first batch of mappers will be shipped at least 1 week before the launch of the rewards. These mappers will receive main-net $THIX rewards. Shipping for this batch is only to the countries of the EU.

Visit: https://mapper-lottery.thingsix.com to get your mapper ticket or see the documentation for more information.

The ThingsIX Foundation will launch the first distribution of the first batch of 50 ThingsIX Mapper’s for the EU868 frequency plan on 1 February 2023. The ThingsIX Mapper is a special device that is used in the ThingsIX reward structure to verify coverage that gateways connected to ThingsIX provide. Both the mapping activity and the coverage provided by gateways will be rewarded in $THIX based on the measurement of these ThingsIX Mappers. This first batch is the first version of the mapper we distribute as evaluation kit for interested parties.

The distribution of the mappers will happen via a lottery smart contract where anybody gets a fair and equal chance to receive a ThingsIX Mapper. Anybody can buy a lottery ticket in this lottery for 250.0 USDC via a web-interface by connecting your favorite Polygon wallet during a 14-day period. We will use a verifiable blockchain-based random draw to select who will receive a ThingsIX Mapper. If you are not selected to receive a ThingsIX Mapper you can claim your 250.0 USDC back. The 250.0 USDC will be used to pay for the administration, packing and shipping of the ThingsIX Mappers. The ThingsIX Foundation will remain owner of the ThingsIX Mappers during the whole lifetime of all mappers. Terms and conditions apply and will be available before sale.

For this first batch of ThingsIX Mappers we will include 1 gateway onboarding, so we can ensure that those who receive a mapper at least can map their own first gateway and start receiving rewards. The first batch of mappers will be shipped at least 1 week before the launch of the rewards

While the ThingsIX Mapper for the EU868 frequency plan works in many countries outside of the European Union, we will only ship this first batch to countries within the EU due to laws and regulations. Later there will be batches for other regions.

Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 22th December 2022. The ThingsIX Foundation is happy to announce that ThingsIX is now officially in production, with the go-live of the data-only main-net. ThingsIX is a neutral crowd sourced LoRaWAN® network where anybody can add existing LoRa® gateways to extend the coverage. By connecting LoRa gateways to ThingsIX, gateways will route LoRaWAN traffic for all connected LoRaWAN networks.

Existing LoRaWAN network operators can extend and improve their network coverage by using ThingsIX. As a result ThingsIX reduces the needs for investments. New LoRaWAN device-operators can start using the LoRaWAN network by using the coverage already available on the ThingsIX network. The only thing that’s needed is a NetID assigned by the LoRa Alliance®.

To evaluate ThingsIX, the ThingsIX Foundation offers a console where parties can register 2 LoRaWAN devices for evaluation. Anybody can add their gateways to ThingsIX today. Instructions are even offered how to do so in parallel with any existing LoRa network.

We want to thank every community member that helped us get where we are today. Especially we want to thank Orne Brocaar, the developer of the Chirpstack, who’s open-source contributions we thankfully used to build the open-source components of ThingsIX on.

Head over to https://docs.thingsix.com to get more information how to evaluate or join ThingsIX. For questions how to use ThingsIX as a network operator, please contact the ThingsIX Foundation at [email protected]

The next step on our roadmap is launching the mapping-infrastructure and starting to reward gateway-operators for the coverage they provide.

The LoRa® Mark is a trademark of Semtech Corporation or its subsidiaries.
LoRa Alliance® and LoRaWAN® are marks used under license from the LoRa Alliance®.

Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 7th November 2022. The ThingsIX Foundation joins the LoRa Alliance®. Joining the LoRa Alliance allows the ThingsIX Foundation to build the world-wide, decentralized and neutral ThingsIX network on the LoRaWAN® protocols and collaborations as formed within the LoRa Alliance.

The LoRa Alliance is an open, non-profit association that has become one of the largest and fastest-growing alliances in the technology sector since its inception in 2015. Its members closely collaborate and share experiences to promote and drive the success of the LoRaWAN standard as the leading open global standard for secure, carrier-grade IoT LPWAN connectivity.

The ThingsIX Foundation is a non-profit Foundation that is building the ThingsIX Network. The ThingsIX Network connects LoRa®-gateway operators world-wide with LoRaWAN end-device-operators to allow these operators to use the third-party gateways for communication with their devices without the need for a 1:1 agreement. The ThingsIX Network does this by using blockchain technology to handle the payment for data-traffic and by rewarding the LoRa-gateway operators for providing coverage.

As a result, the costs (both CapEx and OpEx) for using LoRaWAN are greatly reduced by the ThingsIX network as gateways can be shared and re-used. All that’s needed to start is a NetID allocation from the LoRa Alliance. Furthermore, ThingsIX adds to a green future as by sharing LoRa-gateways amongst multiple LoRaWAN networks less energy is being consumed.

Additionally, the unique crowd-sourced mapping approach allows anybody not only to contribute to the ThingsIX Network by sharing their gateways on the network, but also to use ThingsIX-provided mappers with similar antenna characteristics as real LoRaWAN devices to map coverage of the gateways on the ThingsIX network. The resulting coverage-map further aids LoRaWAN network operators to see where the ThingsIX network can support their end-customers.

The LoRa® Mark is a trademark of Semtech Corporation or its subsidiaries.
LoRa Alliance® and LoRaWAN® are marks used under license from the LoRa Alliance®.

The last few weeks we open-sourced the ThingsIX code for the packet-handling on our Github. As ThingsIX is a open project, everyone is welcome to contribute.

We are currently testing packet-handling internally. Soon we will provide instructions how to join the testing of the data-network on testnet. Currently only gateways where users can configure their packet-forwarder endpoints are supported.

Later this year we are planning to launch the data-network (so no rewards yet) in production according to our roadmap.