The Things Network
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| The Things Network | |
|---|---|
| Name | The Things Network |
| Type | Community-driven nonprofit initiative |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam |
| Area served | Global |
| Focus | LoRaWAN, Internet of Things |
The Things Network is a community-led initiative that established a global low-power wide-area network based on LoRaWAN standards to enable Internet of Things deployments. It brought together enthusiasts, technology companies, academic institutions, and municipal partners to deploy open, shared gateways and to promote interoperable hardware and software. Through grassroots chapters, developer tools, and partnerships with manufacturers and cloud providers, it influenced deployments across cities, universities, and startups.
History
Origins trace to grassroots meetups in Amsterdam and rapid collaborations among hardware makers such as Semtech, IBM, Arduino, Raspberry Pi Foundation, and academic laboratories including Delft University of Technology and ETH Zurich. Early milestones involved hackathons, conferences, and alliances with civic projects from Amsterdam to Barcelona that mirrored movements like OpenStreetMap and Mozilla Foundation initiatives. Key events included product announcements at forums alongside companies such as Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Amazon (company), and Google; community growth paralleled standards work by the LoRa Alliance and chipset evolution by Semtech. The project’s volunteers interacted with startup accelerators such as Techstars and institutions like Imperial College London and MIT Media Lab, contributing to demonstrations at fairs alongside SXSW and Mobile World Congress.
Architecture and Technology
The network builds on the LoRaWAN specification developed by the LoRa Alliance and radio hardware from Semtech. Gateways often use single-board computers produced by the Raspberry Pi Foundation paired with radio concentrators from manufacturers such as Kerlink and Multitech Systems. Network servers can interoperate with platforms like The Things Industries, cloud providers including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, and device stacks from companies like STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors, and Microchip Technology. Application integration leverages MQTT brokers such as Eclipse Mosquitto and message orchestration tools from projects like Kubernetes and Docker. End devices frequently employ development boards from Arduino, sensor modules from Bosch Sensortec and Honeywell, and power components from firms like Texas Instruments and Analog Devices. Security primitives reference standards adopted by bodies such as IETF and cryptographic libraries used by OpenSSL and mbed TLS.
Network Coverage and Community Gateways
Coverage expanded through community gateways contributed by volunteers, municipal pilots involving authorities in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, and collaborations with academic campuses at ETH Zurich and TU Delft. Commercial deployments by companies such as Orange (telecommunications), Vodafone, and Telefónica operated alongside volunteer nodes, while hardware vendors including Kerlink, Multitech Systems, RAKwireless, and Laird Connectivity supplied equipment. Regional communities mirrored structures from projects like CERN OpenLab and partnered with makerspaces and incubators such as Fab Lab networks and Station F. Mapping and visualization efforts used tools popularized by OpenStreetMap contributors and analytics stacks like Grafana integrated with databases such as InfluxDB and PostgreSQL.
Use Cases and Applications
Use cases spanned smart-city initiatives, environmental monitoring, industrial sensing, and academic research. Municipal pilots referenced deployments for smart lighting with partners akin to Signify (Philips) and transport monitoring in projects comparable to TomTom collaborations. Environmental sensing initiatives drew on sensor designs used by research groups at Imperial College London and University of Cambridge for air-quality studies, while agricultural pilots paralleled programs run by organizations including FAO and private agritech firms. Logistics and asset tracking projects resembled implementations by DHL and UPS in proof-of-concept studies. Startups incubated in accelerators such as Y Combinator and 500 Startups utilized the network for prototyping low-power devices. Academic courses at institutions like MIT, Stanford University, and EPFL used the infrastructure for teaching and student projects.
Governance and Organization
The initiative operated through decentralized chapters and community organizers modeled after movements such as Creative Commons and OpenStreetMap. Collaborations included corporate partners, consortiums like the LoRa Alliance, and research collaborations with universities including TU Delft, ETH Zurich, and Imperial College London. Volunteer contributions, local meetups, and conferences echoed community governance approaches used by Apache Software Foundation projects and non-profit consortia such as Mozilla Foundation. Some commercial entities provided paid services and hosted infrastructure similar to offerings by The Things Industries and other startups.
Privacy, Security, and Regulation
Privacy and security considerations referenced cryptographic approaches promoted by standards bodies such as IETF and implementations using libraries like OpenSSL and mbed TLS. Regulatory compliance involved coordination with spectrum regulators including European Union agencies, national authorities in countries such as Netherlands, Spain, and Germany, and harmonization efforts comparable to those conducted by 3GPP for other wireless standards. Concerns about data governance aligned with frameworks discussed in forums at institutions like Harvard University and Stanford University and prompted interoperability work similar to initiatives from IEEE and the Internet Engineering Task Force.