How Chirp solves IoT connectivity challenges: Report

In the rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT) industry, proliferating connectivity standards have caused fragmentation. This often complicates the integration of IoT devices into a cohesive network. The Chirp project is a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) to improve the connectivity and management of IoT devices. 

Chirp: Mesh network infrastructure for IoT devices

Chirp is a mesh network for IoT devices based on LoRa and Sub-GHz LoRaWAN radio communication. It comes with a complete IoT ecosystem called Chirp Wireless, which is specifically designed to power decentralized sensors, robotics and other IoT devices. 

Its hardware gateways, called Blackbirds, are maintained by a decentralized community of contributors, the Keepers. Blackbird devices provide network coverage for IoT devices through 2.4 GHz LoRa, Sub-GHz LoRaWAN, Zigbee, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or Thread connections. They also form the backbone of the network topology through their mutual LoRa communication.

Support for a wide range of protocols makes Chirp’s platform appropriate for both residential and commercial use and enables both close-range, high-bandwidth communication and sparse long-range communication. 

Keepers receive CHIRP tokens as rewards for maintaining network infrastructure. In contrast to other platforms, Chirp has only one licensed manufacturer to produce nodes for its DePIN, while other networks, such as Helium, have several licensed manufacturers. Supply control helps Chirp keep rewards at an appropriate level and avoid the oversaturation of the network. 

Chirp Wireless lets devices from different manufacturers communicate with each other. Apart from the connectivity tool, it provides a dashboard and a low-code platform to help administrators of IoT networks gather and analyze data. With these tools, Chirp Wireless consolidates data from various sensors into a single place and presents it in an easy-to-understand UI. 

To find out about the full features of Chirp, download a full version of the report here.

The core of the ecosystem: CHIRP token

CHIRP is the native token of the Chirp ecosystem, which is used in the core functionality of the protocol as well as to pay network rewards. CHIRP has three main use cases: to reward keepers, to enable access to the network and the ecosystem and to manage the governance process. 

To connect devices to the network, a user has to choose an access format, such as a monthly subscription or pay-per-data plan. Plans are priced in local fiat currencies, but payment is made using CHIRP tokens on the Sui blockchain. 

The total supply of CHIRP is set to 300 million tokens, which will be distributed over the first 10 years after the token generation event (TGE). The token supply is allocated across four groups of stakeholders and three dedicated pools managed by the team (Table 1). Each group, except for advisers and the Chirp team, receives a portion of tokens at the token launch. Keepers, the key stakeholders responsible for maintaining the network, are allocated 30% of the token supply with the pre-programmed distribution scheduled over the first 10 years following the mainnet launch. 

The future outlook for Chirp

Chirp has developed a comprehensive tool that can connect the fragmented IoT world. It opens the opportunity to create IoT systems that can collect, visualize and automatically take actions based on data. Supported by a token-based economy with deflationary features, Chirp is a potential competitor to established firms in this niche. 

However, it remains in its early stages, with about 400 active nodes in the network and a limited number of commercial clients. Its future success depends on its ability to generate stable revenue to sustain network participation, particularly from commercial users who can provide consistent demand.

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