The growing wireless network aims to introduce the concept of mining cryptocurrency to everyone. Helium (HNT) positions itself as one of the wireless networks powered by people. Today it is online with over 462K hotspots and is the fastest-upcoming and growing wireless web in the US
Helium is a decentralized blockchain project that positions itself as one of the networks of a people-powered. It is changing how we think about wireless infrastructure by enabling anyone to become a node in the rapidly expanding Helium Mesh.
In contrast to large-scale mining, which uses expensive facilities and equipment for an intensive hashing process, a mesh network is a unique wireless communications platform were both sending and receiving devices share not only their internet access but also their computing power.
Helium solves one of the most difficult challenges in networking – how to deliver low-cost, long-range connectivity that scales with the needs of the next billion devices. In a world where wireless connectivity is becoming as essential as power, decentralized protocols are needed to deliver this critical capability to all devices at the edge.
The blockchain of the Helium node will connect to existing networks and gateways around the world, allowing users to expand their decentralized network coverage by providing access points into the Helium Network at their location. Let’s have a detailed look at the Helium review to explore all its features.
Working of Helium
Helium is a new wireless mesh network that uses blockchain technology to incentivize users to share their idle data and turn their phones into hotspots. The internet is seriously threatened by large corporations such as Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon which already dominate much of the market across the world. These companies are forcing customers to pay through the nose for inferior service, and there’s no competition because of all the massive infrastructure required to create a new ISP.
The internet has become an essential tool in modern life, yet the centralized nature of the current system means that network providers are incentivized to create data caps, overcharge customers and even throttle speeds in some instances. The decentralized nature of blockchain technology means that people will be able to break free of these corporations by connecting directly with one another.
The first step toward this vision involves turning your phone into a wireless hotspot. This is simpler than it sounds, as the Helium Hotspot takes care of many technical details on behalf of users. You can connect any device to your phone’s hotspot, and the network will pay you for providing this service. There is also a plan to create an advanced infrastructure that will allow blockchain-based IoT devices to communicate with each other directly without requiring human input or intervention.
This could be a breakthrough technology, as it means smart appliances will not need Wi-Fi connections to communicate with each other. Instead, they can use the wireless mesh network created by Helium to function without input from their owners.
Any sensor that interfaces with the (Helium LongFi) can request a connection of network once the Helium network is up and running. The network was intended for battery-powered devices that convey information, such as text messages or emails.
Helium uses the Helium agent software to connect smart devices to the Helium network. The Helium Hotspot Gateway allows for the routing of messages between two internet connections – cellular and satellite. When operating, the Hotspot Gateway exchanges messages with the Helium Network to determine your location, and communicates this data to your device so it can be used for applications.
The agent software is responsible for determining the location of smart devices on behalf of Helium’s network, enabling features like micro-payments through SMS or purchases made in eCommerce apps. It also compresses and encrypts data packets to conserve bandwidth and to obfuscate the contents of messages sent between devices and the network. Finally, it provides cryptographic signing services for Helium’s secure messaging protocols.
Put simply, Helium decentralizes the internet by creating a network of wireless hotspots built from peoples’ smartphones. These devices form an ad-hoc, mesh network that can be used to connect any other device to the internet without needing access to traditional “fixed” infrastructure.
What is the unique value of Helium?
The upcoming explosion in IoT devices is creating new challenges and opportunities in the networking industry. Helium is building a decentralized wireless network on the technology of blockchain.
IoT networks are currently tied to proprietary systems, which stifles innovation and hinders growth. Moreover, each device is often incompatible with one another; instead of creating an internet connection that travels between devices, IoT developers must create unique pairing methods for each device.
Helium uses a decentralized open wireless network that allows devices to connect directly to other nearby devices without the need for cloud-based pairing services. The company tasks nodes with maintaining connections between devices while also allowing the nodes to earn passive income via mining. This is accomplished by attaching devices with additional hardware that can act as “mining rigs” for running Helium’s blockchain protocol.
Every place on the Helium network has a number from 0.0 to 1, with a high score meaning that there is more confidence in the network and coverage is better. This is called Proof of Coverage, and this is where the tokens come from. There are two types of users for this system: owners/operators, who can buy a router to become a participant in the network and earn tokens, and users who can buy services from the participants for a cheaper price.
Future of Helium
The goal is to build a decentralized, open-access network that lets anyone in the world connect anything to the internet. Helium uses blockchain technology to keep track of these small cell networks and ensures they are autonomous, self-organizing, and always available. Additionally, the blockchain technology replacing the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) ensures that no single party can control or access any network.
Their new consensus algorithm borrows ideas from Byzantine Fault Tolerance. This is called Helium Consensus Protocol. This will be implemented on top of an incentivized mesh utilizing nodes acting as proxies, referred to as Gateways.
Gateways are nodes that route messages between other devices on the network. They are incentivized by the system for this routing service via Proof of Relay (POR), a variation of HoneyBadgerBFT’s PBFT-like consensus algorithm. Gateways can also be paid for participating in the mesh via Proof of Coverage (PoC), their unique algorithm that detects, measures, and rewards coverage in the mesh.
The Helium project will add several features in 2022, building on its decentralized internet infrastructure, which includes:
HLA Protocol – enabling the smartphone to smartphone networking and peer-to-peer communications independent from cellular networks or Wi-Fi.
Decentralized DNS Service – a secure, censorship-resistant protocol that allows users to register and resolve a domain name or .hll identifier.
Beacon nodes – enabling smartphone users to share their data plans with not only other devices but also anything else connected to the decentralized network.
Helium Gateway & Data Marketplace – a marketplace for sharing internet access through decentralized HWNs as well as monetizing unused data from the smart device to the edge of the network.
To facilitate these features, Helium recently announced steps towards a new distribution model, which they describe as ‘community participation.
The project has begun offering hardware wallets with their HWNs in return for community promotion and support of Helium’s business plan. This move is an effort to foster community engagement and incentivize the registration of beacons.
In addition, there is a new offer on Helium’s website where users can order their development kit (DK) in exchange for promotion on social media. This move is a direct response to Helium’s goal of enabling developers to create their decentralized applications on top of the Helium network. They have also collaborated with an initiative called Hack-the-Outernet, to provide access to the decentralized web for students in developing countries.
In light of this new business model, their website has been updated to include a vibrant trading market where buyers can now buy and sell HWNs from here on out. Any seller who wishes to offer an HWN must first register it on the Helium Cloud Network Portal.
This may be a welcomed move by some, as potential buyers have previously had problems with hardware being sold offline by individual HWN owners.
The availability of official resellers has greatly reduced the ability for these trades to take place, thus creating demand for an alternative trading platform. It is important to note here that any trade on this website will not be endorsed by Helium, as it does not have enough information to establish credibility or comfort with the service.
Helium is a decentralized and crowdsourced internet.
Helium uses a wireless mesh network, spectrum sharing, and blockchain technology to create an infrastructure that can provide internet access to the entire world at a lower cost than centralized providers.
A wireless mesh network (WMN) is made up of medium-range wireless devices that talk to each other using radio frequencies. They are low power, cheap, and reliable. Helium has created a new set of protocols for these devices that allows them to function as “smart radios.”
An Internet of Things (IoT) device is any kind of internet-connected device that uses sensors to interact with the physical world. These devices can be used as smart radios for wireless mesh networks. Helium devices are specially designed IoT modules that contain sensors, wireless radios, and blockchain technology.
History and Team
The Helium team members have many combined years of experience in hardware, software development, telecom, and identity management.
The current Board of Directors includes:
• Amir Haleem – CEO & Co-Founder
• Shawn Fanning – Chairman
• Sean Carey – CTO
The Helium network uses a combination of hardware, software, and blockchain technology to provide a decentralized IoT data transport layer that extends the range of devices using low-cost, low-power wireless radios. This is achieved using the Helium “Hotspot”, a unique combination of low-powered multi-standard radios and blockchain hubs that operate as full nodes on the Helium Network.
Helium launched its mainnet in July 2019 after more than five years of development. The launch included the Helium Hotspot, which is an ASIC-based blockchain miner that also operates as a wireless access node.
The team behind Helium consists of experts with ample experience in radio and hardware, distributed systems, manufacturing, blockchain technologies, and Peer-to-Peer.
Proof-of-Coverage
In the Helium network, Proof-of-Coverage is a process that allows wireless devices called Hotspots to produce cryptographic proofs of their real-world geographic coverage. The blockchain can then leverage this information to provide visibility into the true reach of the network.
Proofs are produced by sending messages through radio frequency (RF). The hotspot transmits a message, either by itself or in coordination with other nearby hotspots. The messages travel through the physical environment to the Helium gateway closest to the destination of the packet. This way, not only are packets routed directly from source to destination but also it is ensured that they propagate through areas where devices exist.
The gateway then validates the packet, checks the blockchain for recent updates to its location information, and calculates a Proof-of-Coverage record. This record is then appended to the blockchain in a form that can be used by Dash7 IoT devices across the globe.
Proof-of-Coverage allows IoT devices on the Helium network to communicate with each other no matter where they are in the world. By using Proof-of-Coverage, Helium devices can send packets directly to each other without having to rely on an external centralized service.
Helium DWN
The Helium DWN will provide wireless internet for devices. This is done with independent miners. Gateways are access points that act as entry and exit nodes on the network. Gateways allow devices to join and leave the network.
Gateways are made up of:
- Mesh Access Points
These connect to gateways and provide access points to devices on the other side of them, creating a mesh network that devices can use to communicate with each other via the gateways as relays. MeshAPs use Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands in the 5.8GHz range to establish links with gateways and connect devices to the network.
MeshAPs are made up of:
- Helium Core Appliances
These provide access to the Helium network, coordinate rehoming when a gateway goes offline, handle billing for machines on the network, facilitate connectivity to non-Helium devices via internet gateways or other 4G/LTE providers, and handle device discovery.
This is a network made up of independent miners who are incentivized by transaction fees to connect devices. The Helium Wire Network Protocol (WHIP) is the method by which devices communicate with each other.
The network is decentralized by design, meaning that no single device has control of the entire network or can shut it down.
Helium Network usage
Mobile network providers and service wholesale (MNOs and WSPs) in the US that want to differentiate their services through 5G by taking advantage of the Internet of Things (IoT) need to recognize the benefits that connectivity brings. As such, one can expect a huge increase in IoT devices in homes, offices, fields, and factories. This connectivity is provided through IoT gateways that are connected to the internet using low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs), such as those touted by Helium.
The Helium network enables consumers and businesses that already have IoT devices to connect them to the internet without requiring new equipment or subscriptions. Additionally, it facilitates connectivity for 5G cellular network offloading to expand 5G service available for IoT devices and smartphones in the US Band Citizens Radio Service spectrum.
WHIP
The WirelessHART standard uses a routing and addressing system to forward messages through the mesh network. Every station in the mesh network has a unique 48-bit identifier, which it inserts as part of its data payload.
The WHIP standard does not implement such a message layer, so each device can send messages onto the mesh without any additional overhead or processing at the mesh nodes.
WirelessHART implements a routing layer to forward messages from one node to another towards a destination node or a gateway. The implementation is quite power-hungry and will most likely weigh in the range of hundreds of bytes of wireless data per message, which makes it unusable for battery-powered devices with limited energy resources.
Conclusion
With the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution, there is a rapidly growing demand for decentralized solutions. The blockchain of the Helium network aims to provide this solution with its wireless infrastructure. Helium makes it possible for every person and device to share their extra computing power, storage space, bandwidth, or crypto-tokens with the network. These resources earn a passive income in Helium tokens (HNT) for their owners, without requiring any special technical knowledge or hardware to set up.
In addition, anyone with a smartphone can mine Helium tokens through an app from home or an office with a small WiFi router, that incurs virtually no electricity costs. This makes Helium a decentralized blockchain-enabled WiFi network that is accessible to everyone, everywhere. The underlying blockchain technology makes it possible to distribute tokens in an automated way among thousands of computers without relying on any intermediary party.
