![](https://csdnimg.cn/release/download_crawler_static/16033872/bg4.jpg)
Ethereum. The Helium Consensus Protocol is outlined in
detail in [Section 6].
2.3 Physical Implementation
The Helium network is also a physical wireless network
instantiation. The participants in the Helium network can
be thought of as follows:
WHIP
The Helium network uses a new open wireless pro-
tocol, called WHIP. WHIP is a long-range, low-power,
wireless network protocol suitable for use with commod-
ity open-standards hardware. WHIP compatible hardware
can communicate over many square miles in dense urban
environments or hundreds of square miles in rural settings.
WHIP compatible hardware can also last for several years
using standard batteries. WHIP uses strong public key
cryptography and authentication occurs using the Helium
blockchain, and data is encrypted end-to-end between the
device and corresponding Internet-hosted router.
Hotspots
are physical network devices that provide wide-
area wireless coverage and participate in the Helium net-
work. Hotspots transmit data back and forth between
Routers on the Internet and Devices while generat-
ing Proofs-of-Coverage for the Helium network [Sec-
tion 3]. Hotspots are manufactured using commodity
open-standards components with no proprietary hardware.
Hotspots can co-operate and geolocate Devices using the
Helium network without any additional required hard-
ware. Each Hotspot can support thousands of connected
Devices, and provide coverage over many square miles.
Miners operating Hotspots specify the price they are will-
ing to accept for transport and Proof-of-Location services
for Devices.
Devices
exist in the form of hardware products that contain
a WHIP-compatible radio transceiver and communicate
with Hotspots on the Helium network. WHIP is designed
to facilitate low power data transmission and reception, so
typically Devices exist in the form of battery-powered sen-
sors that can operate for several years using standard bat-
teries (although mains-powered Devices also work quite
well). Devices can exist in a variety of forms, depending
on the product or use case, and a variety of transmission
and reception strategies can be employed to optimize for
transmission/reception frequency or battery life. Device
manufacturers are encouraged to use hardware-based key
storage which can securely generate, store, and authenti-
cate public/private key pairs without leaking the private
key.
In this section, we expand on the components of the wireless
network.
2.4 Wireless Protocol (WHIP)
2.4.1 Motivation
Several Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technolo-
gies are available today. These wireless technologies focus
on creating long-range, low-power Internet communication
for sensors and other smart Devices. Typically these tech-
nologies trade throughput for range, with data rates as low
as 18 bits per second (bps) and range measured in miles.
In comparison, a typical WiFi network has significantly
higher data rates but ranges limited to only a few dozen
feet. Several of these new technologies, such as LoRa [6]
and RPMA [7], have gained good traction and there are
many commercial products available compatible with these
systems. However, we believe a decentralized wireless net-
work should use non-proprietary protocols and modulation
schemes and that participants in the Helium network should
have the freedom to choose between competing hardware
vendors. We do not consider an open alliance built on top of
proprietary hardware to be an acceptable compromise. While
there are many open-standard wireless networking stacks,
such as IEEE 802.15.4 [8] used in the first generation of our
wireless products, none meet our extremely long range and
low power criteria. It is this lack of open solutions that drove
the creation of a new protocol.
2.4.2 Outline
We introduce WHIP. WHIP is a highly secure, long range,
low power, bi-directional wireless network protocol that is
compatible with a wide range of existing radio transceivers
operating in the sub-GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum.
Authentication with the wireless network uses modern public-
key encryption and NIST P-256 ECC key pairs, with the
public keys for all participants stored in the blockchain.
The modulation format is simple and widely supported, easy
to implement and has excellent resistance to RF noise. There
are dozens of vendors implementing radio transceivers com-
patible with WHIP, such as Texas Instruments, Microchip,
and Silicon Labs.
WHIP is a narrowband wireless protocol which creates
several channels within the unlicensed spectrum and employs
frequency hopping to switch between channels. Typically
frequency hopping requires a complex time-synchronized
system that is limited in capacity. However, devices using
WHIP do not need to coordinate with Hotspots on channel
selection as Hotspots are capable of hearing all channels
within the available spectrum at any time. We choose narrow-
band to accomplish the following goals:
Spectral Efficiency
It is necessary to operate within unli-
censed RF spectrum very efficiently. RF is a shared, lim-
4