Proof-of-Coverage: Useful, Energy Efficient, and Fair

The Future of Connectivity is Decentralized

Connectivity and access to information has become too critical in modern society to be controlled by a few centralized service providers. That’s why Helium is creating a platform that enables individuals to take back control by building a network together that’s community-owned and operated.

Our platform is designed for a new type of wireless network with longer range than Wi-Fi (think miles), designed for machines to transmit small amounts of data, but with battery lifetimes of years, not weeks.

Helium will support new applications for logistics and supply chain with powerful location and provenance features, all based off completely decentralized infrastructure.

With this network we envision new possibilities becoming part of our everyday life –– some examples include:

a smart collar that tracks your dog so you always know where it is

a vial case to ensure medicine remains stable and isn’t compromised during its journey from lab to doctor’s office

an early wildfire detection system that monitors changes in air quality or temperature in remote locations.

Anyone can own a hotspot and help build the network.

Anyone can help build the network by plugging in a Helium Hotspot (a piece of hardware resembling a Wi-Fi router) in their home or business that becomes a wireless hotspot for machines to connect and transfer information.

As incentive for help building the network, hotspot owners earn rewards in two ways: providing wireless coverage, and receiving a transaction fee when a machine sends data through their hotspots.

To operate independently without a central authority, the network is powered by the Helium blockchain. To facilitate payment of rewards in a fair, systematic, and automated manner, we needed to establish a set of programmatic rules to run in the background. Hotspots comply with these rules by verifying relevant network activity and agreeing on whether network transactions are valid or not.

For an in-depth technical read on why we built our own blockchain check out a post by our VP of engineering here.

Influences from the Market

Before we decided to build our own blockchain we surveyed the market for others to leverage. However, after observing successful blockchains and the set of rules that governed them, none were suitable for our unique, decentralized approach. Key issues we observed included: