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January 13, 2016, 09:25:46 PM |
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I have been thinking about this for a little while, but I am not an expert in radio and am relatively new to the field so I could use some help from people who know what they are doing.
As we know, not everyone in the world has access to the internet, has a decently fast connection, or has a connection that isn't blocked. To get around these problems, I propose that we should, as a community, create a radio network that allows the relaying of blocks and transactions without relying on internet connections which we have no control over. It would facilitate the use of full nodes and the accessibility to the Bitcoin network especially to third world countries where the internet is not available. Such a network would also help in places where there is a lot of internet censorship like in China. It would be able to bypass internet filters since those inside the country would still be able to pick up signals originating in neighboring countries.
Ideally this radio network would be on a frequency that can carry a lot of data, has a wide range, has little interference, and is legal to use worldwide. It should also be able to be broadcast to and from space so that we can have satellites that operate as full nodes and can further connect nodes to each other.
Part of the problem is finding a frequency that can be used for this. We could use CB frequencies but those are not able to carry a lot of data. Higher frequencies would require having an amateur radio license and may also be crowded and thus we would have interference. The best case would be to buy spectrum specifically for Bitcoin radio use only.
To transfer data, we could use already existing technologies. We could use the existing Packet Radio stuff and use the de-facto packet radio standard, AX.25. With this we could wrap blocks and transactions in a special message and send the packets with packet radio in order to propagate those blocks and transactions.
I will be working on this project to develop a Bitcoin radio network on and off. Currently I do not have the equipment for implementing or testing any of this, the proper licences, or the experience and knowledge. If anyone is more knowledgeable in radio, specifically packet radio, then the help would be appreciated.
Let me know what you guys think of this idea.
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