Shuank, helium edge routers will have a global footprint to minimize latency to the internet. We always want latency from the internet to helium enabled devices to be as low as possible.
dr,
Can send you data sheet on module. Email hello@helium.co
- Not sure on 1v8
- SPI / UART
- All module and bridge programming happens OTA
- We have arduinos for making pocs, the module is currently 19x12mm I believe.
- Our next module will have u.fl. (in the works now)
- Network goes in both directions. Access from the internet via ipv6. drFritz.xx.helium.io.
-You can also communicate to other devices. The other device can be anywhere as long as it's on the helium network and you are allowed to speak to it.
How is this protocol better than LoRa(by semtech - an old stable company, used by giants like IBM) ,or weightless(standardized protocol) ? Because they are your competitors , not wifi and the like.
Chris very cool. We have a golang driver for helium that will be opened up soon.
The bridges use multiple omnidirectional chip antenna per radio. Each radio also has a u.fl connector so you have choices. Hope to see you sign up for the beta. Would love to see this in action.
There are two things we're trying to convey here (but rest-assured we're not trying to be misleading):
1. We can support a lot of connections. I mean a lot. This is based on our design, but truly limited by the receiving radio.
2. 50 square miles is optimal conditions. It's hard to quantify how bridges and radio enabled devices will work in populated metropolitan areas. These numbers are solely based on field testing, not in metro areas.
I'm commenting because I'm genuinely curious about the technology, I'm not trying to tear anything down.
That said, the technology page is not very clear.
The wording doesn't currently indicate this is idealized or limit conditions. Because you say it covers tens of thousands of devices over such a large area, I assumed this would be expected (like a cell tower). Your description actually fits very closely with a cell network. Why would a device that covers only my home need to support connections with tens of thousands of devices? Would it cover me and all my co-workers at the office 1 mile away (well within it's 4 mile range)? Or would I be expected to have a bridge at home and in the office? Is it like a Femtocell in a mall or like the ZigBee bridge sitting in my living room?
Given that picture, I'm genuinely curious about the capabilities. Immediately below that paragraph are bars that show a 700+ day battery life and a transmission power of 0.025mA. Are these for a totally different use case? If so, I'm confused. If not, it's amazing and I'm very exited. How is a transmission power of 0.025mA @ 915MHZ possible at a range of 4 miles? I would have assumed 1000x that (at least) would be necessary on unlicensed ZigBee spectrum. Similarly power would need to be amped up on the receive side,... meaning receive windows would be costly.
There's a whole process to how the secret for each device is created. That secret is used to ensure helium connectivity is safe. You can then securely implant your own secret into a chip we use and that secret can be used to encrypt your payload. Helium never has to know what you are sending. We just need to know where it's going so we can get it there for you.
We'll be posting more docs on this in the coming weeks and months. Feel free to shoot me an email if you want to chat more before they are available.
Thanks! I'm happy with my current job, but would love to play with your eval boards (in my copious spare time :) when they're available. Send me an email (jon@jrock.us) and I'll buy a couple to try when they're ready.
It's rare when I see a startup on HN where I initially think "this is impossible", but do a little math and find that it's actually quite possible. Easy? No. But you're going to have a much better time working with the laws of physics in your favor than you would if you came up with something theoretically impossible :)
In the interim, check out http://wsprnet.org/. There are lots of people on the forums that are interested in weak signal work. If you have (or get) a ham radio license, you can try sending WSPR from a raspberry pi with a long wire connected to an I/O pin. It's pretty cool! (I've been meaning to set this up at work to see if I can get the signal at home on various bands, especially VHF around 144MHz or 1.2GHz. If that works, I have no doubt that you guys will be successful. And I think it will work.)
