What is Helium LongFi and what devices can use it?
Helium LongFi is a network protocol optimized for long range, and low battery consumption used for communication on The People’s Network.
Written by Dal
Updated over a week ago
The People’s Network is built for internet of things devices to send small amounts of data and not for smartphones or computers that need to transfer large amounts of data.
Helium LongFi is a network protocol optimized for long range (200x Wi-Fi range or more depending on environment), and maximum battery life (up to a year depending on usage). In addition, LongFi provides native bi-directional capabilities for over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates, and the ability to push commands to devices.
Hotspots use LongFi to communicate with one another to validate legitimate wireless coverage using Proof of Coverage. It’s also the protocol Helium-compatible devices running on the network use to send data.
Although there are existing protocols operating in the sub-GHz frequency band, we felt they were either insufficient for the use cases we wanted the network to support or were closed and proprietary.
LongFi can run on LoRa/LoRaWAN hardware, but will require LongFi-compatible firmware in order to use the network.
Unlike other proprietary protocols, consistent with our open approach we intend to release the LongFi protocol under open source licensing so anyone can access it, use it, and contribute to its development.
We plan to release a C-library targeting systems that are compatible with SX1272/SX1276 chipsets. In addition to this protocol library, we intend to release an integrated SDK targeting Murata’s certified LoRa modules: CMWX1ZZABZ series.
Curated by: Helium.city | The Peoples Network Helium.com
