705 lines
37 KiB
ReStructuredText
705 lines
37 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. _understanding-main:
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***********************
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Understanding Reticulum
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***********************
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This chapter will briefly describe the overall purpose and operating principles of Reticulum, a
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networking stack designed for reliable and secure communication over high-latency, low-bandwidth
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links. It should give you an overview of how the stack works, and an understanding of how to
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develop networked applications using Reticulum.
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This document is not an exhaustive source of information on Reticulum, at least not yet. Currently,
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the best place to go for such information is the Python reference implementation of Reticulum, along
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with the code examples and API reference. It is however an essential resource to understanding the
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general principles of Reticulum, how to apply them when creating your own networks or software.
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After reading this document, you should be well-equipped to understand how a Reticulum network
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operates, what it can achieve, and how you can use it yourself. If you want to help out with the
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development, this is also the place to start, since it will provide a pretty clear overview of the
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sentiments and the philosophy behind Reticulum.
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.. _understanding-motivation:
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Motivation
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==========
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The primary motivation for designing and implementing Reticulum has been the current lack of
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reliable, functional and secure minimal-infrastructure modes of digital communication. It is my
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belief that it is highly desirable to create a cheap and reliable way to set up a wide-range digital
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communication network that can securely allow exchange of information between people and
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machines, with no central point of authority, control, censorship or barrier to entry.
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Almost all of the various networking systems in use today share a common limitation, namely that they
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require large amounts of coordination and trust to work, and to join the networks you need approval
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of gatekeepers in control. This need for coordination and trust inevitably leads to an environment of
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central control, where it's very easy for infrastructure operators or governments to control or alter
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traffic, and censor or persecute unwanted actors.
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Reticulum aims to require as little coordination and trust as possible. In fact, the only
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“coordination” required is to know the characteristics of physical medium carrying Reticulum traffic.
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Since Reticulum is completely medium agnostic, this could be whatever is best suited to the situation.
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In some cases, this might be 1200 baud packet radio links over VHF frequencies, in other cases it might
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be a microwave network using off-the-shelf radios. At the time of release of this document, the
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recommended setup for development and testing is using LoRa radio modules with an open source firmware
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(see the section :ref:`Reference System Setup<understanding-referencesystem>`), connected to a small
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computer like a Raspberry Pi. As an example, the default reference setup provides a channel capacity
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of 5.4 Kbps, and a usable direct node-to-node range of around 15 kilometers (indefinitely extendable
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by using multiple hops).
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.. _understanding-goals:
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Goals
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=====
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To be as widely usable and easy to use as possible, the following goals have been used to
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guide the design of Reticulum:
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* **Fully useable as open source software stack**
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Reticulum must be implemented with, and be able to run using only open source software. This is
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critical to ensuring the availability, security and transparency of the system.
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* **Hardware layer agnosticism**
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Reticulum shall be fully hardware agnostic, and shall be useable over a wide range
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physical networking layers, such as data radios, serial lines, modems, handheld transceivers,
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wired ethernet, wifi, or anything else that can carry a digital data stream. Hardware made for
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dedicated Reticulum use shall be as cheap as possible and use off-the-shelf components, so
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it can be easily replicated.
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* **Very low bandwidth requirements**
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Reticulum should be able to function reliably over links with a transmission capacity as low
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as *1,000 bps*.
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* **Encryption by default**
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Reticulum must use encryption by default where possible and applicable.
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* **Unlicensed use**
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Reticulum shall be functional over physical communication mediums that do not require any
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form of license to use. Reticulum must be designed in a way, so it is usable over ISM radio
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frequency bands, and can provide functional long distance links in such conditions, for example
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by connecting a modem to a PMR or CB radio, or by using LoRa or WiFi modules.
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* **Supplied software**
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Apart from the core networking stack and API, that allows a developer to build
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applications with Reticulum, a basic communication suite using Reticulum must be
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implemented and released at the same time as Reticulum itself. This shall serve both as a
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functional communication suite, and as an example and learning resource to others wishing
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to build applications with Reticulum.
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* **Ease of use**
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The reference implementation of Reticulum is written in Python, to make it easy to use
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and understand. A programmer with only basic experience should be able to use
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Reticulum in their own applications.
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* **Low cost**
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It shall be as cheap as possible to deploy a communication system based on Reticulum. This
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should be achieved by using cheap off-the-shelf hardware that potential users might already
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own. The cost of setting up a functioning node should be less than $100 even if all parts
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needs to be purchased.
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.. _understanding-basicfunctionality:
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Introduction & Basic Functionality
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==================================
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Reticulum is a networking stack suited for high-latency, low-bandwidth links. Reticulum is at it’s
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core a *message oriented* system. It is suited for both local point-to-point or point-to-multipoint
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scenarios where alle nodes are within range of each other, as well as scenarios where packets need
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to be transported over multiple hops to reach the recipient.
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Reticulum does away with the idea of addresses and ports known from IP, TCP and UDP. Instead
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Reticulum uses the singular concept of *destinations*. Any application using Reticulum as it’s
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networking stack will need to create one or more destinations to receive data, and know the
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destinations it needs to send data to.
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All destinations in Reticulum are represented internally as 10 bytes, derived from truncating a full
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SHA-256 hash of identifying characteristics of the destination. To users, the destination addresses
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will be displayed as 10 bytes in hexadecimal representation, as in the following example: ``<80e29bf7cccaf31431b3>``.
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By default Reticulum encrypts all data using public-key cryptography. Any message sent to a
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destination is encrypted with that destinations public key. Reticulum can also set up an encrypted
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channel to a destination with *Perfect Forward Secrecy* and *Initiator Anonymity* using a elliptic
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curve cryptography and ephemeral keys derived from a Diffie Hellman exchange on Curve25519. In
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Reticulum terminology, this is called a *Link*.
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Reticulum also offers symmetric key encryption for group-oriented communications, as well as
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unencrypted packets for broadcast purposes, or situations where you need the communication to be in
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plain text. The multi-hop transport, coordination, verification and reliability layers are fully
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autonomous and based on public key cryptography.
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Reticulum can connect to a variety of interfaces such as radio modems, data radios and serial ports,
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and offers the possibility to easily tunnel Reticulum traffic over IP links such as the Internet or
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private IP networks.
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.. _understanding-destinations:
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Destinations
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------------
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To receive and send data with the Reticulum stack, an application needs to create one or more
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destinations. Reticulum uses three different basic destination types, and one special:
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* **Single**
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The *single* destination type defines a public-key encrypted destination. Any data sent to this
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destination will be encrypted with the destination’s public key, and will only be readable by
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the creator of the destination.
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* **Group**
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The *group* destination type defines a symmetrically encrypted destination. Data sent to this
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destination will be encrypted with a symmetric key, and will be readable by anyone in
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possession of the key. The *group* destination can be used just as well by only two peers, as it
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can by many.
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* **Plain**
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A *plain* destination type is unencrypted, and suited for traffic that should be broadcast to a
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number of users, or should be readable by anyone. Traffic to a *plain* destination is not encrypted.
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* **Link**
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A *link* is a special destination type, that serves as an abstract channel to a *single*
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destination, directly connected or over multiple hops. The *link* also offers reliability and
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more efficient encryption, forward secrecy, initiator anonymity, and as such can be useful even
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when a node is directly reachable.
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.. _understanding-destinationnaming:
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Destination Naming
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Destinations are created and named in an easy to understand dotted notation of *aspects*, and
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represented on the network as a hash of this value. The hash is a SHA-256 truncated to 80 bits. The
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top level aspect should always be a unique identifier for the application using the destination.
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The next levels of aspects can be defined in any way by the creator of the application.
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Aspects can be as long and as plentiful as required, and a resulting long destination name will not
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impact efficiency, as names are always represented as truncated SHA-256 hashes on the network.
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As an example, a destination for a environmental monitoring application could be made up of the
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application name, a device type and measurement type, like this:
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.. code-block:: text
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app name : environmentlogger
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aspects : remotesensor, temperature
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full name : environmentlogger.remotesensor.temperature
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hash : fa7ddfab5213f916dea
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For the *single* destination, Reticulum will automatically append the associated public key as a
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destination aspect before hashing. This is done to ensure only the correct destination is reached,
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since anyone can listen to any destination name. Appending the public key ensures that a given
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packet is only directed at the destination that holds the corresponding private key to decrypt the
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packet.
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**Take note!** There is a very important concept to understand here:
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* Anyone can use the destination name ``environmentlogger.remotesensor.temperature``
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* Each destination that does so will still have a unique destination hash, and thus be uniquely
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addressable, because their public keys will differ.
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In actual use of *single* destination naming, it is advisable not to use any uniquely identifying
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features in aspect naming. Aspect names should be general terms describing what kind of destination
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is represented. The uniquely identifying aspect is always acheived by the appending the public key,
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which expands the destination into a uniquely identifyable one.
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Any destination on a Reticulum network can be addressed and reached simply by knowning its
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destination hash (and public key, but if the public key is not known, it can be requested from the
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network simply by knowing the destination hash). The use of app names and aspects makes it easy to
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structure Reticulum programs and makes it possible to filter what information and data your program
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receives.
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To recap, the different destination types should be used in the following situations:
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* **Single**
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When private communication between two endpoints is needed. Supports multiple hops.
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* **Group**
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When private communication between two or more endpoints is needed. Supports multiple hops
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indirectly, but must first be established through a *single* destination.
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* **Plain**
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When plain-text communication is desirable, for example when broadcasting information.
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To communicate with a *single* destination, you need to know it’s public key. Any method for
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obtaining the public key is valid, but Reticulum includes a simple mechanism for making other
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nodes aware of your destinations public key, called the *announce*. It is also possible to request
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an unknown public key from the network, as all participating nodes serve as a distributed ledger
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of public keys.
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Note that public key information can be shared and verified in many other ways than using the
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built-in *announce* functionality, and that it is therefore not required to use the announce/request
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functionality to obtain public keys. It is by far the easiest though, and should definitely be used
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if there is not a good reason for doing it differently.
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.. _understanding-keyannouncements:
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Public Key Announcements
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------------------------
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An *announce* will send a special packet over any configured interfaces, containing all needed
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information about the destination hash and public key, and can also contain some additional,
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application specific data. The entire packet is signed by the sender to ensure authenticity. It is not
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required to use the announce functionality, but in many cases it will be the simplest way to share
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public keys on the network. As an example, an announce in a simple messenger application might
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contain the following information:
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* The announcers destination hash
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* The announcers public key
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* Application specific data, in this case the users nickname and availability status
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* A random blob, making each new announce unique
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* An Ed25519 signature of the above information, verifying authenticity
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With this information, any Reticulum node that receives it will be able to reconstruct an outgoing
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destination to securely communicate with that destination. You might have noticed that there is one
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piece of information lacking to reconstruct full knowledge of the announced destination, and that is
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the aspect names of the destination. These are intentionally left out to save bandwidth, since they
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will be implicit in almost all cases. If a destination name is not entirely implicit, information can be
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included in the application specific data part that will allow the receiver to infer the naming.
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It is important to note that announces will be forwarded throughout the network according to a
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certain pattern. This will be detailed in the section
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:ref:`The Announce Mechanism in Detail<understanding-announce>`.
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Seeing how *single* destinations are always tied to a private/public key pair leads us to the next topic.
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.. _understanding-identities:
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Identities
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----------
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In Reticulum, an *identity* does not necessarily represent a personal identity, but is an abstraction that
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can represent any kind of *verified entity*. This could very well be a person, but it could also be the
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control interface of a machine, a program, robot, computer, sensor or something else entirely. In
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general, any kind of agent that can act, or be acted upon, or store or manipulate information, can be
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represented as an identity.
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As we have seen, a *single* destination will always have an *identity* tied to it, but not *plain* or *group*
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destinations. Destinations and identities share a multilateral connection. You can create a
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destination, and if it is not connected to an identity upon creation, it will just create a new one to use
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automatically. This may be desirable in some situations, but often you will probably want to create
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the identity first, and then link it to created destinations.
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Building upon the simple messenger example, we could use an identity to represent the user of the
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application. Destinations created will then be linked to this identity to allow communication to
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reach the user. In all cases it is of great importance to store the private keys associated with any
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Reticulum Identity securely and privately.
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.. _understanding-gettingfurther:
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Getting Further
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---------------
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The above functions and principles form the core of Reticulum, and would suffice to create
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functional networked applications in local clusters, for example over radio links where all interested
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nodes can directly hear each other. But to be truly useful, we need a way to direct traffic over multiple
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hops in the network.
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In the following sections, two concepts that allow this will be introduced, *paths* and *links*.
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.. _understanding-transport:
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Reticulum Transport
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===================
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The term routing has been purposefully avoided until now. The current methods of routing used in IP-based
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networks are fundamentally incompatible with the physical link types that Reticulum was designed to handle.
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These routing methodologies assume trust at the physical layer, and often needs a lot more bandwidth than
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Reticulum can assume is available.
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Since Reticulum is designed to run over open radio spectrum, no such trust exists, and bandwidth is often
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very limited. Existing routing protocols like BGP or OSPF carry too much overhead to be practically
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useable over bandwidth-limited, high-latency links.
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To overcome such challenges, Reticulum’s *Transport* system uses public-key cryptography to
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implement the concept of *paths* that allow discovery of how to get information to a certain
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destination. It is important to note that no single node in a Reticulum network knows the complete
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path to a destination. Every Transport node participating in a Reticulum network will only
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know what the most direct way to get a packet one hop closer to it's destination is.
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.. _understanding-announce:
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The Announce Mechanism in Detail
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--------------------------------
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When an *announce* is transmitted by a node, it will be forwarded by any node receiving it, but
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according to some specific rules:
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* | If this exact announce has already been received before, ignore it.
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* | If not, record into a table which node the announce was received from, and how many times in
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total it has been retransmitted to get here.
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* | If the announce has been retransmitted *m+1* times, it will not be forwarded. By default, *m* is
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set to 18.
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* | The announce will be assigned a delay *d* = c\ :sup:`h` seconds, where *c* is a decay constant, and *h* is the amount of times this packet has already been forwarded.
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* | The packet will be given a priority *p = 1/d*.
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* | If at least *d* seconds has passed since the announce was received, and no other packets with a
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priority higher than *p* are waiting in the queue (see Packet Prioritisation), and the channel is
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not utilized by other traffic, the announce will be forwarded.
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* | If no other nodes are heard retransmitting the announce with a greater hop count than when
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it left this node, transmitting it will be retried *r* times. By default, *r* is set to 1. Retries
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follow same rules as above, with the exception that it must wait for at least *d* = c\ :sup:`h+1` +
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t + rand(0, rw) seconds. This amount of time is equal to the amount of time it would take the next
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node to retransmit the packet, plus a random window. By default, *t* is set to 10 seconds, and the
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random window *rw* is set to 10 seconds.
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* | If a newer announce from the same destination arrives, while an identical one is already in
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the queue, the newest announce is discarded. If the newest announce contains different
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application specific data, it will replace the old announce, but will use *d* and *p* of the old
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announce.
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Once an announce has reached a node in the network, any other node in direct contact with that
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node will be able to reach the destination the announce originated from, simply by sending a packet
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addressed to that destination. Any node with knowledge of the announce will be able to direct the
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packet towards the destination by looking up the next node with the shortest amount of hops to the
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destination.
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According to these rules and default constants, an announce will propagate throughout the network
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in a predictable way. In an example network utilising the default constants, and with an average link
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distance of *Lavg =* 15 kilometers, an announce will be able to propagate outwards to a radius of 180
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kilometers in 34 minutes, and a *maximum announce radius* of 270 kilometers in approximately 3
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days.
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.. _understanding-paths:
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Reaching the Destination
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------------------------
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In networks with changing topology and trustless connectivity, nodes need a way to establish
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*verified connectivity* with each other. Since the network is assumed to be trustless, Reticulum
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must provide a way to guarantee that the peer you are communicating with is actually who you
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expect. Reticulum offers two ways to do this.
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For exchanges of small amounts of information, Reticulum offers the *Packet* API, which works exactly like you would expect - on a per packet level. The following process is employed when sending a packet:
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* | A packet is always created with an associated destination and some payload data. When the packet is sent
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to a *single* destination type, Reticulum will automatically create an ephemeral encryption key, perform
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an ECDH key exchange with the destinations public key, and encrypt the information.
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* | It is important to note that this key exchange does not require any network traffic. The sender already
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knows the public key of the destination from an earlier received *announce*, and can thus perform the ECDH
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key exchange locally, before sending the packet.
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* | The public part of the newly generated ephemeral key-pair is included with the encrypted token, and sent
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along with the encrypted payload data in the packet.
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* | When the destination receives the packet, it can itself perform an ECDH key exchange and decrypt the
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packet.
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* | A new ephemeral key is used for every packet sent in this way, and forward secrecy is guaranteed on a
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per packet level.
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* | Once the packet has been received and decrypted by the addressed destination, that destination can opt
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to *prove* its receipt of the packet. It does this by calculating the SHA-256 hash of the received packet,
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and signing this hash with it's Ed25519 signing key. Transport nodes in the network can then direct this
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*proof* back to the packets origin, where the signature can be verified against the destinations known
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public signing key.
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* | In case the packet is addressed to a *group* destination type, the packet will be encrypted with the
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pre-shared AES-128 key associated with the destination. In case the packet is addressed to a *plain*
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destination type, the payload data will not be encrypted. Neither of these two destination types offer
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forward secrecy. In general, it is recommended to always use the *single* destination type, unless it is
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strictly necessary to use one of the others.
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For exchanges of larger amounts of data, or when longer sessions of bidirectional communication is desired, Reticulum offers the *Link* API. To establish a *link*, the following process is employed:
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* | First, the node that wishes to establish a link will send out a special packet, that
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traverses the network and locates the desired destination. Along the way, the nodes that
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forward the packet will take note of this *link request*.
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* | Second, if the destination accepts the *link request* , it will send back a packet that proves the
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authenticity of it’s identity (and the receipt of the link request) to the initiating node. All
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nodes that initially forwarded the packet will also be able to verify this proof, and thus
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accept the validity of the *link* throughout the network.
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* | When the validity of the *link* has been accepted by forwarding nodes, these nodes will
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remember the *link* , and it can subsequently be used by referring to a hash representing it.
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* | As a part of the *link request* , a Diffie-Hellman key exchange takes place, that sets up an
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efficiently encrypted tunnel between the two nodes, using elliptic curve cryptography. As such,
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this mode of communication is preferred, even for situations when nodes can directly communicate,
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when the amount of data to be exchanged numbers in the tens of packets.
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* | When a *link* has been set up, it automatically provides message receipt functionality, through
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the same *proof* mechanism discussed before, so the sending node can obtain verified confirmation
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that the information reached the intended recipient.
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|
||
In a moment, we will discuss the details of how this methodology is implemented, but let’s first
|
||
recap what purposes this methodology serves. We first ensure that the node answering our request
|
||
is actually the one we want to communicate with, and not a malicious actor pretending to be so.
|
||
At the same time we establish an efficient encrypted channel. The setup of this is relatively cheap in
|
||
terms of bandwidth, so it can be used just for a short exchange, and then recreated as needed, which will
|
||
also rotate encryption keys. The link can also be kept alive for longer periods of time, if this is
|
||
more suitable to the application. The procedure also inserts the *link id* , a hash calculated from the link request packet, into the memory of forwarding nodes, which means that the communicating nodes can thereafter reach each other simply by referring to this *link id*.
|
||
|
||
The combined bandwidth cost of setting up a link is 3 packets totalling 237 bytes (more info in the
|
||
:ref:`Binary Packet Format<understanding-packetformat>` section). The amount of bandwidth used on keeping
|
||
a link open is practically negligible, at 0.62 bits per second. Even on a slow 1200 bits per second packet
|
||
radio channel, 100 concurrent links will still leave 95% channel capacity for actual data.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Link Establishment in Detail
|
||
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
||
|
||
After exploring the basics of the announce mechanism, finding a path through the network, and an overview
|
||
of the link establishment procedure, this section will go into greater detail about the Reticulum link
|
||
establishment process.
|
||
|
||
The *link* in Reticulum terminology should not be viewed as a direct node-to-node link on the
|
||
physical layer, but as an abstract channel, that can be open for any amount of time, and can span
|
||
an arbitrary number of hops, where information will be exchanged between two nodes.
|
||
|
||
|
||
* | When a node in the network wants to establish verified connectivity with another node, it
|
||
will randomly generate a new X25519 private/public key pair. It then creates a *link request*
|
||
packet, and broadcast it.
|
||
|
|
||
| *It should be noted that the X25519 public/private keypair mentioned above is two separate keypairs:
|
||
An encryption key pair, used for derivation of a shared symmetric key, and a signing key pair, used
|
||
for signing and verifying messages on the link. They are sent together over the wire, and can be
|
||
considered as single public key for simplicity in this explanation.*
|
||
|
||
* | The *link request* is addressed to the destination hash of the desired destination, and
|
||
contains the following data: The newly generated X25519 public key *LKi*.
|
||
|
||
* | The broadcasted packet will be directed through the network according to the rules laid out
|
||
previously.
|
||
|
||
* | Any node that forwards the link request will store a *link id* in it’s *link table* , along with the
|
||
amount of hops the packet had taken when received. The link id is a hash of the entire link
|
||
request packet. If the link request packet is not *proven* by the addressed destination within some
|
||
set amount of time, the entry will be dropped from the *link table* again.
|
||
|
||
* | When the destination receives the link request packet, it will decide whether to accept the request.
|
||
If it is accepted, the destination will also generate a new X25519 private/public key pair, and
|
||
perform a Diffie Hellman Key Exchange, deriving a new symmetric key that will be used to encrypt the
|
||
channel, once it has been established.
|
||
|
||
* | A *link proof* packet is now constructed and transmitted over the network. This packet is
|
||
addressed to the *link id* of the *link*. It contains the following data: The newly generated X25519
|
||
public key *LKr* and an Ed25519 signature of the *link id* and *LKr* made by the signing key of
|
||
the addressed destination.
|
||
|
||
* | By verifying this *link proof* packet, all nodes that originally transported the *link request*
|
||
packet to the destination from the originator can now verify that the intended destination received
|
||
the request and accepted it, and that the path they chose for forwarding the request was valid.
|
||
In sucessfully carrying out this verification, the transporting nodes marks the link as active.
|
||
An abstract bi-directional communication channel has now been established along a path in the network.
|
||
|
||
* | When the source receives the *proof* , it will know unequivocally that a verified path has been
|
||
established to the destination. It can now also use the X25519 public key contained in the
|
||
*link proof* to perform it's own Diffie Hellman Key Exchange and derive the symmetric key
|
||
that is used to encrypt the channel. Information can now be exchanged reliably and securely.
|
||
|
||
|
||
It’s important to note that this methodology ensures that the source of the request does not need to
|
||
reveal any identifying information about itself. The link initiator remains completely anonymous.
|
||
|
||
When using *links*, Reticulum will automatically verify all data sent over the link, and can also
|
||
automate retransmissions if *Resources* are used.
|
||
|
||
.. _understanding-resources:
|
||
|
||
Resources
|
||
---------
|
||
|
||
For exchanging small amounts of data over a Reticulum network, the :ref:`Packet<api-packet>` interface
|
||
is sufficient, but for exchanging data that would require many packets, an efficient way to coordinate
|
||
the transfer is needed.
|
||
|
||
This is the purpose of the Reticulum :ref:`Resource<api-resource>`. A *Resource* can automatically
|
||
handle the reliable transfer of an arbitrary amount of data over an established :ref:`Link<api-link>`.
|
||
Resources can auto-compress data, will handle breaking the data into individual packets, sequencing
|
||
the transfer and reassembling the data on the other end.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`Resources<api-resource>` are programmatically very simple to use, and only requires a few lines
|
||
of codes to reliably transfer any amount of data. They can be used to transfer data stored in memory,
|
||
or stream data directly from files.
|
||
|
||
.. _understanding-referencesystem:
|
||
|
||
Reference System Setup
|
||
======================
|
||
|
||
This section will detail the recommended *Reference System Setup* for Reticulum. It is important to
|
||
note that Reticulum is designed to be usable over more or less any medium that allows you to send
|
||
and receive data in a digital form, and satisfies some very low minimum requirements. The
|
||
communication channel must support at least half-duplex operation, and provide an average
|
||
throughput of around 1000 bits per second, and supports a physical layer MTU of 500 bytes. The
|
||
Reticulum software should be able to run on more or less any hardware that can provide a Python 3.x
|
||
runtime environment.
|
||
|
||
That being said, the reference setup has been outlined to provide a common platform for anyone
|
||
who wants to help in the development of Reticulum, and for everyone who wants to know a
|
||
recommended setup to get started. A reference system consists of three parts:
|
||
|
||
* **A channel access device**
|
||
Or *CAD* , in short, provides access to the physical medium whereupon the communication
|
||
takes place, for example a radio with an integrated modem. A setup with a separate modem
|
||
connected to a radio would also be termed a “channel access device”.
|
||
* **A host device**
|
||
Some sort of computing device that can run the necessary software, communicates with the
|
||
channel access device, and provides user interaction.
|
||
* **A software stack**
|
||
The software implementing the Reticulum protocol and applications using it.
|
||
|
||
The reference setup can be considered a relatively stable platform to develop on, and also to start
|
||
building networks on. While details of the implementation might change at the current stage of
|
||
development, it is the goal to maintain hardware compatibility for as long as entirely possible, and
|
||
the current reference setup has been determined to provide a functional platform for many years
|
||
into the future. The current Reference System Setup is as follows:
|
||
|
||
|
||
* **Channel Access Device**
|
||
A data radio consisting of a LoRa radio module, and a microcontroller with open source
|
||
firmware, that can connect to host devices via USB. It operates in either the 430, 868 or 900
|
||
MHz frequency bands. More details can be found on the `RNode Page <https://unsigned.io/rnode>`_.
|
||
* **Host device**
|
||
Any computer device running Linux and Python. A Raspberry Pi with a Debian based OS is
|
||
recommended.
|
||
* **Software stack**
|
||
The current Reference Implementation Release of Reticulum, running on a Debian based
|
||
operating system.
|
||
|
||
It is very important to note, that the reference channel access device **does not** use the LoRaWAN
|
||
standard, but uses a custom MAC layer on top of the plain LoRa modulation! As such, you will
|
||
need a plain LoRa radio module connected to an MCU with the correct firmware. Full details on how to
|
||
get or make such a device is available on the `RNode Page <https://unsigned.io/rnode>`_.
|
||
|
||
With the current reference setup, it should be possible to get on a Reticulum network for around 100$
|
||
even if you have none of the hardware already, and need to purchase everything.
|
||
|
||
.. _understanding-protocolspecifics:
|
||
|
||
Protocol Specifics
|
||
==================
|
||
|
||
This chapter will detail protocol specific information that is essential to the implementation of
|
||
Reticulum, but non critical in understanding how the protocol works on a general level. It should be
|
||
treated more as a reference than as essential reading.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Node Types
|
||
----------
|
||
|
||
Currently Reticulum defines two node types, the *Station* and the *Peer*. A node is a *station* if it fixed
|
||
in one place, and if it is intended to be kept online most of the time. Otherwise the node is a *peer*.
|
||
This distinction is made by the user configuring the node, and is used to determine what nodes on the
|
||
network will help forward traffic, and what nodes rely on other nodes for connectivity.
|
||
|
||
If a node is a *Peer* it should be given the configuration directive ``enable_transport = No``.
|
||
|
||
If it is a *Station*, it should be given the configuration directive ``enable_transport = Yes``.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Packet Prioritisation
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
Currently, Reticulum is completely priority-agnostic regarding general traffic. All traffic is handled
|
||
on a first-come, first-serve basis. Announce re-transmission are handled according to the re-transmission
|
||
times and priorities described earlier in this chapter.
|
||
|
||
It is possible that a prioritisation engine could be added to Reticulum in the future, but in
|
||
the light of Reticulums goal of equal access, doing so would need to be the subject of careful
|
||
investigation of the consequences first.
|
||
|
||
|
||
.. _understanding-packetformat:
|
||
|
||
Binary Packet Format
|
||
--------------------
|
||
|
||
.. code-block:: text
|
||
|
||
== Reticulum Wire Format ======
|
||
|
||
A Reticulum packet is composed of the following fields:
|
||
|
||
[HEADER 2 bytes] [ADDRESSES 10/20 bytes] [CONTEXT 1 byte] [DATA 0-477 bytes]
|
||
|
||
* The HEADER field is 2 bytes long.
|
||
* Byte 1: [Header Type], [Propagation Type], [Destination Type] and [Packet Type]
|
||
* Byte 2: Number of hops
|
||
|
||
* The ADDRESSES field contains either 1 or 2 addresses.
|
||
* Each address is 10 bytes long.
|
||
* The Header Type flag in the HEADER field determines
|
||
whether the ADDRESSES field contains 1 or 2 addresses.
|
||
* Addresses are Reticulum hashes truncated to 10 bytes.
|
||
|
||
* The CONTEXT field is 1 byte.
|
||
* It is used by Reticulum to determine packet context.
|
||
|
||
* The DATA field is between 0 and 477 bytes.
|
||
* It contains the packets data payload.
|
||
|
||
Header Types
|
||
-----------------
|
||
type 1 00 Two byte header, one 10 byte address field
|
||
type 2 01 Two byte header, two 10 byte address fields
|
||
type 3 10 Reserved
|
||
type 4 11 Reserved
|
||
|
||
|
||
Propagation Types
|
||
-----------------
|
||
broadcast 00
|
||
transport 01
|
||
reserved 10
|
||
reserved 11
|
||
|
||
|
||
Destination Types
|
||
-----------------
|
||
single 00
|
||
group 01
|
||
plain 10
|
||
link 11
|
||
|
||
|
||
Packet Types
|
||
-----------------
|
||
data 00
|
||
announce 01
|
||
link request 10
|
||
proof 11
|
||
|
||
|
||
+- Packet Example -+
|
||
|
||
HEADER FIELD ADDRESSES FIELD CONTEXT FIELD DATA FIELD
|
||
_______|_______ ________________|________________ ________|______ __|_
|
||
| | | | | | | |
|
||
01010000 00000100 [ADDR1, 10 bytes] [ADDR2, 10 bytes] [CONTEXT, 1 byte] [DATA]
|
||
| | | | |
|
||
| | | | +-- Hops = 4
|
||
| | | +------- Packet Type = DATA
|
||
| | +--------- Destination Type = SINGLE
|
||
| +----------- Propagation Type = TRANSPORT
|
||
+------------- Header Type = HEADER_2 (two byte header, two address fields)
|
||
|
||
|
||
+- Packet Example -+
|
||
|
||
HEADER FIELD ADDRESSES FIELD CONTEXT FIELD DATA FIELD
|
||
_______|_______ _______|_______ ________|______ __|_
|
||
| | | | | | | |
|
||
00000000 00000111 [ADDR1, 10 bytes] [CONTEXT, 1 byte] [DATA]
|
||
| | | | |
|
||
| | | | +-- Hops = 7
|
||
| | | +------- Packet Type = DATA
|
||
| | +--------- Destination Type = SINGLE
|
||
| +----------- Propagation Type = BROADCAST
|
||
+------------- Header Type = HEADER_1 (two byte header, one address field)
|
||
|
||
|
||
Size examples of different packet types
|
||
---------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
The following table lists example sizes of various
|
||
packet types. The size listed are the complete on-
|
||
wire size including all fields.
|
||
|
||
- Path Request : 33 bytes
|
||
- Announce : 151 bytes
|
||
- Link Request : 77 bytes
|
||
- Link Proof : 77 bytes
|
||
- Link RTT packet : 83 bytes
|
||
- Link keepalive : 14 bytes |