Fully Distributed GRIDNET protocol, with no trusted authorities

Abstract

The flow of information among people in today's world is essential. People need to exchange data, but they also need to store larger chunks of data for future retrieval. Various business schemes have grown by feeding themselves on these assumptions. Some of them provide the needed infrastructure, such as, cables or wireless base stations in case of GSM/LTE networks, while others provide complementary storage capabilities (cloud storage services). In this paper, we introduce a Fully Distributed GRIDNET protocol (FD-GRIDNET). It facilitates a solution to a problem of motivating users to intercede in a data exchange. MANET/DTN networks were envisioned as a target environment, however we do not restrain our protocol by design only to such. FD-GRIDNET is the first fully distributed data exchange protocol, which rewards intermediaries with a cryptocurrency, one created on behalf of the described communication system itself. It constitutes a communication system with a closed economy cycle, where acting as a router earns cryptocurrency, which in turn can be used for one's own needs, such as, but not limited to - data transmission. Indeed, FD-GRIDNET can be said to facilitate a cryptocurrency of its own. It builds upon a proof-of-work concept, but introduces elements of proof-of-stake as well.