“A proposal to incentivize meshnets using blockchain tech: Let’s decentralize internet infrastructure and fight back against the FCC” was posed on reddit a few months ago.
It’s an interesting read and I found the link in a relevant thread on /r/DarkNetPlan.
These proposals are focused on fixed wifi but some of the ideas might be relevant when thinking about incentives for mobile mesh networks also.
So far I have this:
Master nodes carry the full chain and can piece together shards. If a shard doesn’t fit with all of its siblings logs, it is ignored and that device will become forked. Payments for using the network will be distributed to the nodes by giving shares. (Bitcoin people will recognize this from mining pools where the shares represent a percent of the pools rewards) Shards need only upload their logs of routing information to a master node when trying to obtain payment which (For the sake of keeping the network clear of data as much as possible) should only be allowed once per month.
I would like to add also, that a routing algorithm should be shared among the nodes which will always choose the path of the highest speed to include remembering times that certain paths may be bogged down.
I’m working hard coming up with the perfect system (to include during sleep cycles and showers) and look forward to your feedback on the matter.
