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<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>Understanding Reticulum &#8212; Reticulum Network Stack 0.3.3 beta documentation</title>
<title>Understanding Reticulum &#8212; Reticulum Network Stack 0.3.4 beta documentation</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_static/pygments.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_static/classic.css" />
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
<li class="right" >
<a href="interfaces.html" title="Supported Interfaces"
accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-0"><a href="index.html">Reticulum Network Stack 0.3.3 beta documentation</a> &#187;</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-0"><a href="index.html">Reticulum Network Stack 0.3.4 beta documentation</a> &#187;</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-this"><a href="">Understanding Reticulum</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
@@ -334,14 +334,26 @@ hops in the network.</p>
networks are fundamentally incompatible with the physical link types that Reticulum was designed to handle.
These routing methodologies assume trust at the physical layer, and often needs a lot more bandwidth than
Reticulum can assume is available.</p>
<p>Since Reticulum is designed to run over open radio spectrum, no such trust exists, and bandwidth is often
very limited. Existing routing protocols like BGP or OSPF carry too much overhead to be practically
<p>Since Reticulum is designed to survive running over open radio spectrum, no such trust exists, and bandwidth
is often very limited. Existing routing protocols like BGP or OSPF carry too much overhead to be practically
useable over bandwidth-limited, high-latency links.</p>
<p>To overcome such challenges, Reticulum’s <em>Transport</em> system uses public-key cryptography to
implement the concept of <em>paths</em> that allow discovery of how to get information to a certain
implement the concept of <em>paths</em> that allow discovery of how to get information closer to a certain
destination. It is important to note that no single node in a Reticulum network knows the complete
path to a destination. Every Transport node participating in a Reticulum network will only
know what the most direct way to get a packet one hop closer to it’s destination is.</p>
<div class="section" id="node-types">
<span id="understanding-nodetypes"></span><h3>Node Types<a class="headerlink" href="#node-types" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
<p>Currently, Reticulum distinguishes between two types of network nodes. All nodes on a Reticulum network
are <em>Reticulum Instances</em>, and some are alo <em>Transport Nodes</em>. If a system running Reticulum is fixed in
one place, and is intended to be kept available most of the time, it can be a <em>Transport Node</em>, by enabling
it in the configuration.</p>
<p>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 wider connectivity.</p>
<p>If a node is a <em>Instance</em> it should be given the configuration directive <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">enable_transport</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">No</span></code>, which
is the default setting.</p>
<p>If it is a <em>Transport Node</em>, it should be given the configuration directive <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">enable_transport</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">Yes</span></code>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="the-announce-mechanism-in-detail">
<span id="understanding-announce"></span><h3>The Announce Mechanism in Detail<a class="headerlink" href="#the-announce-mechanism-in-detail" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
<p>When an <em>announce</em> is transmitted by a node, it will be forwarded by any node receiving it, but
@@ -358,7 +370,7 @@ total it has been retransmitted to get here.</div>
</li>
<li><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">If the announce has been retransmitted <em>m+1</em> times, it will not be forwarded. By default, <em>m</em> is
set to 18.</div>
set to 128.</div>
</div>
</li>
<li><div class="line-block">
@@ -371,7 +383,7 @@ set to 18.</div>
</li>
<li><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">If at least <em>d</em> seconds has passed since the announce was received, and no other packets with a
priority higher than <em>p</em> are waiting in the queue (see Packet Prioritisation), and the channel is
priority higher than <em>p</em> are waiting in the queue, and the channel is
not utilized by other traffic, the announce will be forwarded.</div>
</div>
</li>
@@ -398,10 +410,13 @@ addressed to that destination. Any node with knowledge of the announce will be a
packet towards the destination by looking up the next node with the shortest amount of hops to the
destination.</p>
<p>According to these rules and default constants, an announce will propagate throughout the network
in a predictable way. In an example network utilising the default constants, and with an average link
distance of <em>Lavg =</em> 15 kilometers, an announce will be able to propagate outwards to a radius of 180
kilometers in 34 minutes, and a <em>maximum announce radius</em> of 270 kilometers in approximately 3
days.</p>
in a predictable way.</p>
<p>As an example, in a network based only on radio transceivers with an average link distance of 15
kilometers, an announce will be able to propagate outwards over 12 hops, to a radius of 180
kilometers, in approximately 20 minutes.</p>
<p>The design and constants of the decay and delay functionality in the announce propagation is subject
to change and optimisation as real-world usage is explored. The announce propagation speed can be
increased at the cost of increased bandwidth consumption.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="reaching-the-destination">
<span id="understanding-paths"></span><h3>Reaching the Destination<a class="headerlink" href="#reaching-the-destination" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
@@ -657,15 +672,6 @@ even if you have none of the hardware already, and need to purchase everything.<
<p>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.</p>
<div class="section" id="node-types">
<h3>Node Types<a class="headerlink" href="#node-types" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
<p>Currently Reticulum defines two node types, the <em>Station</em> and the <em>Peer</em>. A node is a <em>station</em> if it fixed
in one place, and if it is intended to be kept online most of the time. Otherwise the node is a <em>peer</em>.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>If a node is a <em>Peer</em> it should be given the configuration directive <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">enable_transport</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">No</span></code>.</p>
<p>If it is a <em>Station</em>, it should be given the configuration directive <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">enable_transport</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">Yes</span></code>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="packet-prioritisation">
<h3>Packet Prioritisation<a class="headerlink" href="#packet-prioritisation" title="Permalink to this headline"></a></h3>
<p>Currently, Reticulum is completely priority-agnostic regarding general traffic. All traffic is handled
@@ -798,6 +804,7 @@ proof 11
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#reticulum-transport">Reticulum Transport</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#node-types">Node Types</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#the-announce-mechanism-in-detail">The Announce Mechanism in Detail</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#reaching-the-destination">Reaching the Destination</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#link-establishment-in-detail">Link Establishment in Detail</a></li>
@@ -808,7 +815,6 @@ proof 11
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#reference-system-setup">Reference System Setup</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#protocol-specifics">Protocol Specifics</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#node-types">Node Types</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#packet-prioritisation">Packet Prioritisation</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#binary-packet-format">Binary Packet Format</a></li>
</ul>
@@ -856,7 +862,7 @@ proof 11
<li class="right" >
<a href="interfaces.html" title="Supported Interfaces"
>previous</a> |</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-0"><a href="index.html">Reticulum Network Stack 0.3.3 beta documentation</a> &#187;</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-0"><a href="index.html">Reticulum Network Stack 0.3.4 beta documentation</a> &#187;</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-this"><a href="">Understanding Reticulum</a></li>
</ul>
</div>