Published on: 2016-08-13T04:41:32+00:00
A proposal has been put forth to create a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) for the transmission of Bitcoin addresses over audio. This would involve encoding the binary representation of a Bitcoin address into an audible tone, allowing for easy transmission of the address. The proposal suggests including error correction mechanisms, but concerns have been raised about the efficiency of repeating the message multiple times for error recovery. As alternatives, trellis modulation or other convolutional codes have been suggested.To guide the development of this proposal, it has been recommended to study existing implementations of audio modems and consider selecting frequencies that are harmonics of each other to complicate detection due to nonlinear distortion. The Bell 202 and similar modem standards chose AFSK frequencies to minimize interference. Additionally, it has been proposed to define channel models to simulate different use cases and evaluate if the requirements have been met.Daniel Hoffman has made updates to a GitHub repository related to this proposal, providing changes and samples of both tone tables. However, a decoder is still needed to fully evaluate the viability of the proposal. Although some individuals on Reddit have expressed interest in conducting decoding experiments, the lack of a decoder means that it remains an idea rather than a formal proposal.Developing a decoder for noisy or distorted channels is expected to be the most complex part of the project and will heavily influence the design of the encoder. To assess its viability, Daniel needs to complete the entire system. Further research and experimentation are anticipated in this area.Another aspect of the proposal involves creating a standardized method for representing Bitcoin addresses over audio. The proposed protocol suggests chopping up the binary representation of the address into 4 or 2-bit chunks, depending on the quality of the audio, and generating tones based on these values. The intention is to make it easy for consumers to donate Bitcoins to podcasts they listen to. Some suggestions have been made to add additional tones to denote amounts in satoshis. However, there are considerations regarding making the signal detectable and easy to decode, while also ensuring it is pleasant to listen to and does not interfere with speech frequencies.The full specification of the BIP can be found on the proposer's GitHub page. Further research and experimentation are expected to be conducted in this area to fully evaluate the proposed method of representing Bitcoin addresses over audio.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T18:52:20.679598+00:00