Mission

MOTIVATION

Universal Connectivity and Consensus Organization (UCCO.io)

The human race is at a fork in the road in which existential threats loom, even while innovation, the infinite resource [Naam], provides us with the key to avoid extinction level events [ELE] and strive towards a prosperous utopia. The current Internet is a technological marvel, gifting mankind with tools to innovate at an ever increasing exponential rate. We depend on such innovation if we are to survive and thrive as a species. However, the need for faster, quicker, and more ubiquitous communication continues to expand in scope, even bringing in everyday objects and machines. The current network architecture, which was built by corporations in order to maximize share-holder profits, is flawed, due to the centralized nature of the business model, and by the resulting centralized networks which have been created.

The next generation network architecture will not be another iteration on the previous one. It will be a revolutionary architecture, built from the ground-up, in a decentralized manner, incentivized by blockchain cryptocurrencies, powered by renewable transactive energy, and enabled by peer-to-peer Meshed communication. The new network will expand in scope, not merely supporting the exchange of information, but also of energy, goods, services, and quality-of-service (QoS) – In short, an Internet of Value (IoV). Some of us will witness the colonization of Mars, which, unfortunately, like many places on Earth, is barren in terms of an IoV Infrastructure to support a prosperous community.

Thus, the Universal Connectivity and Consensus Organization (UCCO.io) is formed in order to speed up the realization of such an IoV Infrastructure, to bring dignity and a sustainable livelihood for the 3.9 Billion people without internet access, 2 Billion people who are unbanked, and 1.2 Billion without access to electricity [Paygo].

UCCO is composed of SmartMesh, MeshBox, RSK,Dcntral, Mesh++,Stealth Grid and Matrix.

UCCO GOALS

An important goal of UCCO is to work towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). By providing efficient, affordable communications, renewable energy, artificial- intelligence-based control systems, all supported by blockchain financial technology, most of the SDGs can be addressed. The scope of UCCO is:

•   Universal: Inclusive of all peoples, from all classes, rich or poor, from all countries, even including future colonies on other planets.
•   Connectivity: People, smart devices, and objects are being connected in new ways. New standards for licensed and unlicensed spectrum (WIFI, Bluetooth, Millimeter, Microwave), Visible Light Communication (LIFI, Laser), etc, are needed because the current standards are not optimized for peer to peer connectivity. New standards will have a wide impact on communication protocols, security, and SoCs.
•   Consensus: The Exchange of value (currency, data, goods, energy, services, and QoS) between people and machine is facilitated by the IoV Infrastructure and cryptocurrencies. Distributed systems consisting of thousands and millions of entities are fault tolerant and resilient in the face of hacking malware, denial of service, and spam bots. Being able to efficiently and quickly

reach Consensus between such entities is important in order to be sure that the system behaves in a trustworthy, fair, and safe manner.

OLD BUSINESS MODELS CANNOT KEEP PACE

Our upcoming IoV Infrastructure will be enabled by emerging technologies including smart-grids, autonomous vehicles, augmented/virtual reality with tactile internet, eMedicine with remote procedures via robots, and financial transactions via cryptocurrencies.

To meet such challenges, our communication network must be revolutionized to support 40x more bandwidth, 100x to 1000x more connected devices, 1/10 the latency, 10x the density, all with decreased energy requirements! To support such a giant leap in technology, solutions such as 5G propose small- cells with Wifi offload, and Device-to-Device communication. However, Carriers, which are large corporate entities seeking to maximize profits first, will not easily embrace D2D because such communication cannot be easily monetized. There is a joke in the telecom industry that the current telecom system is primarily a billing system, which just happens to deliver packets as a by-product of their billing system. Such a system will be slow to advance the technology to the point which is necessary to support advanced technologies. Even if D2D becomes a high-priority for 5G, existing communication technology, including software control, software applications, hardware systems, and even SoCs are optimized for a centralized architecture and business model. It will be difficult for such corporations to break from their old business model, even as their model falls short of the monumental requirements in increased performance versus cost.

The answer will come from a grassroots, decentralized effort by people and organizations building the IoV Infrastructure. The ingredients of the IoV Infrastructure include.

•   Meshed Communication: Distributed, Meshed, peer-to-peer and IoT communication
•   Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Financial-Technology
•   Renewable Transactive Energy
•   Artificial-Intelligence based Security, with Real-time QoS ControlMESHED COMMUNICATIONThe traditional way for one smartphone to communication with another smartphone is to send the packets to a basestation, through the wireless core network and then through the wired core network, potentially through multiple carrier networks, through the data-center cloud which runs the social application, and then all the way back through the various hops to reach a friend’s smartphone which is sitting less than a meter from one’s smartphone. The latency and energy requirements for the traditional communication model is highly inefficient and illogical when the alternative is to just send the packets directly between the two smartphones. And yet, the traditional method makes the most money for Carriers, the ISPs, and the cloud hosting companies, and is thus the preferred way for such corporations. There is a movement towards Edge-computing, or the Fog, which will help to make the network more decentralized.The solution for some (not all) of the traffic use-cases is peer-to-peer Meshed-based communications, along with Edge-computing. For example, in an office or at a social event, it makes sense to send packets directly between cell phones, perhaps routed through Meshed access points which are also embedded in the crowd. In another example, ultra-low-latency communication such as for vehicle-to-

vehicle communication (e.g. adaptive cruise control and collision avoidance) can only occur between vehicles. There is no time for a person’s car to communicate with centralized basestation cell tower, and then back to the car directly in front of it which has slowed down abruptively.

In developing countries, rural areas, islands, and places with hilly terrain, it may be cost prohibitive to put in a traditional carrier network. Also, for natural disasters, and refugee migration scenarios, ad-hoc networks are needed quickly and there is not time to deploy conventional carrier networks. In such cases, Meshed Networks can be deployed quickly, and cost-effectively.

CRYPTOCURRENCY AND BLOCKCHAIN FINANCIAL-TECHNOLOGY

The current banking system has failed a large portion of the world’s population. These are the roughly 2 Billion unbanked individuals who operate in the Shadow Economy. Conventional banks will only loan money to people who can prove (through collateral) that they don’t need the loan in the first place. Our current financial system rewards those who have wealth with even more wealth, while the poor little to no hope of breaking out of their cycle of poverty. The problem is not only that the poor are not paid enough money, but that they are not empowered to be able to make a living for themselves. UCCO seeks to reverse this inequality and injustice, through a mechanism which amplifies the inherent spirit of entrepreneurship which exists in all people. Analogous to efforts such as those by Grameen bank [Grameen], UCCO enables the IoV Infrastructure, which enables and empowers peoples’ self- development and grassroots social enterprises.

UCCO is supported by an underlying SmartMesh distributed ledger with smart-contract support. SmartMesh is analogous to TCP/IP, except with Cryptocurrency tokens being transfers in order to convey value. True to the distributed nature of our IoV-based Infrastructure, no central carrier or entity will make a profit. Rather, people will share their resources, goods, services, and energy, and be rewarded with tokens. Instead of working for corporations which funnel most of the profits to the already wealthy shareholders, people will work for themselves as individual or small business entrepreneurs. Currently, hundreds of crypto-currencies with similar goals as UCCO are sprouting up. Rather than competing, we aim to establish the Atmosphere standard, which connects all tokens and allow switching between tokens.

RENEWABLE TRANSACTIVE ENERGY

The traditional Electric Power System (EPS) is described by the US Department of Energy as an Ultra- Large-Scale System-of-Systems. If this sounds complicated, “baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet!”. Future Smart Grid and Smart Cities will become even more complex.

The current EPS is primarily composed of centralized Utility Plants (coal, gas, nuclear) and a transmission and distribution network to the end consumers. Energy transmission is one-way and delivered just-in- time with no storage of energy along the path. All energy produced must match the energy consumed, on microsecond timescales. As such, small faults in frequency and voltage can easily occur, pushed over the tipping point by natural disasters, causing the entire system to crash, and leading to black-outs.

Recently, the penetration of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) such as hydro, geothermal, solar, wind, batteries, and supercapacitors is intensifying due to an exponential cost decrease; while the cost of traditional energy sources continues to rise. Rooftop solar will become cheaper than the transmission of electricity from Centralized Utilities by 2019 [Seba]. Thus, consumers of electricity will also be

producers of energy (Prosumers). This in turn enables the future Smart Grid, which supports peer-to- peer exchange of Energy between Prosumers, which is cheaper, more secure, and can be controlled by the people (versus a centralized authority, the Utility). UCCO seeks to support a Token-based marketplace for energy packet exchange as part of the IoV Infrastructure. Such a Transactive-Energy system allows people with solar panels and batteries (such as in their electric vehicle) to buy energy from the cheapest DER source, and sell their energy when they have excess.

A transactive energy system is composed of (1) Bi-directional Meshed Electrical Network, which can be either Grid connected, or an Islanded MicroGrid, (2) Meshed Communications Network for Blockchain and control, and (3) Realtime Control mechanism.

ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE BASED SECURITY WITH REAL-TIME QOS CONTROL

The IoV Infrastructure, which includes the Transactive Energy system is an Ultra-Large-Scale System-of- Systems. It is a Cyber-Physical system, with the accompanying host of mission-critical, safety, and security risks. IoV Infrastructure resources (Energy generated, available goods and services, etc.) stochastically vary with the weather and the whims of individuals owning such resources. A control system which manages the IoV Infrastructure’s producers and consumers (whether humans or machines) must be based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine-Learning (ML), and Big-Data (BD) in order to comprehend the complexity and react safely and effectively in the face of unpredictable events.

UCCO seeks to develop an IoV Infrastucture which is fault tolerant and secure to a wide range of cyber and physical threats such as hacking malware, denial of service, spambots, and hardware hacking, just to name a few examples.

LAUNCH OF UCCO

UCCO brings together like-minded people and organizations, to work together, through consensus, to forge the standards, best-practices, and regulations needed to bring about our new IoV Infrastructure of social enterprises, finance, energy, and communication between people and machines. We aim to promote and realize a bright future, where universal and diverse peoples can be connected, enjoy an IoV Infrastucture, contribute, share, and help one other, while living a purpose-filled life.

REFERENCES

[ELE] Gerardo Ceballos, Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction. June, 2015.

[Naam] Ramez Naam, The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet, April, 2013

[Grameen] Mohammad Yunus, A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions, September 2017.

[Seba] James Arbib and Tony Seba, Rethinking Transportation 2020-2030, The Disruption of Transportation and the Collapse of the Internal-Combustion Vehicle and Oil Industries. May 2017

[Paygo] UN Climate Change Newsroom, Using Pay-As-You-Go Solar Home Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, March, 2017