New Kind of Network

New Kind of Network (NKN) is a public blockchain project initiated in January 2018 by a team of founders with extensive experience in networking and blockchain technology. The founding team, composed of Yanbo Li, Zheng "Bruce" Li, and Yilun Zhang, brings a wealth of knowledge from their previous roles at major tech companies like Google, Nokia, and Qualcomm. Yanbo Li has a background in developing P2P and mesh networking protocols. Zheng "Bruce" Li has over two decades of experience in the telecommunications sector, including positions at Google, Nortel, and Nokia. Yilun Zhang, the CTO, holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, San Diego. The project is supported by notable advisors, including Whitfield Diffie, the inventor of public-key cryptography, and Stephen Wolfram, the creator of Mathematica.

NKN is structured as a peer-to-peer network connectivity protocol that leverages blockchain to create a decentralized and shared internet. The core business model revolves around incentivizing users to share their unused network bandwidth. This model tokenizes network connectivity and data transmission, positioning NKN as a decentralized alternative to traditional, centralized telecommunication services. The company's revenue is generated through the use of its native utility token, NKN, which facilitates transactions, pays for data transmission, and covers fees for blockchain operations within the ecosystem. The target market includes application developers, who can build on the NKN infrastructure without needing to manage the underlying network details, and enterprise clients requiring enhanced network performance and security for applications in areas like IoT, gaming, and secure remote access.

The network operates on a unique consensus mechanism called Proof-of-Relay (PoR), a variation of Proof-of-Work, where participants are rewarded for relaying data across the network. This system is designed to be highly scalable, capable of supporting millions of nodes, with network throughput increasing as more nodes join. NKN has developed several key products, including nConnect for secure remote access to files and applications, and nMobile, a decentralized messaging and wallet application. These products utilize the NKN network to offer end-to-end encrypted communication without relying on centralized servers, thereby enhancing user privacy and security. Another offering is a new kind of Content Delivery Network (nCDN), which demonstrated significant performance improvements in tests with partners like China Mobile. NKN's platform supports developers using various popular programming languages, aiming to lower the barrier for creating decentralized applications (dApps).

Keywords: peer-to-peer network, blockchain connectivity, decentralized internet, network bandwidth sharing, Proof-of-Relay, NKN token, Web3 communication, decentralized applications, nConnect, nMobile, nCDN, network virtualization, data transmission, Yanbo Li, Zheng Li, Yilun Zhang, decentralized data relay, network tokenization, utility token, secure remote access, peer-to-peer messaging, network infrastructure, Cellular Automata, Chord DHT