Open Protocol · v2.0 · Free to Implement
The best wire for transmissions near and far.
A compact, self-describing binary protocol for any medium — from a sensor
on a factory floor to an account ledger in orbit.
01 — What It Is
BitPads is a binary framing protocol. It takes any signal — a temperature reading, a financial transaction, a machine command, a time reference — and wraps it in one to four bytes of precise, self-contained metadata. No negotiation. No schema files. No preamble. The header tells every listener exactly what category of data is arriving, which protocol layer applies, and how to decode what follows.
WAVE MODE
A single byte can carry a complete, routable signal. Wave mode transmits category, intent, and acknowledgement request in one byte — optimised for real-time telemetry, alerts, and status broadcasts where every microsecond and every bit counts.
RECORD MODE
When structure is needed, Record mode activates the full component system — identity blocks, time references, value encoding, signal slots, and extension bytes. Complexity attaches precisely where it is required. Absent modules cost zero bits.
LAYER 3 — BITLEDGER
BitLedger encodes a complete double-entry financial transaction in 40 bits:
a 25-bit value block, 7 integrity flags, and an 8-bit account pair. The formula
N = A × 2S + r
achieves sub-cent precision without floating point.
ENHANCEMENT GRAMMAR
C0 control codes gain a 3-bit Presence/Addressing/Context flag layer. Twenty-nine unconditional controls become context-aware signals across 13 named signal slots — enabling rich, auditable command sequences without added framing overhead.
Visual 01 — Protocol Layer Stack
02 — Why It Matters
Protocol overhead is never free. In low-bandwidth radio links, embedded microcontrollers, satellite uplinks, and high-frequency industrial buses, every extraneous byte has a cost. BitPads eliminates that cost without eliminating structure — delivering a protocol that fits the economics of both a warehouse scanner and a deep-space transponder.
Machine telemetry, sensor arrays, PLC command buses. Wave mode delivers status, alert, and command signals in a single byte — no TCP handshake, no JSON parsing, no schema file on device.
BitLedger's 40-bit transaction carries a complete double-entry record — value, rounding flag, account pair, and integrity check — across any transport without floating-point ambiguity or schema drift.
Bandwidth across orbital or deep-space links is finite and expensive. BitPads compresses an identity-verified, time-referenced transaction to under 20 bytes — a complete record that survives any delay-tolerant network.
Structured observation data — vital signs, dosage events, device state — with built-in identity attribution, time reference, and integrity checks. HIPAA-aware by design: sender ID is always verifiable.
From warehouse scan-gun to point-of-sale, BitLedger encodes every debit, credit, and transfer in a single transmissible record — auditable, reproducible, and compact enough for RFID and BLE.
No runtime negotiation. No schema server. A BitPads decoder is a deterministic state machine — implementable on bare metal, in WASM, in a browser, or on a microcontroller with kilobytes of RAM.
Click any bit segment to inspect its field definition
03 — Precision by Design
BitPads is not a platform. It is a specification — formally defined, openly published, and designed so that a competent engineer can write a conformant decoder in an afternoon. The CLI reference implementation ships with every primitive. The standard is the source of truth.
Every BitPads frame declares one of sixteen wave categories in Meta Byte 1 bits 5–8. The category tells the receiver — before any payload arrives — what domain of information is in transit. Hover to inspect.
04 — Implement & Experiment
Three repositories. One specification. Zero barriers to a working implementation.
The assembly-line CLI. Encode, decode, and transmit BitPads frames from the command line. Every primitive, every layer, one tool.
The canonical specification. Wire format, layer definitions, account archetypes, value encoding, and conformance requirements.
The hub for the open protocol ecosystem — issues, RFCs, community implementations, and the roadmap for what comes next.