March 28, 2022 - Bobcat pushed the latest OTA update at 20:00 PST on 3/25/2022.
The following updates occurred in this OTA:
Helium Miner Firmware updated to 2022.03.23.1_GA
Bobcat Miner Firmware bumped to 1.0.2.84 with no changes
This was a Helium Miner Firmware-only release, and was mandatory for all Hotspot Makers. This update allows the approved HIP 54 chain variable to be activated and ensures Hotspots can continue creating Challenges using the new H3Dex-based PoC targeting. All hotspot makers must upgrade their fleets by 12:00 UTC on 2022-03-29 per Helium request.
Important Changes You Should Know
According to Helium's engineering blog update, prior to this release, new Challenges were created every 475 blocks by Hotspots on the Helium blockchain. With over 600K Hotspots on the network and nearly 500K Hotspots creating those challenges, the network is trying to support almost 1,700 PoC transactions alone per block and over 2.4mm transactions per day. As a result, the network is currently bottlenecked on transaction processing. This is seen by payments taking longer to confirm, Hotspot onboarding taking longer, Oracle price submissions being rejected, and other transactions not clearing.
With this latest OTA, users will see less frequent POC activities. The Helium core developers have changed the PoC Interval from 475 to 950 blocks. This means Hotspots now PoC less often, however, total average rewards will remain unchanged.
What Does This Mean
For Hotspot Owners, you may see a reduction in daily PoC activity as we have seen before. Over a longer time frame, however, this activity will still be more consistent and reliable. It's also important to note, PoC rate has no effect on average individual Hotspot earnings, but may increase variability of rewards. This will help the chain process transactions more efficiently.
We strong recommend Bobbers to read the complete Helium Engineering Update below:
https://engineering.helium.com/2022/03/25/poc-interval-update.html
Download the Bobber App Now
The Bobber app is now available for download on the Apple App store and the Google Play store, so make sure you check it out!
Links to Frequently Asked OTA Questions
Make sure to explore our knowledge center to address the most frequently asked tech and non-tech questions. Also, follow us on Discord! It's a great place to get all the latest Bobcat news and there are several channels where you can find valuable community support.