272 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
272 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
# Ethereum Altair networking specification
|
|
|
|
This document contains the networking specification for Ethereum 2.0 clients added during the Altair deployment.
|
|
This document should be viewed as additive to the [document from Phase 0](../phase0/p2p-interface.md) and will be referred to as the "Phase 0 document" hereafter.
|
|
Readers should understand the Phase 0 document and use it as a basis to understand the changes outlined in this document.
|
|
|
|
Altair adds new messages, topics and data to the Req-Resp, Gossip and Discovery domain. Some Phase 0 features will be deprecated, but not removed immediately.
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Table of contents
|
|
|
|
<!-- TOC -->
|
|
<!-- START doctoc generated TOC please keep comment here to allow auto update -->
|
|
<!-- DON'T EDIT THIS SECTION, INSTEAD RE-RUN doctoc TO UPDATE -->
|
|
|
|
- [Warning](#warning)
|
|
- [Modifications in Altair](#modifications-in-altair)
|
|
- [MetaData](#metadata)
|
|
- [The gossip domain: gossipsub](#the-gossip-domain-gossipsub)
|
|
- [Topics and messages](#topics-and-messages)
|
|
- [Global topics](#global-topics)
|
|
- [`beacon_block`](#beacon_block)
|
|
- [`sync_committee_contribution_and_proof`](#sync_committee_contribution_and_proof)
|
|
- [Sync committee subnets](#sync-committee-subnets)
|
|
- [`sync_committee_{subnet_id}`](#sync_committee_subnet_id)
|
|
- [Sync committees and aggregation](#sync-committees-and-aggregation)
|
|
- [Transitioning the gossip](#transitioning-the-gossip)
|
|
- [The Req/Resp domain](#the-reqresp-domain)
|
|
- [Req-Resp interaction](#req-resp-interaction)
|
|
- [`ForkDigest`-context](#forkdigest-context)
|
|
- [Messages](#messages)
|
|
- [BeaconBlocksByRange v2](#beaconblocksbyrange-v2)
|
|
- [BeaconBlocksByRoot v2](#beaconblocksbyroot-v2)
|
|
- [GetMetaData v2](#getmetadata-v2)
|
|
- [Transitioning from v1 to v2](#transitioning-from-v1-to-v2)
|
|
- [The discovery domain: discv5](#the-discovery-domain-discv5)
|
|
|
|
<!-- END doctoc generated TOC please keep comment here to allow auto update -->
|
|
<!-- /TOC -->
|
|
|
|
## Warning
|
|
|
|
This document is currently illustrative for early Altair testnets and some parts are subject to change.
|
|
Refer to the note in the [validator guide](./validator.md) for further details.
|
|
|
|
# Modifications in Altair
|
|
|
|
## MetaData
|
|
|
|
The `MetaData` stored locally by clients is updated with an additional field to communicate the sync committee subnet subscriptions:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
(
|
|
seq_number: uint64
|
|
attnets: Bitvector[ATTESTATION_SUBNET_COUNT]
|
|
syncnets: Bitvector[SYNC_COMMITTEE_SUBNET_COUNT]
|
|
)
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Where
|
|
|
|
- `seq_number` and `attnets` have the same meaning defined in the Phase 0 document.
|
|
- `syncnets` is a `Bitvector` representing the node's sync committee subnet subscriptions. This field should mirror the data in the node's ENR as outlined in the [validator guide](./validator.md#sync-committee-subnet-stability).
|
|
|
|
## The gossip domain: gossipsub
|
|
|
|
Gossip meshes are added in Altair to support the consensus activities of the sync committees.
|
|
Validators use an aggregation scheme to balance the processing and networking load across all of the relevant actors.
|
|
|
|
### Topics and messages
|
|
|
|
Topics follow the same specification as in the Phase 0 document.
|
|
New topics are added in Altair to support the sync committees and the beacon block topic is updated with the modified type.
|
|
|
|
The specification around the creation, validation, and dissemination of messages has not changed from the Phase 0 document.
|
|
|
|
The new topics along with the type of the `data` field of a gossipsub message are given in this table:
|
|
|
|
| Name | Message Type |
|
|
| - | - |
|
|
| `beacon_block` | `SignedBeaconBlock` (modified) |
|
|
| `sync_committee_contribution_and_proof` | `SignedContributionAndProof` |
|
|
| `sync_committee_{subnet_id}` | `SyncCommitteeSignature` |
|
|
|
|
Definitions of these new types can be found in the [Altair validator guide](./validator.md#containers).
|
|
|
|
Note that the `ForkDigestValue` path segment of the topic separates the old and the new `beacon_block` topics.
|
|
|
|
#### Global topics
|
|
|
|
Altair changes the type of the global beacon block topic and adds one global topic to propagate partially aggregated sync committee signatures to all potential proposers of beacon blocks.
|
|
|
|
##### `beacon_block`
|
|
|
|
The existing specification for this topic does not change from the Phase 0 document,
|
|
but the type of the payload does change to the (modified) `SignedBeaconBlock`.
|
|
This type changes due to the inclusion of the inner `BeaconBlockBody` that is modified in Altair.
|
|
|
|
See the [state transition document](./beacon-chain.md#beaconblockbody) for Altair for further details.
|
|
|
|
##### `sync_committee_contribution_and_proof`
|
|
|
|
This topic is used to propagate partially aggregated sync committee signatures to be included in future blocks.
|
|
|
|
The following validations MUST pass before forwarding the `signed_contribution_and_proof` on the network; define `contribution_and_proof = signed_contribution_and_proof.message`, `contribution = contribution_and_proof.contribution`, and the following function `get_sync_subcommittee_pubkeys` for convenience:
|
|
|
|
```python
|
|
def get_sync_subcommittee_pubkeys(state: BeaconState, subcommittee_index: uint64) -> Sequence[BLSPubkey]:
|
|
sync_subcommittee_size = SYNC_COMMITTEE_SIZE // SYNC_COMMITTEE_SUBNET_COUNT
|
|
i = subcommittee_index * sync_subcommittee_size
|
|
return state.current_sync_committee.pubkeys[i:i + sync_subcommittee_size]
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
- _[IGNORE]_ The contribution's slot is for the current slot, i.e. `contribution.slot == current_slot`.
|
|
- _[IGNORE]_ The block being signed over (`contribution.beacon_block_root`) has been seen (via both gossip and non-gossip sources).
|
|
- _[REJECT]_ The subcommittee index is in the allowed range, i.e. `contribution.subcommittee_index < SYNC_COMMITTEE_SUBNET_COUNT`.
|
|
- _[IGNORE]_ The sync committee contribution is the first valid contribution received for the aggregator with index `contribution_and_proof.aggregator_index` for the slot `contribution.slot` and subcommittee index `contribution.subcommittee_index`.
|
|
- _[REJECT]_ `contribution_and_proof.selection_proof` selects the validator as an aggregator for the slot -- i.e. `is_sync_committee_aggregator(contribution_and_proof.selection_proof)` returns `True`.
|
|
- _[REJECT]_ The aggregator's validator index is in the declared subcommittee of the current sync committee --
|
|
i.e. `state.validators[contribution_and_proof.aggregator_index].pubkey in get_sync_subcommittee_pubkeys(state, contribution.subcommittee_index)`.
|
|
- _[REJECT]_ The `contribution_and_proof.selection_proof` is a valid signature of the `SyncAggregatorSelectionData` derived from the `contribution` by the validator with index `contribution_and_proof.aggregator_index`.
|
|
- _[REJECT]_ The aggregator signature, `signed_contribution_and_proof.signature`, is valid.
|
|
- _[REJECT]_ The aggregate signature is valid for the message `beacon_block_root` and aggregate pubkey derived from the participation info in `aggregation_bits` for the subcommittee specified by the `contribution.subcommittee_index`.
|
|
|
|
#### Sync committee subnets
|
|
|
|
Sync committee subnets are used to propagate unaggregated sync committee signatures to subsections of the network.
|
|
|
|
##### `sync_committee_{subnet_id}`
|
|
|
|
The `sync_committee_{subnet_id}` topics are used to propagate unaggregated sync committee signatures to the subnet `subnet_id` to be aggregated before being gossiped to the global `sync_committee_contribution_and_proof` topic.
|
|
|
|
The following validations MUST pass before forwarding the `sync_committee_signature` on the network:
|
|
|
|
- _[IGNORE]_ The signature's slot is for the current slot, i.e. `sync_committee_signature.slot == current_slot`.
|
|
- _[IGNORE]_ The block being signed over (`sync_committee_signature.beacon_block_root`) has been seen (via both gossip and non-gossip sources).
|
|
- _[IGNORE]_ There has been no other valid sync committee signature for the declared `slot` for the validator referenced by `sync_committee_signature.validator_index`.
|
|
- _[REJECT]_ The `subnet_id` is valid for the given validator, i.e. `subnet_id in compute_subnets_for_sync_committee(state, sync_committee_signature.validator_index)`.
|
|
Note this validation implies the validator is part of the broader current sync committee along with the correct subcommittee.
|
|
- _[REJECT]_ The `signature` is valid for the message `beacon_block_root` for the validator referenced by `validator_index`.
|
|
|
|
#### Sync committees and aggregation
|
|
|
|
The aggregation scheme closely follows the design of the attestation aggregation scheme.
|
|
Sync committee signatures are broadcast into "subnets" defined by a topic.
|
|
The number of subnets is defined by `SYNC_COMMITTEE_SUBNET_COUNT` in the [Altair validator guide](./validator.md#constants).
|
|
Sync committee members are divided into "subcommittees" which are then assigned to a subnet for the duration of tenure in the sync committee.
|
|
Individual validators can be duplicated in the broader sync committee such that they are included multiple times in a given subcommittee or across multiple subcommittees.
|
|
|
|
Unaggregated signatures (along with metadata) are sent as `SyncCommitteeSignature`s on the `sync_committee_{subnet_id}` topics.
|
|
|
|
Aggregated sync committee signatures are packaged into (signed) `SyncCommitteeContribution` along with proofs and gossiped to the `sync_committee_contribution_and_proof` topic.
|
|
|
|
### Transitioning the gossip
|
|
|
|
With any fork, the fork version, and thus the `ForkDigestValue`, change.
|
|
Message types are unique per topic, and so for a smooth transition a node must temporarily subscribe to both the old and new topics.
|
|
|
|
The topics that are not removed in a fork are updated with a new `ForkDigestValue`. In advance of the fork, a node SHOULD subscribe to the post-fork variants of the topics.
|
|
|
|
Subscriptions are expected to be well-received, all updated nodes should subscribe as well.
|
|
Topic-meshes can be grafted quickly as the nodes are already connected and exchanging gossip control messages.
|
|
|
|
Messages SHOULD NOT be re-broadcast from one fork to the other.
|
|
A node's behavior before the fork and after the fork are as follows:
|
|
Pre-fork:
|
|
- Peers who propagate messages on the post-fork topics MAY be scored negatively proportionally to time till fork,
|
|
to account for clock discrepancy.
|
|
- Messages can be IGNORED on the post-fork topics, with a `MAXIMUM_GOSSIP_CLOCK_DISPARITY` margin.
|
|
|
|
Post-fork:
|
|
- Peers who propagate messages on the pre-fork topics MUST NOT be scored negatively. Lagging IWANT may force them to.
|
|
- Messages on pre and post-fork variants of topics share application-level caches.
|
|
E.g. an attestation on the both the old and new topic is ignored like any duplicate.
|
|
- Two epochs after the fork, pre-fork topics SHOULD be unsubscribed from. This is well after the configured `seen_ttl`.
|
|
|
|
## The Req/Resp domain
|
|
|
|
### Req-Resp interaction
|
|
|
|
An additional `<context-bytes>` field is introduced to the `response_chunk` as defined in the Phase 0 document:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
response_chunk ::= <result> | <context-bytes> | <encoding-dependent-header> | <encoded-payload>
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
All Phase 0 methods are compatible: `<context-bytes>` is empty by default.
|
|
On a non-zero `<result>` with `ErrorMessage` payload, the `<context-bytes>` is also empty.
|
|
|
|
In Altair and later forks, `<context-bytes>` functions as a short meta-data,
|
|
defined per req-resp method, and can parametrize the payload decoder.
|
|
|
|
#### `ForkDigest`-context
|
|
|
|
Starting with Altair, and in future forks, SSZ type definitions may change.
|
|
For this common case, we define the `ForkDigest`-context:
|
|
|
|
A fixed-width 4 byte `<context-bytes>`, set to the `ForkDigest` matching the chunk:
|
|
`compute_fork_digest(fork_version, genesis_validators_root)`.
|
|
|
|
### Messages
|
|
|
|
#### BeaconBlocksByRange v2
|
|
|
|
**Protocol ID:** `/eth2/beacon_chain/req/beacon_blocks_by_range/2/`
|
|
|
|
Request and Response remain unchanged. A `ForkDigest`-context is used to select the fork namespace of the Response type.
|
|
|
|
Per `context = compute_fork_digest(fork_version, genesis_validators_root)`:
|
|
|
|
[0]: # (eth2spec: skip)
|
|
|
|
| `fork_version` | Chunk SSZ type |
|
|
| ------------------------ | -------------------------- |
|
|
| `GENESIS_FORK_VERSION` | `phase0.SignedBeaconBlock` |
|
|
| `ALTAIR_FORK_VERSION` | `altair.SignedBeaconBlock` |
|
|
|
|
#### BeaconBlocksByRoot v2
|
|
|
|
**Protocol ID:** `/eth2/beacon_chain/req/beacon_blocks_by_root/2/`
|
|
|
|
Request and Response remain unchanged. A `ForkDigest`-context is used to select the fork namespace of the Response type.
|
|
|
|
Per `context = compute_fork_digest(fork_version, genesis_validators_root)`:
|
|
|
|
[1]: # (eth2spec: skip)
|
|
|
|
| `fork_version` | Chunk SSZ type |
|
|
| ------------------------ | -------------------------- |
|
|
| `GENESIS_FORK_VERSION` | `phase0.SignedBeaconBlock` |
|
|
| `ALTAIR_FORK_VERSION` | `altair.SignedBeaconBlock` |
|
|
|
|
#### GetMetaData v2
|
|
|
|
**Protocol ID:** `/eth2/beacon_chain/req/metadata/2/`
|
|
|
|
No Request Content.
|
|
|
|
Response Content:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
(
|
|
MetaData
|
|
)
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Requests the MetaData of a peer, using the new `MetaData` definition given above
|
|
that is extended from phase 0 in Altair. Other conditions for the `GetMetaData`
|
|
protocol are unchanged from the phase 0 p2p networking document.
|
|
|
|
### Transitioning from v1 to v2
|
|
|
|
In advance of the fork, implementations can opt in to both run the v1 and v2 for a smooth transition.
|
|
This is non-breaking, and is recommended as soon as the fork specification is stable.
|
|
|
|
The v1 variants will be deprecated, and implementations should use v2 when available
|
|
(as negotiated with peers via LibP2P multistream-select).
|
|
|
|
The v1 method MAY be unregistered at the fork boundary.
|
|
In the event of a request on v1 for an Altair specific payload,
|
|
the responder MUST return the **InvalidRequest** response code.
|
|
|
|
## The discovery domain: discv5
|
|
|
|
The `attnets` key of the ENR is used as defined in the Phase 0 document.
|
|
|
|
An additional bitfield is added to the ENR under the key `syncnets` to facilitate sync committee subnet discovery.
|
|
The length of this bitfield is `SYNC_COMMITTEE_SUBNET_COUNT` where each bit corresponds to a distinct `subnet_id` for a specific sync committee subnet.
|
|
The `i`th bit is set in this bitfield if the validator is currently subscribed to the `sync_committee_{i}` topic.
|
|
|
|
See the [validator document](./validator.md#sync-committee-subnet-stability) for further details on how the new bits are used.
|