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Weekly Summary – February 17, 2025

· 2 min read
William Wolff
William Wolff
Architect

High-level summary​

This week in Leios development, CPS-0018 for transaction throughput was approved, along with improved Docker support for simulations and analysis of cross-simulation results. The team also examined input block (IB) production rates and their impact on network performance.

Protocol development​

  • CPS-0018 'Greater transaction throughput' officially approved:
    • Merged into Cardano Foundation's CIP/CPS repository
    • Documents urgency of higher transaction throughput
    • Defines goals for the Leios initiative
    • Identifies key open questions and use cases.

Cross-simulation analysis​

  • Conducted a comprehensive analysis of IB production rates ranging from 1 IB/s to 100 IB/s:
    • Developed an ELT workflow for data processing via MongoDB
    • Created an R Jupyter notebook for analysis and visualization
    • Identified and addressed three significant bugs (#207, #208, #209)
  • Key findings from the Haskell simulation:
    • Network congestion emerges at high IB production rates
    • Both average propagation time and slow propagation tail increase
    • A critical threshold of ~40 IBs/s was identified, beyond which network congestion severely impacts block reception
  • Comparison of PeerNet and Haskell simulations:
    • Both exhibit qualitatively similar block propagation distributions
    • Both demonstrate protocol breakdown under high block production rates
    • Differences in resolution and configuration prevent exact comparison.

Infrastructure improvements​

  • Added comprehensive Docker support for both simulations:
    • Optimized multi-stage Docker files for Haskell and Rust
    • Simplified deployment process
    • Enabled easy configuration via volume mounts and parameters
    • Documented usage in README.md.

Rust simulation​

  • Enhanced Rust simulation capabilities:
    • Implemented bandwidth usage tracking
    • Added configurable bandwidth limits per connection
    • Fixed issues identified in cross-simulation comparisons
    • Started updating visualizations for improved clarity.

Haskell simulation​

  • Enhanced IB sortition handling for IB/slot < 1
  • Began integrating block expiration and diffusion-halt proposal
  • Implemented ideal timing calculations for diffusion:
    • Added uniform block behavior configuration
    • Identified relay mini-protocol complexities:
      • Variable latency (3-4) for block transfer
      • Latency depends on traffic conditions and request handling.

Formal methods​

  • Moved formal specification to a dedicated repository
  • Established a conformance testing framework:
    • Enabled testing between Short Leios implementations
    • Documented the test suite execution process
  • Initiated a survey of network models across IO consensus projects.