2 posts tagged with "stracciatella"

This week, the Leios team focused on improving simulation analysis, conducting validation time studies, and working on comprehensive protocol variant experiments. The team developed new analysis tools, conducted fundamental performance studies of Cardano validation times, and completed extensive mapping of Linear Leios protocol performance under various conditions.

Analysis tools and infrastructure​

Generic trace analysis framework​

• Developed a generic analysis script for processing Leios simulator output
• Created a comprehensive R-based analysis pipeline generating diagnostic plots from leios-simulation-trace-processor output
• Enhanced analysis capabilities for systematic evaluation of simulation results
• Documentation and usage instructions are available in the trace processor README.

Validation performance analysis​

Cardano mainnet validation timing study​

• Completed a preliminary analysis of block and transaction validation times for Cardano mainnet since epoch 350
• Key findings using the db-analyser tool include:
  • Median transaction signature verification: 0.53 ms/tx
  • Median validation time per kilobyte: 0.29 ms/kB
  • Joint linear model estimate: 0.066 ms/tx plus 0.221 ms/kB
  • Data suitable for bulk estimates but too noisy for individual transaction predictions
• Identified missing explanatory variables (UTXO set size, input/output counts) extractable from the ledger or cardano-db-sync
• Results provide a foundation for more accurate simulator validation time modeling
• Detailed analysis is available in the validation timing notebook.

Simulation optimization studies​

Timestep resolution analysis​

• Conducted a comparative study of simulation timestep effects at 1,000 TPS Full Leios scenarios
• Compared 0.100 ms and 0.025 ms time resolutions with no significant differences in results
• Validated the use of coarser timesteps for improved parallelism and reduced simulation runtime
• Supporting analysis and evidence are available in the timestep study notebook.

Protocol variant experiments​

Mid-throughput protocol validation​

• Completed 100 TPS experiments for Stracciatella and Linear Leios variants using 1,400 B/tx over 900 seconds
• Key findings include:
  • 5 slots/stages are insufficient for Linear Leios at 100 tx/s
  • Including transactions in EBs causes congestion compared to transaction references
  • 10 MB/EB is required for 100 tx/s performance (5 MB/EB is insufficient)
  • EB-sortition unluckiness in Stracciatella extends the transaction lifecycle but can be mitigated
  • CPU and network peaks occur when transactions are embedded in EBs
• Analysis artifacts are available in 100 TPS experiment documentation and the analysis notebook.

Comprehensive Linear Leios performance mapping​

• Completed an extensive simulation study mapping Linear Leios performance under various loads and configurations
• Compared multiple Linear Leios variants against the Stracciatella baseline
• Generated comprehensive performance characterizations across different throughput scenarios
• Results are documented in the Linear Leios summary with variant-specific analysis:
  • Linear Leios with embedded transactions
  • Linear Leios with transaction references
  • Linear Leios without transactions
  • Stracciatella baseline comparison.

Simulation model refinements​

• Revised the Linear Leios model based on analysis findings, particularly regarding partial EB validation before peer propagation
• Reimplemented Stracciatella as a separate simulation to identify specification deviations
• Identified and resolved multiple implementation inconsistencies during the specification verification process.

Next steps​

• Continue developing analysis infrastructure for systematic protocol evaluation
• Integrate improved validation timing models into simulation configurations
• Expand protocol variant testing based on performance mapping results
• Refine simulation models for enhanced accuracy and specification compliance.

This week, the Leios team achieved significant milestones in protocol development and analysis, successfully demonstrating high-throughput capabilities and exploring new protocol variants. The team conducted comprehensive experiments with the Stracciatella variant, analyzed the Linear Leios throughput efficiency, and implemented new simulation capabilities.

High-throughput demonstration​

• Completed experiments demonstrating over 1,000 TPS capability with the Stracciatella variant of Leios
• Achieved spatial efficiency above 95% with transaction lifecycle times under two minutes
• Validated protocol performance under extreme throughput conditions well beyond the current Cardano capacity
• Documented detailed findings in the Stracciatella analysis notebook.

Protocol variants analysis​

Stracciatella variant​

• Completed a comprehensive analysis of the Stracciatella variant (no IBs, transaction references in EBs, two-stage pipeline)
• Key findings:
  • 5-slot/stage performs less well but scales better than 8-slot/stage
  • Only a minimal fraction of transactions fail to reach the ledger, likely due to EB expiration
  • Network usage is slightly heavy, while CPU usage appears suspiciously light
  • Congestion begins to appear at throughput levels above 1,000 TPS.

Linear Leios throughput efficiency​

• Conducted an analysis of the Linear Leios variant's probability of including certified EBs on-chain
• Results show Linear Leios could achieve approximately 500 times the throughput of Praos at over 50% network resource efficiency
• 500 times Praos throughput would exceed 1,000 historically typical transactions per second
• Generated comprehensive throughput and efficiency visualizations available in the analysis repository.

CDDL specifications​

• Added CDDL specifications for Linear and Stracciatella protocol variants.

Simulation improvements​

Rust simulation​

• Implemented a first pass of the Linear Leios variant in the Rust simulation
• Enhanced simulation capabilities to support protocol variant testing and analysis
• Continued optimizing simulation performance for high-throughput scenarios.

Small transaction experiments​

• Completed the analysis of small-transaction, high-throughput experiments with 300-byte non-Plutus transactions
• Key findings:
  • 1,000 tx/s with 300 B/tx is feasible in Leios variants
  • Clear time–space tradeoff between variants
  • full-with-ib-references uses space more efficiently than full-without-ibs
  • full-without-ibs has a shorter transaction lifecycle than full-with-ib-references
  • 2 CPU cores are sufficient for high-throughput operation
  • Network usage remains modest under high load
• Supporting materials are available in analysis documentation and analysis notebook.

Next steps​

• Continue investigation of protocol variants for CIP convergence
• Expand simulation capabilities for additional protocol variants
• Refine performance optimization strategies for high-throughput scenarios
• Complete documentation of protocol variant comparisons and recommendations.