Recently, some friends have been asking, what are the "pillars" on the Filecoin blockchain browser? Why can't I see this on the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain browsers? As shown in the figure below, the "pillars" framed by the box have a special name called tipset, which indicates the block height on the Filecoin network. Blockchain architecture of Bitcoin and Ethereum Just like there are many different blockchains, there are many consensus protocols in the world, whether it is BFT or Nakamoto-style, the longest chain or the most weighted chain, proof of work or proof of time and space. Most of these consensus protocols have certain differences in the principles, but their overall goal is mostly the same, that is, to build a scalable, secure, and distributed network. Taking Bitcoin as an example, the principle of Bitcoin mining is actually a process of recording data. Miners need to collect data for processing and upload to the chain every once in a while. However, with so many miners, who should process the data? This is the time to compete in speed. The miner who can process the data first and broadcast it to the network will have the right to keep accounts and own Bitcoin. However, there will be situations where two miners broadcast to the network at the same time. At this time, the mechanism of Bitcoin's longest chain will require miners to "vote", and this choice depends on many factors, such as which block the miner received first and the transactions contained in the block. This is decided by the miner, and it is important that the majority of the network will eventually reach a consensus on which block to mine and which block to abandon (abandoned blocks are called orphans, and the purple part in the table below represents orphans) . Some networks will directly discard orphan blocks, while others will reward them. For example, the Ethereum network will reward miners who mine these blocks, so the orphan blocks of the Ethereum network are also called "uncle blocks". Even if these blocks are not included in the final chain during the mining process, miners of Ethereum will still receive rewards. Therefore, compared with Bitcoin, the Ethereum network is relatively friendly to miners. As can be seen from the above figure, each node of Bitcoin and Ethereum has only one block, that is, only one miner can get the reward for each round of blocks. In fact, the block architecture of most blockchains is similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum, but the Filecoin network we are going to talk about next is special because the consensus of Filecoin is to find an algorithm that maximizes the use of the chain with the largest weight. Filecoin network block architecture
The Filecoin network draws on the document "Secure and High-Speed Transaction Processing in Bitcoin" published in 2015, which points out that the idea of blockchain is no longer the chain itself, but directed acyclic graphs (DAGs). In other words, it is no longer a simple matter of looking at the longest chain, but looking at the DAG with the greatest weight. Whoever has the most weight can own the most blocks. Filecoin is such a protocol that uses the total number of blocks and the contributed storage power to decide which chain to choose. Filecoin's expected consensus is based on elections, where multiple miners can be elected as leaders in a given round. This means that multiple valid peer blocks can be created in each block (Bitcoin is a block) , and in each new epoch, a new generation of genealogy develops, called tipset, which is the block height of the Filecoin network. Each small rectangle that makes up a tipset is called a block ( a block contains a large amount of information represented by a unique encrypted hash and is permanently recorded on the blockchain ). A tipset is composed of one or more blocks. All blocks that make up the tip set can have a winning ticket reward. As shown in the figure below, the current winning ticket reward for each block in the Filecoin network is 14.43FIL. It is important to note here that no matter how many blocks a tipset is composed of (1 block can also form a tipset, 8 blocks can also form a tipset), the winning ticket reward obtained by a single block will not change, and the winning ticket reward obtained by each block is still 14.43FIL. Since a tipset can be composed of multiple nodes, this means that the Filecoin network can accommodate more miners to process data at the same time, which not only allows the miners' work to be seen and rewarded, but also incentivizes miners to collaborate by ensuring that no work is wasted and improves the overall throughput of the chain. The Filecoin network is actually based on Tipset is measured in units of block height. For example, when the Filecoin network reaches 148888, the Filecoin mainnet is officially launched. The block height mentioned here refers to tipset, and a block height is generated every 30 seconds on average. In general, the more data a Filecoin miner stores , the more the miner's storage computing power will grow , the stronger the storage computing power on the network will be, and the miner will be more likely to generate new blocks and win block rewards. At the same time, miners will gather on the chain with the largest weight to create value. |
