6.5% of the staking has already voted and the answer is widely tilted with «yes.» The proposal proposes improvements for performance, incentives and cost reduction. With the beginning of the Epoch 840, on August 27, a key voting process began in the Solana Red. The validators will have time to cast their vote to the EPOCH 842 on the proposal of improvement 0326 (SIMD-0326), called Alpenglow, which aims to replace the current consensus mechanism of that network. In Solana, an Epoch is a period of time defined during which the set of validators remains stable. Each epoch has an approximate duration of two to three days, so The vote will run around a week from today.
Alpenglow's goal is to completely modify the network consensus system. As detailed by his repository, «he aims to reduce the completion of blocks of 12.8 seconds to 150 milliseconds.» Block completion is the point where a transaction included in a block It is considered irreversiblethat is, when a sufficient level of security is reached that can be reversed by chain reorganizations. At the time of this wording, 6.5% of the staking that already cast its vote and the answers are tilting almost entirely for a «yes»although many validators are still subtracted to vote:
Solana could modify its consensus mechanism. Source: Dune.
Alpenglow: A redesign of consensus in Solana
The SIMD-0326 proposal was presented on July 11 by developers Quentin Kniep, Kobi Sliwinski and Roger Wattenhofer. In accordance with an explanatory document of this proposal, the transition to Alpenglow responds to the need to overcome limitations in the current Solana consensus model, composed of proof-Of-History (POH) and the TowerBFT protocol. The first functions as a cryptographic watchmaking mechanism that allows you to order network transactions Without depending on external timewhich facilitates synchronization between nodes. On that basis Opera Towerbft, a variant of tolerance to Byzantine failures (BFT) designed so that the validators reach rapid agreements in block validation. Alpenglow seeks to replace that combination with a design that would improve operational efficiency, network resilience and greater simplicity in its implementation, according to its development team. Alpenglow's «heart» is a votor, a direct voting protocol that Allows you to finish blocks in one or two voting roundsdepending on the conditions of the network. With this, according to developers, latency would drop from 12.8 seconds to between 100 and 150 millisecondsin addition to improving the efficiency in the use of bandwidth by eliminating heavy messages of messages. In addition, according to that document, a robust certifications are introduced, with different types of certificates that serve To certify, omit or finish blocks according to the votes of the validators. To achieve this, these participants exchange votes directly using cryptographic aggregates that prove the consensus reached.
The Alpenglow proposal proposes nodes organized by a leader in each epoch
The SIMD-0326 initiative is designed to operate in a network composed of «thousands of nodes», organized within a set of validators that remain stable throughout each efoch. Time is structured in slots, intervals in which a preselected leader is responsible for producing blocks. Block construction occurs in several stages: First, the block information is divided into large parts called «Slices». Then, each «slice» is fragmented into smaller pieces called «shreds». These «shreds» are the ones that are finally transmitted to the other validators of the network. In this scheme, when a block is received, the validators begin the voting process. If the block arrives in time and is valid, they cast a vote in favor; Otherwise, they can choose to omit it. The completion occurs when A sufficient portion of the Stake Valida the block. If there is no consensus in the first round, a second vote is enabled to define its destiny. In case of data loss, the proposal incorporates a recovery mechanism that allows nodes Request missing information to other network participants.
A new rewards scheme in Solana
In addition to the technical redesign, Alpenglow incorporates a New rewards scheme. In the current system, the validators send voting transactions in each slot, which generates high costs in bandwidth and commissions, according to the team behind SIMD-0326. With Alpenglow's proposal, the vote would be made outside the chain, with aggregate signatures, significantly reducing the complexity and the cost of participating. Each validator will receive rewards proportional to your Stake for each vote cast. To guarantee commitment, they must cast a vote valid by SLOT: those who do not are left without rewards and can be excluded from the active assembly of validators. As an economic control mechanism, the Validator Admission Ticket (Vat, or Validate Admission Ticket) is introduced, a fixed 1.6 Sun Rate by Epoch that burns and works as a barrier of entry to prevent abuses. Finally, network leaders will also receive additional compensations for their role in adding and sending the votes of the validators.