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PBTS
This document provides an overview of the Proposer-Based Timestamp (PBTS) algorithm added to Tendermint in the v0.36 release. It outlines the core functionality as well as the parameters and constraints of the this algorithm.
Algorithm Overview
The PBTS algorithm defines a way for a Tendermint blockchain to create block timestamps that are within a reasonable bound of the clocks of the validators on the network. This replaces the original BFTTime algorithm for timestamp assignment that relied on the timestamps included in precommit messages.
Algorithm Parameters
The functionality of the PBTS algorithm is governed by two parameters within Tendermint. These two parameters are consensus parameters, meaning they are configured by the ABCI application and are expected to be the same across all nodes on the network.
Precision
The Precision parameter configures the acceptable upper-bound of clock drift
among all of the nodes on a Tendermint network. Any two nodes on a Tendermint
network are expected to have clocks that differ by at most Precision
milliseconds any given instant.
MessageDelay
The MessageDelay parameter configures the acceptable upper-bound for
transmitting a Proposal message from the proposer to all of the validators
on the network.
Networks should choose as small a value for MessageDelay as is practical,
provided it is large enough that messages can reach all participants with high
probability given the number of participants and latency of their connections.
Algorithm Concepts
Block timestamps
Each block produced by the Tendermint consensus engine contains a timestamp. The timestamp produced in each block is a meaningful representation of time that is useful for the protocols and applications built on top of Tendermint.
The following protocols and application features require a reliable source of time:
- Tendermint Light Clients rely on correspondence between their known time and the block time for block verification.
- Tendermint Evidence validity is determined either in terms of heights or in terms of time.
- Unbonding of staked assets in the Cosmos Hub occurs after a period of 21 days.
- IBC packets can use either a timestamp or a height to timeout packet delivery
Proposer Selects a Block Timestamp
When the proposer node creates a new block proposal, the node reads the time from its local clock and uses this reading as the timestamp for the proposed block.
Timeliness
When each validator on a Tendermint network receives a proposed block, it performs a series of checks to ensure that the block can be considered valid as a candidate to be the next block in the chain.
The PBTS algorithm performs a validity check on the timestamp of proposed
blocks. When a validator receives a proposal it ensures that the timestamp in
the proposal is within a bound of the validator's local clock. Specifically, the
algorithm checks that the timestamp is no more than Precision greater than the
node's local clock and no less than Precision + MessageDelay behind than the
node's local clock. This creates range of acceptable timestamps around the
node's local time. If the timestamp is within this range, the PBTS algorithm
considers the block timely. If a block is not timely, the node will
issue a nil prevote for this block, signaling to the rest of the network
that the node does not consider the block to be valid.
Clock Synchronization
The PBTS algorithm requires the clocks of the validators on a Tendermint network
are within Precision of each other. In practice, this means that validators
should periodically synchronize to a reliable NTP server. Validators that drift
too far away from the rest of the network will no longer propose blocks with
valid timestamps. Additionally they will not view the timestamps of blocks
proposed by their peers to be valid either.
See Also
- The PBTS specification contains all of the details of the algorithm.