The Helium team will be adjusting the poc_v4_target_challenge_age chain variable from 300 to
1000 in order to align more closely with the current value of poc_challenge_interval (which is
currently set to 240).
This variable is a staleness check that miners use to determine if the hotspot being challenged has been active recently enough for the challenge to succeed. Hotspots which have not themselves issued a challenge in a long time are unlikely to be online or properly synced with the chain.
The poc_v4_target_challenge_age variable was originally set to 300 when the
poc_challenge_interval was set to 30 but never updated proportionally.
Impact on Challenge Rate
We expect that adjusting this variable will increase the diversity of the hotspots being challenged. As this affects all hotspots, it should have no aggregate impact on PoC rewards.
Proposed Chain Variable
| Chain Variable | Old Value | New Value | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| poc_v4_target_challenge_age | 300 | 1000 | Mirror the change in the challenge interval. |
Plan
We plan on issuing the chain variable transaction at 1PM PT on Wednesday, Dec 30 2020. We will update this post to reflect the transaction on chain when it goes live.