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Major Blockchain Release: PoCv11 Support, Snapshot Updates, Performance Improvements

· 4 min read

The core developers have tagged a new 2021.09.14.0 Hotspot firmware release which contains several updates including support for PoCv11 (not yet activated), updates to snapshot loading, several libp2p and rewards performance changes.

This is a required release for all hotspot manufacturers as it contains a few chain variable dependent code changes that will be released after a two week period of testing for regressions.

Proof of Coverage v11 Support

This release includes support for the update to Proof of Coverage system. This upgrade will be further described in a blog post later this week but this release allows developers to begin testing chain variables using the auxiliary ledger. No action is required by Hotspot owners at this time.

PoC Address Hash Update

The core developers have removed a stray change that caused address hashes to be calculated on the /24 octet of a Challenger's IP address. This may have an impact on PoC Rate that the community should continue to monitor. Thanks @ci-work!

PoC Random Witness Selection

This release also includes a randomization function for witness collection. After this release, a random subset of witnesses will be reported back to the chain, rather than the fastest witness. This should provide more diversity of witness information and allow developers to reduce the number of total witnesses to 10 from the current value of 25. This reduction (a chain variable that will be released later today) should help improve performance of PoC and the blockchain as a whole.

AU915 Channel Plan Update

This release removes a 500KHz channel from the AU915 channel plan. This was mistakenly added in a prior release.

Networking Improvements

This release also includes two networking improvements that should help Hotspots report the correct IP address to other blockchain participants. It also introduces a new configuration setting for makers:

{libp2p, {ip_confirmation_host, "https://ifconfig.co"}}

This configuration uses the ifconfig service to programmatically verify the Hotspot's IP address. Makers may choose to update the endpoint to one that fits their customer's needs.

Snapshot Updates

This release fixes some issues with snapshot loading, specifically with a Net Emissions related variable that was causing snapshot loading to fail and download cleanup issue that was leaving large partial downloads on disk.

Plan

We have been beta testing 2021.09.14.0 and prior release candidates since since Sept 9, 2021 2:00 PM PT. Current ETA for GA is 2:15 PM PT, Sept 14th, 2021.