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.
Related PRs
miner#1049: Update miner for gw capability and mode changes
miner#1042: Fix for los POCs, thanks @ci-work!
miner#1039: Remove 500KHz channel from AU915
miner#1038: Fix PoC transmission channel selection logic, thanks @ke6jjj!
miner#1030: Fix debian build
miner#1026: Use a random selection of witnesses instead of the first limit
miner#924: Fix some of the state channel tests to call newer functions
miner#854: Log more when doing heartbeat txns
miner#817: Add support for POC-V11
blockchain-core#996: Decode the net missions terms before attempting to write them
blockchain-core#995: Use full paths to delete files
blockchain-core#993: State channel grpc return types
blockchain-core#990: Fix backward compat due to infos issue
blockchain-core#987: Election v6 using lists
blockchain-core#984: Make rewards memoization pid-local
blockchain-core#979: More poc receipts/requests performance work
blockchain-core#961: Add peer sync CLI
blockchain-core#776: Add support for POC-V11
blockchain-core#723: Add support for state channel client/server communcation via grpc
libp2p#386: Use a configurable external service to verify external IP addresses
libp2p#383: Resolve another race condition in NAT resolution
sibyl#13: Add additional fields to is_active response
sibyl#11: Refactor for updated protos, add is_overpaid_sc api and update tests
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.