The COTI Cluster explained — A live DAG simulation with COTI’s software engineer
Apr 26, 2018.
We recently sat down with Eli Hallufgil, COTI’s research engineer and software engineer technology team leader, to discuss everything related to the Cluster, COTI’s DAG-based consensus mechanism. Eli takes us through a detailed demo of the underworkings of the DAG in real time, explaining how transactions will be confirmed in the COTI network.
Click to Watch the LIVE DAG simulation
About
Eli is a mathematician and engineer who has worked in software development for the past several years. His most recent experience involved developing custom CRM solutions for FinTech companies. He holds a master’s degree in mathematics from the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology.
Watch the video of the COTI Cluster explained:
The Cluster, COTI’s distributed ledger, is based on a directed acyclic graph (DAG) data structure consisting of transactions that propagate unidirectionally. While greater scale in blockchain-based networks leads to adverse effects on network usability, in DAG-based networks greater network usage leads to improved network scalability.
This makes the DAG ideally suited for COTI’s network base layer protocol, enabling it to achieve full decentralisation without compromising on COTI’s scalability, instantaneity and low-to-zero fees. Using COTI’s TrustChain™ Algorithm, Trust Scores are the key mechanism by which new, unconfirmed transactions select prior transactions to validate in order to reach faster transaction confirmation consensus. To be added to the Cluster, each transaction — represented by the user’s Trust Score — must validate two previous transactions with a similar Trust Score threshold. As transactions are attached to the Cluster, they collectively form Trustchains, or transactional sets characterised by similar Trust Score ranges.
The TrustChain™ ensures that trusted users (i.e. those with higher Trust Scores) are incentivised with optimised transaction confirmations, as their Trustchains can reach the required cumulative Trust Score threshold faster. The implicit nature of the DAG structure and validation process enables the Cluster to reach faster consensus — achieving a transaction confirmation rate of 10,000 TPS — as compared to blockchain systems that can process an average of 20 TPS.
Diving into COTI’s DAG simulation
The COTI simulation is comprised of two demonstrations that depict COTI’s Cluster in 2D and 3D format. Each circle in the simulation represents a transaction in real time, while each color differentiates varying network roles.
✓ Orange transactions are new sources in the Cluster, which have yet to connect to newer transactions.
✓ Blue circles depict transactions that have been validated by the source selection algorithm. In other words, these transactions have already been attached to two previous transactions.
✓ Finally, the black circles are confirmed transactions. Their respective Trustchain has surpassed a predetermined threshold, and the COTI coins can be successfully transferred.
In the 2D simulation, we can see the correlation between a transaction’s Trust Score and confirmation delay. As a Trust Score (Y-axis) increases, more black transactions will accumulate in real time.
In the 3D simulation, we are able to navigate the Cluster by zooming in and clicking on various portions of the simulation. We can also clearly see the Trustchain (illustrated in red) that has approved each transaction.
What’s coming up for COTI
COTI’s alpha net will be launched earlier than expected. This pre-release will contain functional prototypes of fundamental COTI network components, including up to ten Full Nodes, the Trust Score Server and COTI’s buyer-seller protection system. Essentially, this means that select merchants and consumers can begin accessing the COTI network this upcoming August. You can view our updated roadmap on the COTI website.
The COTI community is continuously to grow at a rapid rate. If you have any questions, you are welcome to get in touch with us on Telegram or via email. We will be providing further updates in the near future.
