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docs: modify epochs ADR to capture latest design #1668

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45 changes: 29 additions & 16 deletions docs/docs/adrs/adr-014-epochs.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ title: Epochs
# ADR 014: Epochs

## Changelog
* 2024-01-105: Proposed, first draft of ADR.
* 2024-01-05: Proposed, first draft of ADR.
* 2024-02-29: Updated so that it describes the implementation where we store the whole consumer validator set.

## Status

Expand All @@ -22,37 +23,49 @@ As a matter of fact, this already happens due to relaying delays.
As a solution, this ADR introduces the concept of _epochs_.
An epoch consists of multiple blocks.
The provider sends `VSCPacket`s once per epoch.
A `VSCPacket` contains all the valset changes that occurred throughout the epoch.
A `VSCPacket` contains all the validator updates that are needed by consumer chains.

## Decision

The implementation of epochs requires the following changes:

- Add a param that sets the number of blocks in an epoch, i.e., `BlocksPerEpoch`.
We can use `BlockHeight() % BlocksPerEpoch == 0` to decide when an epoch is over.
Note that `BlocksPerEpoch` can also be a hardcoded constant as it's unlikely that it will change often.
- In every provider `EndBlock()`, instead of queueing `VSCPacket` data for every consumer chain, we accumulate the validator changes (similarly to how is done on the consumer, see `AccumulateChanges`).
- Modify the key assignment logic to allow for `MustApplyKeyAssignmentToValUpdates` to be called once per epoch.
Currently, this method is called in every block before queueing a `VSCPacket`.
Also, the method uses the `KeyAssignmentReplacement` state, which is pruned at the end of every block.
This needs to be done once per epoch instead.
- At the end of every epoch, if there were validator set changes on the provider, then for every consumer chain, construct a `VSCPacket` with all the accumulated validator changes and add it to the list of `PendingVSCPackets`.

As an optional change, to better accommodate [the Partial Set Security design](https://informalsystems.notion.site/Partial-Set-Security-398ca9a1453740068be5c7964a4059bb), the validator changes should be accumulated per consumer chain.
Like this, it would make it easier to have validators opting out from certain consumer chains.
- For each consumer chain, we store the consumer validator set that is currently (i.e., in this epoch) validating the
consumer chain. For each validator in the set we store i) its voting power, and ii) the public key that it is
using on the consumer chain during the current (i.e., ongoing) epoch.
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The initial consumer validator set for a chain is set during the creation of the consumer genesis.
- We add the `BlocksPerEpoch` param that sets the number of blocks in an epoch. In the provider `EndBlock` we check
`BlockHeight() % BlocksPerEpoch() == 0` to decide when an epoch has ended.
- At the end of every epoch, if there were validator set changes on the provider, then for every consumer chain, we
construct a `VSCPacket` with all the validator updates and add it to the list of `PendingVSCPackets`. We compute the
validator updates needed by a consumer chain by comparing the stored list of consumer validators with the current
bonded validators on the provider, with something similar to this:
```go
// get the valset that has been validating the consumer chain during this epoch
currentValidators := GetConsumerValSet(consumerChain)
// generate the validator updates needed to be sent through a `VSCPacket` by comparing the current validators
// in the epoch with the latest bonded validators
valUpdates := DiffValidators(currentValidators, stakingmodule.GetBondedValidators())
// update the current validators set for the upcoming epoch to be the latest bonded validators instead
SetConsumerValSet(stakingmodule.GetBondedValidators())
```
Note that a validator can change its consumer public key for a specific consumer chain an arbitrary amount of times during
a block and during an epoch. Then, when we generate the validator updates in `DiffValidators`, we have to check on whether
the current consumer public key (retrieved by calling `GetValidatorConsumerPubKey`) is different from the consumer public
key the validator was using in the current epoch.

## Consequences

### Positive

- Reduce the cost of relaying.
- Reduce the amount of IBC packets needed for ICS.
- Simplifies [key-assignment code](https://github.com/cosmos/interchain-security/blob/main/docs/docs/adrs/adr-001-key-assignment.md) because
we only need to check if the `consumer_public_key` has been modified since the last epoch to generate an update.

### Negative

- Additional logic on the provider side as valset changes need to be accumulated.
- The changes might impact the key-assignment logic so special care is needed to avoid introducing bugs.
- Increase the delay in the propagation of validator set changes (but for reasonable epoch lengths on the order of ~hours or less, this is unlikely to be significant).

### Neutral

N/A
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