ChatGPT generated banner. Agile Coretime makes Polkadot’s compute resource more accessible to projects
Drawbacks of the Rigid Core allocation mechanism of Polkadot 1
Polkadot has changed the way the Network allocates its decentralized computational resources to parachains, upgrading to Polkadot 2.0.
In Polkadot 1, projects that won by bidding the highest amount in parachain auctions were allotted a core for two years.
Allotment of a rigid Core to a project had these limitations -:
a) Only projects that were successful in fundraising a large amount of capital got access to the units of Polkadot Network’s computational resource present in that core.
It was difficult for projects to get access to Polkadot’s core, as the process to win them in auctions were competitive.
Cost of acquiring a core was unaffordable, as the project willing to pay the highest amount won a core in auctions.
b) Unutilised computational Resource in the Core were wasted
Since the core was rigid, all computational resource of that core was available only to the project that possessed that core.
Most of this resource was left unutilised by projects, as the rigid core contained more compute resource than the project used.
This unutilised compute power was wasted because it could have been utilised by another project requiring this resource to operate as a parachain.
There was potential to make Polkadot’s core allocation framework more resource efficient and accessible.
Polkadot 2 unleashes this potential by converting rigid Core allocation framework into agile coretime allocation framework.
More Optimal distribution of Polkadot’s Computational Resource through coretime
Polkadot is a multi-core Network with each of its core secured by validators. Parachains are Roll Up chains in Polkadot 2 that operate parallelly on these cores.
To operate as a Roll Up chain, projects buy coretime. Purchased coretime represents the amount of time a project can use a core. It gives project the right to operate as a Roll Up Chain using a core for a period of time.
This Coretime resource is tradable, as it is in a form of digital NFT tokens.
There are provisions equipping projects to share coretime costs based on their usage requirements of a core.
With such provisions, which we will delve into later, projects need only incur expenses on the amount of Polkadot’s computational Resource they retain to power the operations of their Roll-Up chain.
Coretime purchase Options
There are two types of coretime for sale -: Bulk coretime and On-Demand coretime.
Bulk coretime caters to the requirements of projects that have long-term presence and regular usage.
Bulk coretime is purchased for a fixed time period at a fixed price, with renewal available at a predictable price.
On-Demand coretime is coretime available for immediate usage at spot prices in the Market.
This caters to Projects that require additional coretime to process their transactions blocks immediately.
Enhanced DOT Tokenomics with DOT proceeds procured from coretime sales burned
All DOT earnings from Coretime sales are burned adding deflationary pressure on the token. DOT’s tokenomics plays out with the factor of DOT’s reduction in circulating supply having a bearing in influencing its tokenomics.
Ways of allocating coretime so a core’s resource can be utilised by multiple Roll Ups
Agile coretime has provisions that allow projects to split or share coretime costs.
These are ways a core is allotted to be used by 2 projects or more since those projects do not require all units of compute power in a core as they utilize just a percentage of it.
Split
If a Project requires a short-time presence, coretime can be split for into smaller time period instead of buying full amount of Bulk coretime of 28 days.
Excess coretime Resource can be sold and monetised
If a Project has excess coretime that won’t be utilised, they can sell it at the marketplace and get paid by the buyer.
This way projects incur costs only on the coretime they retain to power the operations of their Roll Up Chain.
Interlaced
This is a way where two projects can share usage of a core. Projects use the core alternatively taking turns. This is done with Project A and Project B producing Blocks every 12 secs instead of 6 secs which is Polkadot’s Block production time.
This is done with the core first used by Project A where produced block by Project A’s Roll Up Chain is processed. After this the core is used by Project B to process produced Block by Project B’s Roll Up chain and this usage cycle keep continuing again as its turn of Project A’s Block getting processed by the core.
This way Projects make productive use of core resource, while reducing its usage, as each of produced Block that goes to get processed in the core would contain more transactions.
Projects benefit as their coretime costs reduce as it is shared, while the core resource is utilised more productively
This way Agile Coretime has made the available compute resource of a core open to projects who require it.
Roll Ups can scale elastically when required by buying on-demand coretime
A Roll Up Chain may receive more transaction volumes than usual, at those periods the Roll Up needs to buy On-demand coretime to scale up its capacity to process increased load of transactions.
Elastic scaling happens, as multiple cores are allotted to process produced Blocks simultaneously.
So, transactions that otherwise would have been stuck in an unprocessed Block, get finalised quickly
Agile Coretime, enables projects to scale, where they just buy On-Demand Coretime at those periods their Roll Up Chain receives a massive influx of transaction volumes. When transaction volumes subsequently decline to usual levels, the Roll Up Chain’s Bulk Coretime would suffice to process produced Blocks.
Now Polkadot’s valuable compute power has become accessible to projects in Polkadot 2
With Agile Coretime framework of allocating Polkadot’s computational resource to projects, maximum utilisation of this valuable resource takes place.
Projects also acquire the flexibility to procure the amount of computational resource required to power secure operations of their Rollup Chain. This way Polkadot’s core resource has become more accessible to projects.
Costs for Roll Ups to operate on Polkadot reduce as well, as provisions are there for projects allowing them to share coretime costs or sell coretime they won’t utilise.
The entry barrier for small projects to built as Roll Up chain in Polkadot has reduced.
One of the benefits for Projects operating as Roll Up Chains in Polkadot is guaranteed security, all transactions of Roll Ups get secure Blockspace in Polkadot, with validators securing all cores of the Polkadot Network.
This is beneficial, as projects can operate as Roll Up Chains in Polkadot buying coretime, with all their user transactions guaranteed to have secured Block spaces in Polkadot.
Subject understanding came from reading — https://wiki.polkadot.com/general/polkadot-v2/
