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perf(beacon): run epoch steps 1-3 over one registry scan - #632
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🤖 Claude Code ReviewReview: perf(beacon): run epoch steps 1-3 over one registry scan (PR 632)I read the diff through Overall: The change looks correct and I found no consensus-affecting bugs. It reproduces the spec arithmetic and its order of operations, and the oracle-on-clone assertion in debug builds is a strong safety net. Correctness checks that hold
Notes and nits (non-blocking)
The perf numbers (about 20% less Automated review by Claude (Anthropic) · sonnet · custom prompt |
🤖 Codex Code ReviewLooks good overall: the refactor is performance-motivated, keeps a spec-shaped reference path for debug/test comparison, and I did not spot an obvious consensus-breaking bug in fork choice / FFG / attestation accounting from the touched code. Findings
Nits / Follow-ups
Consensus / Security assessment
Validation note
Automated review by OpenAI Codex · gpt-5.4 · custom prompt |
🤖 Kimi Code ReviewI'll review this PR which introduces a one-pass participation accounting optimization for Altair-and-later epoch processing. This is a significant performance improvement with consensus-critical code. High-Level AssessmentThis is a well-structured optimization that replaces O(n²) epoch processing with O(n) by scanning the validator registry once. The approach of keeping a reference implementation for testing is excellent. However, I've identified several issues ranging from minor correctness concerns to potential consensus bugs. Critical Issues1. Missing
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Justification, inactivity updates and rewards read the tree-backed registry through ~19 full scans and ~21 validator(i) descents per active validator, and the per-block pulled-up tip repeated step 1 on every imported block. helpers::participation walks validators().iter() once, zipped with the flat participation slices, into per-validator flags, effective balances and the balance totals (EpochSummary). Steps 1-3 then run over flat data: scores are updated in place, and only balances that changed are written back, per component in spec order. Justification (and so the pulled-up tip) needs only ParticipationTotals, one scan with no allocation. The public step functions and the flag/inactivity delta helpers keep their signatures for the fixtures and become thin wrappers. Effective balance updates zip validators with balances, since balances()[i] is now a tree descent for most validators. The specification-shaped code stays as a reference oracle for tests and debug builds: the driver runs it on a clone (registries up to 4096) and asserts balances, scores, justification bits and checkpoints agree; randomized tests compare every value and error across forks.
The participation equivalence generator could finalize the current epoch, which no reachable state does, so get_finality_delay underflowed. The suite runs under release-fast, where overflow checks are off and both the fast path and the reference wrapped identically; the minimal-preset CI job runs a dev build and panicked.
get_finality_delay subtracted the finalized epoch from the previous epoch unchecked, so a finalized checkpoint past the previous epoch panicked in debug builds and wrapped into a permanent inactivity leak in release. The specification treats a uint64 underflow as an invalid state transition, and Lighthouse and Grandine reject it the same way, so the delay and the leak check now return ArithmeticOverflow, as the inactivity penalty's own checked product already does. No chain reaches that state, since justification only finalizes an epoch behind the current one.
…iation Now that an underflowing finality delay is an error rather than a wrap, the point where the leak flag is read decides which states fail. The altair fast path reads it once per step where the specification reads it per validator, so a crafted state with the finalized epoch past the previous one fails here and can pass there.
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…#634) Squash of feat/beacon-gloas at 1d667c4 (merge-base 35c074b). Adapted onto #626-#633 and main (#642-#677): - #632/#633's epoch single pass ported to the element accessors; fulu runs through the single pass, with the eth1-bridge gate on electra only. - DB_VERSION 6 (gloas Config 5 + #628's table). - compute_node_weights skips the boost outside the justified subtree (boost_reaches_the_descent), for #627's LiveChain prune; the boosted-finalized-block bound test is dropped and the differential tests skip pruned roots. - #628's set_unrealized_justification slot argument in the tests; get_forkchoice_store keeps the anchor block's slot. - #653's validator-by-id handler on iter_validators/balance.
## 🗒️ Description / Motivation
Merges `beacon-chain-integration` into `main`. This adds an **Ethereum
Beacon Chain** client (phase0 through fulu) to the ethlambda binary,
alongside the Lean consensus client:
- **`ethlambda beacon`**: a beacon node. It checkpoint-syncs, follows
the chain over gossip and req/resp, validates execution payloads through
an execution client's Engine API, and serves the Beacon API, including
the validator endpoints.
- **`ethlambda validator`**: a beacon validator client (attest,
aggregate, propose) that talks to any beacon node over the standard REST
API.
- **`ethlambda node`** (lean) keeps its behavior, apart from the items
under "Behavior changes for lean" below.
Both chains run on the same storage layer, P2P actor, RPC crate and
chain actor. `BeaconState` has a `Lean` variant holding lean's `State`,
and each shared handler dispatches on it once, at the top.
Each piece was reviewed as its own PR into the integration branch
(listed under "Related Issues / PRs"). This PR merges that branch.
## What Changed
| Area | Change |
|---|---|
| `ethlambda-types` (`beacon/`) | Containers for phase0 to fulu, presets
(compile-time `preset-minimal` feature), runtime fork config, and a
`Lean` variant on `ForkName` and `BeaconState` |
| `ethlambda-state-transition` (`beacon/`) | State transition, epoch
processing, fork upgrades, fork choice, BLS (`blst`), KZG (`c-kzg`),
gossip validation rules, DAS custody math |
| `ethlambda-ssz-tree` (**new**) | Persistent Merkle `List`/`Vector` for
the validator registry and balances, so consecutive states share
unchanged subtrees |
| `ethlambda-storage` | One `Store` for both chains. Beacon states are
stored as snapshots plus VCDIFF deltas and written on a background
thread. Adds a committee cache, and `db_version`/`chain`/`preset`
metadata that resume checks |
| `ethlambda-blockchain` | Beacon path in the chain actor
(`BlockChain::spawn_beacon`): import, holding blocks until their parent
or columns arrive, applying gossip aggregates to fork choice, block
production and aggregation |
| `ethlambda-engine` (**new**) | Engine API client with JWT auth:
`newPayload`, `forkchoiceUpdated`, `getPayload`, `getBlobs` |
| `ethlambda-p2p` | Beacon wire: blocks, aggregates, subnet attestations
and data columns are validated before relay;
`beacon_blocks_by_{range,root}/2` served and requested; range sync;
column custody and sampling; attestation subnet backbone; discv5 always
on for `beacon` |
| `ethlambda-rpc` | Beacon API under `/eth/v1` and `/eth/v2`: JSON by
default, SSZ on request. The router is picked by `Store::chain()`, so
`/lean/v0` and the Beacon API are never served together |
| `ethlambda-validator` (**new**) | Validator client: duties,
attestations, aggregation selection, proposals, keymanager API. It has
**no slashing protection** (recorded in `docs/spec_deviations.md`) |
| `bin/ethlambda` | `beacon` and `validator` sub-commands; `--network`
takes a built-in name (`mainnet`, `sepolia`, `hoodi`) or a directory of
published network files; beacon checkpoint sync; `benchmark import`
replays a real block corpus offline; `run_node` is one startup path for
both chains |
| CI / Makefile | One beacon spec-test job per preset, minimal-preset
check, `make test` split into `test-consensus` and `test-node` (one
runner's disk no longer fits both), benchmark-smoke and tooling jobs,
disk-cleanup action |
| Docs | New: `beacon_stf.md`, `beacon_wire.md`, `beacon_engine.md`,
`cli.md`. Updated: `data_storage.md`, `metrics.md`, `rpc.md`,
`checkpoint_sync.md`, `discovery.md`, `benchmarking.md`,
`spec_deviations.md`, README (beacon quickstart with ethrex) |
## Correctness / Behavior Guarantees
- **Separation:** beacon behavior lives in `beacon` modules that lean
code never reads, and those modules never read lean's. The shared crates
dispatch on the chain once per handler.
- **Lean state at a beacon accessor:** this panics, naming the function
it reached (`lean_state_unreachable` / `lean_fork_unreachable`), so the
caller never gets a wrong answer back. `ForkName::Lean` is left out of
`ForkName::ALL`, so neither `parse` nor a fork upgrade can reach it.
- **Spec conformance:** every consensus-specs `v1.6.1` fixture case
passes on both presets: 5705 mainnet and 40009 minimal, including 150
mainnet `fork_choice` cases. Gossip fixtures are pinned to
`v1.7.0-beta.1`.
- **Resume safety:** a data directory written by another chain, preset
or format version is refused at startup, before any state is read.
### ⚠️ Behavior changes for lean (`ethlambda node`)
- **Existing data directories are refused on resume.** A directory
written by `main` has no `db_version` key, so `Store::from_db_state`
returns `DbVersionMismatch { found: 0, expected: 4 }`. There is no
migration: an upgraded node needs a fresh data directory (or checkpoint
sync).
- `blst` and `c-kzg` are now dependencies of the lean binary too, since
the state-transition crate holds both chains' rules. They are not
feature-gated.
- libssz is a git dependency pinned by `rev`: the beacon containers need
`DerefMut`/`IndexMut` on `SszList` (lambdaclass/libssz#33), which no
crates.io release has yet.
- The `release-fast` profile (used for tests) now sets `debug-assertions
= true`.
- `P2P::spawn` now runs before the chain actor is spawned, so gossip
arriving in that short window is dropped.
- `/lean/v0/blocks/finalized` answers JSON when asked for it by name.
SSZ stays the default.
## Tests Added / Run
- **Beacon spec tests:** `make test-beacon` (or `test-beacon-mainnet` /
`test-beacon-minimal`). Each fixture case is a separately named test,
e.g. `cargo test -p ethlambda-state-transition --test beacon_spec_tests
--features beacon-spec-tests -- electra/attester_slashing`. CI runs one
job per preset.
- **`make test`** still needs no consensus-spec download: the beacon
spec target is behind the `beacon-spec-tests` feature, and the BLS/KZG
vector tests report as ignored without it.
- **Minimal preset:** the `Test minimal preset` CI job builds and runs
the `ethlambda-types` unit tests with `preset-minimal` on.
- **Benchmark smoke:** a CI job runs the `benchmark` sub-command end to
end.
- Unit and integration tests in every new crate (`ssz-tree`, `engine`,
`validator`) and in the beacon paths of storage, p2p, rpc and the chain
actor.
## Related Issues / PRs
<details>
<summary>PRs merged into the integration branch (reviewed on
<code>lambdaclass/ethlambda_private</code>)</summary>
**Types and state transition**
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#1 Beacon Chain containers under a
`beacon` namespace
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#2 Beacon Chain state transition, phase0
through fulu
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#37 keep the registry and balances in
persistent Merkle trees
**Follower, sync and storage**
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#3 follow mainnet gossip behind an
`ethlambda beacon` sub-command
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#6 unify the lean and beacon storage
layer
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#7 checkpoint sync for the beacon chain
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#8 serve beacon blocks by range and by
root
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#9 give the follower a chain, from the
anchor to the tip
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#11 fulu data availability sampling,
custody through the availability gate
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#13 validate execution payloads over the
Engine API
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#15 follow a network described by files
on disk
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#26 add sepolia and hoodi as built-in
networks
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#48, lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#52,
lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#53, lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#54: held
blocks, their columns and range batches
**P2P**
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#18 stop outbound req/resp requests
crossing protocols
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#23 rank dial candidates by custody
redundancy
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#28 count why peers drop us
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#38 validate beacon gossip before
propagating it
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#43 run every data column check in p2p
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#47 validate beacon aggregates and subnet
attestations before relaying
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#19 apply gossip aggregates to fork
choice, backbone two attestation subnets
**API and validator**
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#21 serve the Beacon API from `ethlambda
beacon`
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#44 report the preset and constants from
`/eth/v1/config/spec`
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#16 beacon-chain validator client
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#34 serve the validator API
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#40 aggregate and propose through
`ethlambda beacon`
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#56 pack other nodes' attestations into
produced blocks
**Performance and metrics**
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#10, lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#20,
lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#22, lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#24,
lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#33, lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#49:
registry scans, parallel pubkey validation, committee cache, background
state writes, BLS key validation
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#17, lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#31:
import timing by phase
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#25 benchmark block import by replaying a
real corpus
**CI**
- lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#12, lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#30,
lambdaclass/ethlambda_private#45: split lint/test jobs, benchmark smoke
job, runner selection
</details>
Open PRs based on `beacon-chain-integration`, **not** included here:
lambdaclass#626, lambdaclass#627, lambdaclass#629, lambdaclass#630, lambdaclass#632, lambdaclass#634, lambdaclass#636, lambdaclass#638, lambdaclass#642, lambdaclass#644 to lambdaclass#652,
lambdaclass#656, lambdaclass#658.
## ✅ Verification Checklist
- [ ] Ran `make fmt` (clean)
- [ ] Ran `make lint` (clippy with `-D warnings`, clean)
- [ ] Ran `make test` (`test-consensus` plus `test-node`, at
`release-fast`), all passing
- [ ] Ran `make test-beacon` (both presets), all passing
---------
Co-authored-by: Pablo Deymonnaz <pdeymon@fi.uba.ar>
Co-authored-by: Klaus Lungwitz <klaus.lungwitz@lambdaclass.com>
Co-authored-by: Klaus @ LambdaClass <18153834+klaus993@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Chase Wright <chase.wright@ethereum.org>
…#650) ## Motivation Now that `validators` and `balances` are persistent trees, every cached state still holds a private deep copy of the other large fields and rehashes them in full on each state root. | Field(s) | Mainnet size per state | Flat cost today | |---|---|---| | `inactivity_scores` | ~18 MiB | copied per state, rehashed per root, rewritten for every eligible index each epoch | | `randao_mixes` | ~2 MiB | same | | `block_roots`, `state_roots`, `slashings` | ~0.6 MiB | same | | `eth1_data_votes`, `historical_roots`, `historical_summaries` | ~0.25 MiB | same | Estimates, not measurements: ~26 MiB of flat fields per state and ~0.85M Merkle nodes rehashed per root, of which this PR moves the large majority of the nodes (participation lists and queues stay flat). The import-replay benchmark was not run for this PR, and no memory or node-count number was measured; the estimates come from the field sizes above. ## Changes | Commit | What | |---|---| | `perf(ssz-tree): flush tree fields through one Buffered list per fork` | Object-safe `Buffered` trait (impls for `List` and `Vector`); `tree_fields!` lists each fork's tree fields once and generates both `apply_pending_mutations` and `has_pending_mutations`. `H256` writes `HashTreeRoot` by hand and forwards `is_basic_type` (as `H160` does). New ssz-tree properties: multi-leaf `u8` lists, `u64` and 32-byte-newtype vectors, decode parity, rebase of mostly-zero lists and vectors. | | `perf(beacon): keep inactivity scores on the tree and skip no-op writes` | `InactivityScores` is a tree list (`BTreeMap` update map). `process_inactivity_updates` computes the same value with the same checked arithmetic and writes only `if new != score`. Joins the flush list and `BeaconState::rebase_on`. | | `perf(beacon): keep the roots and randao ring buffers on the tree` | `BlockRoots`, `StateRoots`, `RandaoMixes`, `Slashings` become tree vectors; `Eth1DataVotes`, `HistoricalRoots`, `HistoricalSummaries` become tree lists (alias swap). All join the flush list and `rebase_on`. Block production now flushes before it hashes the post-state. Test-only sites that sliced or iterated in place use indexing. | SSZ bytes, roots and the storage delta format are unchanged. ## Design decisions - **`H256` change done locally**, not in libssz's `transparent` derive (no dependency bump). The lean chain shares `H256`, so `ethlambda-types` has unit tests that an `SszList`/`SszVector` of `H256` hashes like one of `[u8; 32]`, and that a container holding `H256` collections keeps its root. The lean state's pinned genesis root test passes unchanged. - **`BTreeMap` update map for inactivity scores.** Outside a leak almost no score changes, so writes are sparse. A leak writes nearly every score, which costs about one B-tree insert per validator per epoch (~1M at the benchmark's registry size) until a bulk write path exists. A dense map (`VecMap`) was the alternative; it allocates 16 B per validator on the first push or write. - **Skip loop written by hand** in `process_inactivity_updates`: read the score, compute the new one exactly as before (overflow still raises `ArithmeticOverflow` before the recovery step), write only if different. A write rebuilds its leaf even for an equal value, which would unshare the list from the parent state's. - **`rebase_on` pairs scores through the altair accessors**, so it works across forks and skips phase0 (no scores). - **`process_slot` leaves its two roots writes buffered** until the next flush (the next slot's, or `process_slots`' last step). `process_historical_summaries_update` hashes the roots vectors with that write pending: correct, and the vectors are small. Tests pin this. - **Block production flush:** `produce_block` hashed the post-state without `apply_pending_mutations`, so the computed hashes were discarded; one added call. - `Buffered` and `tree_fields!` are additive in ssz-tree and `containers/mod.rs`, to keep a merge with other work in the same files easy. ## Not in this PR | Item | Why | |---|---| | Participation lists on the tree (`previous_`/`current_epoch_participation`) | Blocked on a zip pass for `get_unslashed_participating_indices` (#632): its per-index reads would cost ~2M tree descents per block in the pulled-up tip. Also needs `List::filled` for an O(1) rotation. | | `pending_deposits` on the tree | Depends on the mainnet queue length, which has not been measured. | | Sync committees (`Arc` + cached-root newtype) | Small win (~1.5 MiB per state), separate design. | | Rebase across an epoch boundary (decoded `previous` equals the base's `current`) | Positional rebase misses it; one `if` in `rebase_on`, left for the participation PR. | ## Testing | Command | Result | |---|---| | `cargo test -p ethlambda-ssz-tree --profile release-fast` | 35 passed (properties), 0 failed | | `cargo test -p ethlambda-types --profile release-fast --lib` | 201 passed | | `cargo test -p ethlambda-storage --profile release-fast --lib` | 139 passed, 1 ignored | | `cargo test -p ethlambda-state-transition --profile release-fast --lib` | 329 passed, 16 ignored | | `cargo test -p ethlambda-rpc --profile release-fast --lib` | 110 passed | | Beacon spec suite, mainnet preset (full) | 5734 passed, 152 ignored; 4 failed | | Beacon spec suite, minimal preset (full) | 40038 passed, 3692 ignored; 4 failed | | `cargo clippy` (workspace, and state-transition with `beacon-spec-tests`) with `-D warnings`, `cargo fmt --check`, `cargo check -p ethlambda` | clean | The 4 failures in each spec run are the `gossip/*` trials, which report "matched no fixture cases": the gossip fixture directory is intentionally empty in the local setup. Every `ssz_static`, `sanity`, `finality`, `random`, `epoch_processing` and `transition` trial passes. The lean `ssz_spectests` and the import-replay benchmark were not run. --------- Co-authored-by: Pablo Deymonnaz <pdeymon@fi.uba.ar>
…mbdaclass#633) One of three alternative implementations of the same follow-up to the persistent-tree registry (epoch participation without per-index registry reads): (a) lambdaclass#630, (b) lambdaclass#632, (c) this PR. **Stacked on (b)**: this PR's diff is the fusion only, and it targets (b)'s branch. ## Motivation After (b), electra and fulu still walk the tree-backed registry once per remaining epoch step: registry updates, slashings, pending deposits and effective-balance updates. Several of those steps also recompute `get_total_active_balance`, which descends once per active validator. This is option (c) of the plan, the Lighthouse-style single pass (`process_epoch_single_pass`). ## Change: fuse electra/fulu epoch steps 2-9 into one loop `stf::epoch::single_pass` visits each validator once, in index order, working on a local copy of the validator and its balance. Per validator, in spec order: 1. inactivity score; 2. rewards and penalties; 3. registry action (queue, eject or activate); 4. slashing penalty; 5. planned deposit top-up; 6. effective-balance update. Changes are written back after the loop. What depends on more than one validator stays outside it, as in Lighthouse: - **Exit churn:** the cursor is advanced locally in index order and written back once. - **Pending deposits:** the queue is planned before the loop. A deposit counts as "exited" if the validator already has an exit or this epoch's registry update will eject it. Top-ups of existing validators apply inside the loop; deposits that create validators apply after it, and one registry walk serves all pubkey lookups. - **Consolidations:** pending consolidations run after the loop. The effective-balance update of every validator they name, and of every validator created by deposits, waits until then. - **Total active balance:** taken from the summary and reused for slashings and every churn limit. It equals `get_total_active_balance` through step 8. The hysteresis test both effective-balance updates use is now one checked `leaves_hysteresis_band`: a balance near `u64::MAX` is an `ArithmeticOverflow`, as in the spec and Lighthouse's `safe_add`, rather than a debug panic or a release wrap that moves the effective balance. It keeps the spec's short-circuit `or`. The genesis epoch, and states whose registry-sized lists differ in length, fall back to the step-by-step path. The step functions stay public and callable in isolation for the fixtures. The per-step rules both paths share were factored out so both run the same code: registry action, slashing penalty, effective-balance hysteresis, inactivity score and the exit-cursor advance. ## Testing - In debug builds, a registry of up to 4096 validators also runs through the specification-shaped steps 1-9 on a clone, and the two full post-states must have equal `hash_tree_root`. A mismatch names the differing fields. - A randomized fused-vs-unfused test runs 800 electra and fulu cases. They cover ejections that move the churn cursor, activations and the activation queue, slashings, every pending-deposit branch (including new pubkeys with valid and invalid signatures), and processed, slashed and not-yet-withdrawable consolidations. Two deliberately injected bugs were caught within a few seeds. About one state in ten carries a near-`u64::MAX` balance, since one now fails the whole epoch; those cases check that both paths fail together. As in (b), the finalized epoch stays at or behind the previous epoch. - Clippy `-D warnings` and the `ethlambda-state-transition` lib tests pass, including the dev-profile `Test minimal preset` run, where overflow checks are on. - Beacon spec filters `epoch_processing`, `rewards`, `sanity`, `finality`, `random`, `fork_choice` and `transition` pass on both presets. That run predates the rebase onto (b)'s finality-delay fix and the checked hysteresis; CI's beacon spec jobs cover both. Over (b), this saves about 200 ms per epoch-start block and nothing on other blocks. That is more than the plan estimated, probably because the fusion also removes the repeated total-active-balance calls and the per-deposit pubkey scans (not profiled). A per-epoch total cache (follow-up 01) and a pubkey-to-index map would recover part of that gain more simply. ## Benchmark (all three options) `ethlambda benchmark import replay` on ethlambda-5: `cargo build --release`, mainnet corpus of 128 blocks (slots 15279073..=15279200, 4 epoch-start blocks), legs interleaved `base a b c` for two rounds. Base against base: 0.996. Every leg imported all 128 blocks. | | base (c913728) | (a) iterator passes | (b) summary pass | (c) single pass | |---|---|---|---|---| | process wall | 104.0 s | 96.1 s | 92.0 s | 91.0 s | | user CPU | 215.1 s | 208.4 s | 205.1 s | 203.8 s | | `stf`, epoch-start block (mean of 4) | 1503 ms | 1126 ms | 912 ms | 709 ms | | `stf` p50, other blocks | 577 ms | 517 ms | 478 ms | 479 ms | | paired `stf` vs base (ratio of totals) | 1 | 0.869 | 0.797 | 0.785 | | `get_head` p50 | 201 ms | 214 ms | 226 ms | 225 ms | | peak RSS | 3.88 GiB | 3.93 GiB | 4.04 GiB | 4.04 GiB | - The per-block saving comes from the pulled-up tip, which reruns justification on every imported block. - (c) gains nothing over (b) on ordinary blocks, since their per-block path is the same. - `get_head` rises as `stf` falls, although no option touches the head computation. This is probably contention with the background state writer, as seen in earlier import benchmarks; it is not verified. Block wall time still falls. ## Base - Stacked on lambdaclass#632; its head, which carries `beacon-chain-integration` @ `c79fabd5`, is merged into the branch.
…cursor (lambdaclass#647) ## Motivation An epoch boundary writes every balance. `get_mut` on a tree list buffers a copy of each element in a dense map, sorts the map into a second `Vec`, then rebuilds every touched leaf and recomputes the root of every written element, changed or not. The altair rewards step calls it up to eight times per validator (four reward/penalty pairs, each as increase then decrease), and `process_effective_balance_updates` reads `balances()[i]` per validator, which was only cheap because the rewards pass had just filled the map. This PR adds an in-order lazy copy-on-write write cursor to `ethlambda-ssz-tree` and moves the epoch balance writes onto it. Expected gain (estimate, not measured on a real chain): tens of ms off each epoch-start block at mainnet registry size. The import-replay benchmark was not run for this PR. ## Changes | commit | what | |---|---| | `perf(ssz-tree): add an in-order copy-on-write write cursor` | `List`/`Vector::iter_cow`, `IterCow::next_cow`, `ElemCow::{index, make_mut, set}`, `try_update_each`; `with_updated_leaves` generalized over a leaf source; unit tests and model-based property tests | | `perf(beacon): apply epoch balance and effective-balance writes through the cursor` | `BeaconState::registry_mut` (disjoint borrows of validators and balances); `apply_balance_deltas` used by the altair+ and phase0 `process_rewards_and_penalties`; both `process_effective_balance_updates`; new `tree_bench` rows; docs | How the cursor works: it walks leaves in order and copies a leaf on the first write that reaches it. At the leaf's end it compares only the touched offsets with the original; if all are equal, the original leaf (its `Arc` and cached hash) is kept. Otherwise the new leaf carries over the element roots of unchanged elements and computes the changed ones. On drop, one descent swaps the changed leaves in and rebuilds only their paths. Pending buffered writes are applied before the pass starts. ## Design decisions - `Drop` does the work, and the tree is untouched during the pass, so an early return or a panic leaves a consistent list holding the writes so far (tested with `catch_unwind`). - Names as in the design: `iter_cow`, `next_cow`, `make_mut`, `set`, `try_update_each`. No `set_with`. - Changed composite elements get their root computed eagerly, on the state-transition thread. - A kept `Arc` or carried root always follows an actual comparison. The cursor only creates fresh empty hash cells, or carried roots for a leaf it owns; it never fills a shared `OnceLock`. - Spec order for balances: per index, each pair is `saturating_add(reward)` then `saturating_sub(penalty)`, pairs in order. Deltas are never netted. Each balance depends only on its own deltas, so index-by-index equals the spec's pair-by-pair loop. - `apply_balance_deltas` lives in `helpers/mutators.rs` and is shared by the phase0 and altair+ paths. It keeps the old error for a balances list shorter than the registry, and does not touch balances past the registry length. - Rewards and both effective-balance passes move together: once rewards bypass the map, the effective-balance reads would otherwise become tree descents. - Effective-balance updates only copy a leaf when the new effective balance differs from the old one (it can equal it when capped at the maximum). - No leaf-slice API, no parallel bulk update. ## Not in this PR - Switching `Balances` to a sparse `BTreeMap` update map: to be decided after measuring whether a dense writer remains. - `List::filled`: its only consumer is the participation-list work, which is deferred. - Migrating slashings, inactivity, and registry updates: sparse, flat lists, or part of the epoch single-pass rewrite (lambdaclass#630, lambdaclass#632, lambdaclass#633). Expect a merge conflict with lambdaclass#632 in `process_rewards_and_penalties`. - Import-replay benchmark and any remote profiling. ## Testing | command | result | |---|---| | `cargo test -p ethlambda-ssz-tree --profile release-fast` | 71 unit + 31 model tests passed (before the second commit) | | `cargo test -p ethlambda-types --profile release-fast --lib` | 197 passed | | `cargo test -p ethlambda-state-transition --profile release-fast --lib` | 324 passed, 16 ignored | | beacon spec suite, mainnet preset, full | 5734 passed, 4 failed | | beacon spec suite, minimal preset, full | 40038 passed, 4 failed | | `cargo clippy --locked --workspace --all-targets --profile release-fast -- -D warnings` and the state-transition `beacon-spec-tests` variant | clean | | `cargo check -p ethlambda --profile release-fast` | ok | The 4 spec failures in each preset are the `gossip/*` suites (`gossip_beacon_block`, `gossip_data_column_sidecar`, `gossip_beacon_aggregate_and_proof`, `gossip_beacon_attestation`): the local gossip fixture directory is intentionally empty, so they match no cases. Every other suite, including `epoch_processing`, `rewards`, `sanity`, `finality`, `random` and `transition`, passes. ### tree_bench (2.4M validators, `--ignored`, single run) Noisy: run while the machine was under a load average above 100 from other builds, so absolute numbers (and even the order of the old rows) are unreliable; read them as rough ratios only. | row | ms | |---|---| | `epoch_sweep_tree` (old path) | 333.8 | | `epoch_sweep_tree_phases` | write 58.1, apply 70.0, hash 83.1 | | `epoch_sweep_cursor_tree` | 26.8 | | `epoch_sweep_noop_cursor_tree` | 90.4 | | `epoch_sweep_rebuild_tree` (rebuild baseline) | 105.8 | | `rewards_apply_4_pairs_get_mut` | 342.5 | | `rewards_apply_4_pairs_cursor` | 158.9 | | `eb_updates_indexed` | 253.8 | | `eb_updates_cursor` | 115.4 | | `lockstep_three_lists_cursor` | 136.2 | The bench asserts the cursor rows produce the same roots as the old paths, and that a no-op sweep keeps the tree (`ptr_eq`).
## Motivation
`get_total_active_balance` rescans the registry about ten times per
ordinary block: once per attestation (through
`get_base_reward_per_increment`), twice in the sync aggregate, plus
churn and fork-choice callers. Each call built an index `Vec` of the
active validators and then read every index back with a `validator(i)`
tree descent. In the profile taken for the persistent-tree registry
change, this was the largest cost left after hashing (the plan's
estimate: about 414 ms per block at mainnet scale; an estimate, not
measured here).
## Changes
| Commit | Change |
|---|---|
| `perf(beacon): sum the total active balance in one registry pass` |
`get_total_active_balance` is one in-order `validators().iter()` pass
with the same `saturating_add` and one-increment floor as
`get_total_balance`. No index `Vec`, no descents. Every caller gets it,
cached or not. Randomized test (inline SplitMix64) against
`get_total_balance(get_active_validator_indices(..))`, plus an all-zero
registry. |
| `perf(beacon): cache the total active balance per epoch in the store`
| New `ActiveBalanceCache` (`ethlambda-storage`), held by the `Store`
beside the committee cache (`Store::active_balance_cache()`). Key
derivation and lookup in `ActiveBalanceCacheExt`
(`helpers/accessors.rs`). Attestation processing (altair, deneb,
electra) and `process_sync_aggregate` take it; plumbed up through block
processing and `state_transition`. New metric
`lean_beacon_total_active_balance_lookups_total{result}`. Docs in
`beacon_stf.md` and `metrics.md`. |
| `perf(beacon): read each attester's validator once per attestation` |
The effective balance is read once per attester, lazily on the first
newly earned flag, instead of once per flag. |
## Design decisions
- **External cache, not a state field.** The design review chose a
store-held table like `CommitteeCache` over a non-SSZ cache field on
`BeaconState`. That keeps the state type, its SSZ derive and its fork
upgrades untouched: no libssz change, no `rebase_on` adoption, no reset
at upgrades.
- **Why the key is sound.** The total for a state in epoch E is fixed by
two inputs. Effective balances are written only by epoch E-1's
`process_effective_balance_updates`; the Electra upgrade zeroes only
never-activated validators, which are not active at E. The active set at
E cannot change inside E, because every activation and exit lands at
least `MAX_SEED_LOOKAHEAD` epochs ahead; deposits append validators that
are not yet active; slashing sets `slashed` but leaves effective
balances alone (the spec's total keeps slashed validators). So `(E,
block root at the last slot of E-1)` identifies the history: two states
agreeing on it agree on the total. Sibling branches that diverge during
E-1 have different roots, so they get different entries.
- **Decision root differs from the shuffling key.** The shuffling key
uses the last slot of E-2, since the seed is fixed ahead of use; the
total is not, so it needs the later root. A new key type
(`ActiveBalanceKey`) keeps the two apart.
- **Epoch 0** keys on the genesis block root (slot 0), like the
shuffling key does for its first epochs. A state that cannot name the
root (the genesis state itself, or a root outside the history window) is
`unkeyable`: computed, not cached.
- **Only block processing uses the cache.** Between
`process_effective_balance_updates` and the slot increment a state is in
epoch E-1 but already carries E's balances, so a key rooted at the end
of E-2 would be wrong there. Block processing never runs in that window
(`process_slots` has already advanced the state), and epoch processing
keeps the uncached one-pass function. Documented on
`active_balance_key`.
- **Debug cross-check.** Every hit is compared against a fresh
computation under `debug_assert_eq!`, so a missed writer fails the
fixtures (`release-fast` keeps debug assertions on).
- **No single-flight.** A concurrent double compute on a miss is
accepted: the value is one cheap registry pass and both callers compute
the same number.
- **`on_block` reads the store's cache itself**
(`store.active_balance_cache()`), so its signature and the chain actor
are unchanged. Other callers (spec runners, block production, unit
tests) pass `ActiveBalanceCache::default()`.
- **Capacity** is a small constant with eviction of the lowest epoch;
entries are tiny, so room for several forks is cheap.
- **Per-attester read stays lazy** so that an attester earning no flag
is still never read, which keeps error behavior identical.
## Not in this PR
- Fork choice's `get_proposer_score` and `calculate_committee_fraction`
keep calling the uncached function; another change replaces that total
with a justified-balances snapshot.
- Epoch processing and the pulled-up tip: they compute totals inside the
single-pass epoch summary work (lambdaclass#630, lambdaclass#632, lambdaclass#633).
- Churn helpers (exits, consolidations, slashings): rare per block, they
use the one-pass function.
- A flat effective-balance epoch cache (progressive balances): waits
until something consumes it.
## Testing
Measured on release-fast with debug assertions. The import-replay
benchmark was not run for this PR, so there is no measured speedup to
report.
| Command | Result |
|---|---|
| `cargo clippy --locked --workspace --all-targets --profile
release-fast -- -D warnings` | clean |
| `cargo clippy -p ethlambda-state-transition ... --features
beacon-spec-tests -- -D warnings` | clean |
| `cargo test -p ethlambda-storage --lib` | 142 passed, 1 ignored (run
before the store-sharing test was added; not re-run after) |
| `cargo test -p ethlambda-state-transition --lib` | 330 passed, 16
ignored |
| beacon spec suite, mainnet (full) | 5734 passed, 152 ignored, 4 failed
|
| beacon spec suite, minimal (full) | 40038 passed, 3692 ignored, 4
failed |
| `cargo check -p ethlambda --profile release-fast` | clean |
The 4 failures per preset are the gossip `matched_fixture_cases` checks:
the gossip fixture tree is empty in this environment, so they match no
cases. Every other suite passes.
One of three alternative implementations of the same follow-up to the persistent-tree registry (epoch participation without per-index registry reads): (a) #630, (b) this PR, (c) #633. They are meant to be compared, and at most one of (a) and (b) should merge; (c) is stacked on this one.
Motivation
The registry is now a persistent Merkle tree, so
state.validator(i)is a tree descent rather than an array index, whilevalidators().iter()walks leaf slices.Epoch steps 1-3 (justification, inactivity updates, rewards) read the registry through about 19 full scans and about 21 descents per active validator. The pulled-up-tip check in fork choice repeats justification on every imported block.
Change: option (b), one summary pass, then flat passes
helpers::participation:EpochSummary: one walk ofvalidators().iter(), zipped with the flat participation lists, into per-validator flags, effective balances and the balance totals.ParticipationTotals: the same scan without allocation. This is all justification (and so the per-block pulled-up tip) needs.RewardContextandValidatorDeltas: today's reward arithmetic per validator, in today's operation order.process_participation_stepsreplaces the three step calls in the altair, capella and electra drivers. It builds the summary once, then:get_flag_index_deltas/get_inactivity_penalty_deltaskeep their signatures, since the fixtures call them one at a time. They become thin wrappers that build what they need.balances().iter(). Once only changed balances are written,balances()[i]is a tree descent for most validators.get_finality_delayandis_in_inactivity_leaknow returnResult: a finalized epoch past the previous epoch is anArithmeticOverflowrather than a debug panic or a release wrap into a permanent leak. The spec calls thatuint64underflow an invalid transition, and Lighthouse and Grandine reject it the same way (Teku saturates to zero; Prysm and Nimbus wrap).RewardContext::newpasses the error up.docs/beacon_stf.md: a short note in "Registry and balances".docs/spec_deviations.md: from altair on, the fast path reads the leak flag once per step, where the spec reads it per validator. So a crafted state with the finalized epoch past the previous one fails here even where the spec never reaches the check. No chain reaches that state, since justification only finalizes an epoch behind the current one.Testing
cfg(any(test, debug_assertions)).process_participation_stepsruns the reference on a clone for registries up to 4096. It asserts equal balances, scores, justification bits and checkpoints, and that both paths error or neither does.release-fasthas debug assertions on, so this runs on every fixture.Test minimal presetjob, which uses the dev profile with overflow checks on.release-fastturns them off, which is how the underflow above went unnoticed under mainnet.-D warningsand theethlambda-state-transitionlib tests pass.epoch_processing,rewards,sanity,finality,random,fork_choiceandtransitionpass on both presets. That run predates the finality-delay change; CI's beacon spec jobs cover it.Benchmark (all three options)
ethlambda benchmark import replayon ethlambda-5:cargo build --release, mainnet corpus of 128 blocks (slots 15279073..=15279200, 4 epoch-start blocks), legs interleavedbase a b cfor two rounds. Base against base: 0.996. Every leg imported all 128 blocks.stf, epoch-start block (mean of 4)stfp50, other blocksstfvs base (ratio of totals)get_headp50get_headrises asstffalls, although no option touches the head computation. This is probably contention with the background state writer, as seen in earlier import benchmarks; it is not verified. Block wall time still falls.Base
beacon-chain-integration@c79fabd5, merged into the branch.