Author: Rebroad (sourceforge) 2012-04-30 16:40:18
Published on: 2012-04-30T16:40:18+00:00
The proposal put forth by Ed to Bitcoin developers is to extend the protocol to allow partial block download and upload for people with intermittent or restricted internet connectivity. The proposal suggests adding the hash along with the size in the header of a block, which would help nodes determine whether they want to reject the download if they already have the same block. This addition could save bandwidth amongst behaving nodes. The other part of the proposal is to allow nodes to request the upload and download of blocks that have already been partially downloaded, which can be done by modifying existing methods of upload and download or by adding a new method, possibly using HTTP/HTTPS or similar methods. This could help nodes obtain the blockchain if they have restrictive ISPs, especially if it's served on ports 80 or 443. Moreover, web caches could keep caches of the blockchain, making it more widely available. Currently, nodes with restrictive or slow internet have some options, such as going via a tor proxy, but there are problems with multiple receptions of the same block due to latency. In conclusion, Ed's proposal aims to make the blockchain more accessible to nodes with limited internet connectivity while also saving bandwidth among nodes.
Updated on: 2023-06-06T04:11:42.135842+00:00