Author: Olaoluwa Osuntokun 2017-12-15 21:46:54
Published on: 2017-12-15T21:46:54+00:00
The context revolves around the differences between Ripple and Lightning Network (LN) payment networks, including their fee structures and constraints. It also discusses the proposed routing algorithm, SpeedyMurmurs, which is designed for a decentralized payment network such as SilentWhispers, LN, Raiden Network or Interledger.The researchers designed the routing algorithm called SpeedyMurmurs that has potential to be used in the LN. The protocol presents novel traits in designing a routing system for payment channel based networks and can provide sender+receiver privacy using a distance-vector-like routing system. The authors discussed tradeoffs and necessary/sufficient guarantees for the routing algorithm in a decentralized payment network before choosing a solution.The technique discussed in the context assumes that the routing layer and the onion layer are together by default. However, it is not the only alternative. For instance, in SpeedyMurmurs, nodes only need to announce their channels to their neighbors and yet they are able to reconstruct a path from sender to the receiver which has enormous benefits in terms of performance.Regarding the landmark routing mechanism in LN, the author states that the description might not be accurate for what they understand. In SpeedyMurmurs, any node could be a landmark or two users could have a different view of what set of nodes constitute the set of landmarks. Paths no longer require to have the landmark as an intermediate user.The paper discusses the concept of "shortcuts" in SpeedyMurmurs, which are links that are not part of the spanning tree between sender and receiver. Landmarks, which must be globally known, are used as a one-time setup and any node can be a landmark. Unbalanced payment channels are an issue to consider independently of the routing algorithm that is in use. Passive channel rebalancing is possible with source routing but not with distance-vector-like protocols.The paper ends by discussing the possibility of having several routing approaches in the future, similar to existing routing protocols deployed on the Internet. The author believes that there might be more than just HTLC-based payments in the LN. It is interesting to look at tradeoffs and examine the desirable properties of a routing proposal so we can navigate the various tradeoffs.
Updated on: 2023-05-19T16:06:19.734749+00:00