Channels

The fact that peers are assigned to a randomly chosen Seeker Node each epoch has a downside - if the assigned node is low quality, peer’s assigned to it will receive poor service for the epoch.

In the long term this will correct itself - the stake redistribution mechanism (see later) will ensure that the low-quality node eventually drops off the network. However, for the short term issue of poor service, another mechanism is needed.

This is addressed by assigning each peer a channel number, which is defined publicly on-chain and can only be changed by the peer it relates to. A peer’s channel number is included in the input to the hash when scanning for that peer's node. By changing their own channel number, peers can unilaterally change node in response to poor service, for a minimal gas cost.

The small gas cost associated with this change discourages peers from swapping Nodes unnecessarily. Swapping channel also reduces the amount of evidence that the low quality node is able to collect, leading to it losing stake through redistribution more quickly.