aelf concepts and technological features

Processing power & Scalability

i. Each node is a computer cluster network (e.g., a cloud network) instead of a singular computer. By leveraging cloud networks as nodes, aelf aims to further empower the network participants with higher computational power as well as the storage capability.

ii. Parallel processing algorithm is developed and integrated to each node to ensure the optimal utilization of all the participating computers in the cloud network. When a node handles a complex set of transactions within a smart contract, it will dissect the transactions into groups of those that do not demonstrate interdependency and process them in parallel simultaneously. Consequently, the takt time is minimized and the overall processing speed maximized.

iii. A node’s capacity can be easily scaled by adding new computers to the existing network without having to upgrade the node computer’s hardware.

2. Independence & Specialization

i. Multichain network: each side chain is independent from one another and smart contracts resides are executed directly from a side chain, not through the main chain. This enables each side chain to be impervious to the high traffics on another chain, thereby localizing the traffic concentration and guaranteeing consistent transaction speed for smart contracts executed in other side chains. Each side chain would also have the ability to host its own set of nodes to guarantee low traffic and determine its own processing speed.

ii. Each side chain is specialized for a specific business scenario, e.g., token issuance (ICO), insurance database, in-game transactions, etc, and their consensus protocol, node delegation, chain privacy and various other chain qualities can be tailored to best support the specific business scenario.

iii. The main chain acts as the ledger and the communication hub, unlocking highly efficient cross chain communication, triggering of smart contracts across side chains and effective synchronization between chains with different speeds.

3. Governance & Flexibility

i. aelf aims to bestow its network participants an entirely self-evolving authority and capability through its voting protocol. aelf coin holders will have the ability vote on a diverse sets of critical decisions that will collectively shape the eco-system; this includes the decision for each side chain to host their own delegated node, choose whether the participating side chain will be public or private, determine the size and the speed of the side chain, remove or add side chains to the network, etc.

ii. aelf utilizes Merkle tree root based chain indexing to communicate and interoperate with other consensus protocol based blockchains such as PoW and PoS.

iii. aelf provides side chain templates to its developers for rapid smart contract development for those who do not have the in-depth understanding and capacity for ground-up smart contract coding,