Light Macro Sync ​

The light macro sync is an efficient method to sync with the macro chain while conserving storage space. Light and full nodes use this method to sync with the macro chain easily. The zero-knowledge proof allows these nodes to skip most of the chain without compromising the data’s validity.

A zero-knowledge proof is a small and easy-to-verify proof that enables the peer to verify the correctness of all election macro blocks since the genesis block.

The light macro sync consists of three processes:

1. Request the latest zero-knowledge proof (zkp) from a prover node, which includes a proof of the validity of the chain since the genesis block up to the latest election block;
2. Request epoch IDs, including both the latest election block (if no proof was generated in the step before) and checkpoint blocks;
3. Continuously check for any new checkpoint or election blocks, re-request blocks using the previous steps, and update the chain accordingly;

Note that if during step 1, a proof hasn’t yet been generated from the most recent election block, the node receives a proof on the prior election block and requests the epoch ID for the most recent one. This might happen, as a zero-knowledge proof does take a considerable amount of time to be generated by the prover node.