// Copyright (c) 2013-2014 Conformal Systems LLC. // Use of this source code is governed by an ISC // license that can be found in the LICENSE file. package btcchain import ( "fmt" "github.com/conformal/btcwire" "math/big" "time" ) const ( // targetTimespan is the desired amount of time that should elapse // before block difficulty requirement is examined to determine how // it should be changed in order to maintain the desired block // generation rate. targetTimespan = time.Hour * 24 * 14 // targetSpacing is the desired amount of time to generate each block. targetSpacing = time.Minute * 10 // BlocksPerRetarget is the number of blocks between each difficulty // retarget. It is calculated based on the desired block generation // rate. BlocksPerRetarget = int64(targetTimespan / targetSpacing) // retargetAdjustmentFactor is the adjustment factor used to limit // the minimum and maximum amount of adjustment that can occur between // difficulty retargets. retargetAdjustmentFactor = 4 // minRetargetTimespan is the minimum amount of adjustment that can // occur between difficulty retargets. It equates to 25% of the // previous difficulty. minRetargetTimespan = int64(targetTimespan / retargetAdjustmentFactor) // maxRetargetTimespan is the maximum amount of adjustment that can // occur between difficulty retargets. It equates to 400% of the // previous difficulty. maxRetargetTimespan = int64(targetTimespan * retargetAdjustmentFactor) ) var ( // bigOne is 1 represented as a big.Int. It is defined here to avoid // the overhead of creating it multiple times. bigOne = big.NewInt(1) // oneLsh256 is 1 shifted left 256 bits. It is defined here to avoid // the overhead of creating it multiple times. oneLsh256 = new(big.Int).Lsh(bigOne, 256) ) // ShaHashToBig converts a btcwire.ShaHash into a big.Int that can be used to // perform math comparisons. func ShaHashToBig(hash *btcwire.ShaHash) *big.Int { // A ShaHash is in little-endian, but the big package wants the bytes // in big-endian. Reverse them. ShaHash.Bytes makes a copy, so it // is safe to modify the returned buffer. buf := hash.Bytes() blen := len(buf) for i := 0; i < blen/2; i++ { buf[i], buf[blen-1-i] = buf[blen-1-i], buf[i] } return new(big.Int).SetBytes(buf) } // CompactToBig converts a compact representation of a whole number N to an // unsigned 32-bit number. The representation is similar to IEEE754 floating // point numbers. // // Like IEEE754 floating point, there are three basic components: the sign, // the exponent, and the mantissa. They are broken out as follows: // // * the most significant 8 bits represent the unsigned base 256 exponent // * bit 23 (the 24th bit) represents the sign bit // * the least significant 23 bits represent the mantissa // // ------------------------------------------------- // | Exponent | Sign | Mantissa | // ------------------------------------------------- // | 8 bits [31-24] | 1 bit [23] | 23 bits [22-00] | // ------------------------------------------------- // // The formula to calculate N is: // N = (-1^sign) * mantissa * 256^(exponent-3) // // This compact form is only used in bitcoin to encode unsigned 256-bit numbers // which represent difficulty targets, thus there really is not a need for a // sign bit, but it is implemented here to stay consistent with bitcoind. func CompactToBig(compact uint32) *big.Int { // Extract the mantissa, sign bit, and exponent. mantissa := compact & 0x007fffff isNegative := compact&0x00800000 != 0 exponent := uint(compact >> 24) // Since the base for the exponent is 256, the exponent can be treated // as the number of bytes to represent the full 256-bit number. So, // treat the exponent as the number of bytes and shift the mantissa // right or left accordingly. This is equivalent to: // N = mantissa * 256^(exponent-3) var bn *big.Int if exponent <= 3 { mantissa >>= 8 * (3 - exponent) bn = big.NewInt(int64(mantissa)) } else { bn = big.NewInt(int64(mantissa)) bn.Lsh(bn, 8*(exponent-3)) } // Make it negative if the sign bit is set. if isNegative { bn = bn.Neg(bn) } return bn } // BigToCompact converts a whole number N to a compact representation using // an unsigned 32-bit number. The compact representation only provides 23 bits // of precision, so values larger than (2^23 - 1) only encode the most // significant digits of the number. See CompactToBig for details. func BigToCompact(n *big.Int) uint32 { // No need to do any work if it's zero. if n.Sign() == 0 { return 0 } // Since the base for the exponent is 256, the exponent can be treated // as the number of bytes. So, shift the number right or left // accordingly. This is equivalent to: // mantissa = mantissa / 256^(exponent-3) var mantissa uint32 exponent := uint(len(n.Bytes())) if exponent <= 3 { mantissa = uint32(n.Bits()[0]) mantissa <<= 8 * (3 - exponent) } else { // Use a copy to avoid modifying the caller's original number. tn := new(big.Int).Set(n) mantissa = uint32(tn.Rsh(tn, 8*(exponent-3)).Bits()[0]) } // When the mantissa already has the sign bit set, the number is too // large to fit into the available 23-bits, so divide the number by 256 // and increment the exponent accordingly. if mantissa&0x00800000 != 0 { mantissa >>= 8 exponent++ } // Pack the exponent, sign bit, and mantissa into an unsigned 32-bit // int and return it. compact := uint32(exponent<<24) | mantissa if n.Sign() < 0 { compact |= 0x00800000 } return compact } // CalcWork calculates a work value from difficulty bits. Bitcoin increases // the difficulty for generating a block by decreasing the value which the // generated hash must be less than. This difficulty target is stored in each // block header using a compact representation as described in the documenation // for CompactToBig. The main chain is selected by choosing the chain that has // the most proof of work (highest difficulty). Since a lower target difficulty // value equates to higher actual difficulty, the work value which will be // accumulated must be the inverse of the difficulty. Also, in order to avoid // potential division by zero and really small floating point numbers, the // result adds 1 to the denominator and multiplies the numerator by 2^256. func CalcWork(bits uint32) *big.Int { // Return a work value of zero if the passed difficulty bits represent // a negative number. Note this should not happen in practice with valid // blocks, but an invalid block could trigger it. difficultyNum := CompactToBig(bits) if difficultyNum.Sign() <= 0 { return big.NewInt(0) } // (1 << 256) / (difficultyNum + 1) denominator := new(big.Int).Add(difficultyNum, bigOne) return new(big.Int).Div(oneLsh256, denominator) } // calcEasiestDifficulty calculates the easiest possible difficulty that a block // can have given starting difficulty bits and a duration. It is mainly used to // verify that claimed proof of work by a block is sane as compared to a // known good checkpoint. func (b *BlockChain) calcEasiestDifficulty(bits uint32, duration time.Duration) uint32 { // Convert types used in the calculations below. durationVal := int64(duration) adjustmentFactor := big.NewInt(retargetAdjustmentFactor) // Choose the correct proof of work limit for the active network. powLimit := b.chainParams().PowLimit powLimitBits := b.chainParams().PowLimitBits // The test network rules allow minimum difficulty blocks after more // than twice the desired amount of time needed to generate a block has // elapsed. switch b.btcnet { case btcwire.TestNet: fallthrough case btcwire.TestNet3: if durationVal > int64(targetSpacing)*2 { return powLimitBits } } // Since easier difficulty equates to higher numbers, the easiest // difficulty for a given duration is the largest value possible given // the number of retargets for the duration and starting difficulty // multiplied by the max adjustment factor. newTarget := CompactToBig(bits) for durationVal > 0 && newTarget.Cmp(powLimit) < 0 { newTarget.Mul(newTarget, adjustmentFactor) durationVal -= maxRetargetTimespan } // Limit new value to the proof of work limit. if newTarget.Cmp(powLimit) > 0 { newTarget.Set(powLimit) } return BigToCompact(newTarget) } // findPrevTestNetDifficulty returns the difficulty of the previous block which // did not have the special testnet minimum difficulty rule applied. func (b *BlockChain) findPrevTestNetDifficulty(startNode *blockNode) (uint32, error) { // Search backwards through the chain for the last block without // the special rule applied. powLimitBits := b.chainParams().PowLimitBits iterNode := startNode for iterNode != nil && iterNode.height%BlocksPerRetarget != 0 && iterNode.bits == powLimitBits { // Get the previous block node. This function is used over // simply accessing iterNode.parent directly as it will // dynamically create previous block nodes as needed. This // helps allow only the pieces of the chain that are needed // to remain in memory. var err error iterNode, err = b.getPrevNodeFromNode(iterNode) if err != nil { log.Errorf("getPrevNodeFromNode: %v", err) return 0, err } } // Return the found difficulty or the minimum difficulty if no // appropriate block was found. lastBits := powLimitBits if iterNode != nil { lastBits = iterNode.bits } return lastBits, nil } // calcNextRequiredDifficulty calculates the required difficulty for the block // after the passed previous block node based on the difficulty retarget rules. // This function differs from the exported CalcNextRequiredDifficulty in that // the exported version uses the current best chain as the previous block node // while this function accepts any block node. func (b *BlockChain) calcNextRequiredDifficulty(lastNode *blockNode, newBlockTime time.Time) (uint32, error) { // Choose the correct proof of work limit for the active network. powLimit := b.chainParams().PowLimit powLimitBits := b.chainParams().PowLimitBits // Genesis block. if lastNode == nil { return powLimitBits, nil } // Return the previous block's difficulty requirements if this block // is not at a difficulty retarget interval. if (lastNode.height+1)%BlocksPerRetarget != 0 { // The difficulty rules differ between networks. switch b.btcnet { // The test network rules allow minimum difficulty blocks after // more than twice the desired amount of time needed to generate // a block has elapsed. case btcwire.TestNet: fallthrough case btcwire.TestNet3: // Return minimum difficulty when more than twice the // desired amount of time needed to generate a block has // elapsed. allowMinTime := lastNode.timestamp.Add(targetSpacing * 2) if newBlockTime.After(allowMinTime) { return powLimitBits, nil } // The block was mined within the desired timeframe, so // return the difficulty for the last block which did // not have the special minimum difficulty rule applied. prevBits, err := b.findPrevTestNetDifficulty(lastNode) if err != nil { return 0, err } return prevBits, nil // For the main network (or any unrecognized networks), simply // return the previous block's difficulty. case btcwire.MainNet: fallthrough default: // Return the previous block's difficulty requirements. return lastNode.bits, nil } } // Get the block node at the previous retarget (targetTimespan days // worth of blocks). firstNode := lastNode for i := int64(0); i < BlocksPerRetarget-1 && firstNode != nil; i++ { // Get the previous block node. This function is used over // simply accessing firstNode.parent directly as it will // dynamically create previous block nodes as needed. This // helps allow only the pieces of the chain that are needed // to remain in memory. var err error firstNode, err = b.getPrevNodeFromNode(firstNode) if err != nil { return 0, err } } if firstNode == nil { return 0, fmt.Errorf("unable to obtain previous retarget block") } // Limit the amount of adjustment that can occur to the previous // difficulty. actualTimespan := lastNode.timestamp.UnixNano() - firstNode.timestamp.UnixNano() adjustedTimespan := actualTimespan if actualTimespan < minRetargetTimespan { adjustedTimespan = minRetargetTimespan } else if actualTimespan > maxRetargetTimespan { adjustedTimespan = maxRetargetTimespan } // Calculate new target difficulty as: // currentDifficulty * (adjustedTimespan / targetTimespan) // The result uses integer division which means it will be slightly // rounded down. Bitcoind also uses integer division to calculate this // result. oldTarget := CompactToBig(lastNode.bits) newTarget := new(big.Int).Mul(oldTarget, big.NewInt(adjustedTimespan)) newTarget.Div(newTarget, big.NewInt(int64(targetTimespan))) // Limit new value to the proof of work limit. if newTarget.Cmp(powLimit) > 0 { newTarget.Set(powLimit) } // Log new target difficulty and return it. The new target logging is // intentionally converting the bits back to a number instead of using // newTarget since conversion to the compact representation loses // precision. newTargetBits := BigToCompact(newTarget) log.Debugf("Difficulty retarget at block height %d", lastNode.height+1) log.Debugf("Old target %08x (%064x)", lastNode.bits, oldTarget) log.Debugf("New target %08x (%064x)", newTargetBits, CompactToBig(newTargetBits)) log.Debugf("Actual timespan %v, adjusted timespan %v, target timespan %v", time.Duration(actualTimespan), time.Duration(adjustedTimespan), targetTimespan) return newTargetBits, nil } // CalcNextRequiredDifficulty calculates the required difficulty for the block // after the end of the current best chain based on the difficulty retarget // rules. // // This function is NOT safe for concurrent access. func (b *BlockChain) CalcNextRequiredDifficulty(timestamp time.Time) (uint32, error) { return b.calcNextRequiredDifficulty(b.bestChain, timestamp) }