Orbs
Roadmap
Orbs current two-year technology roadmap vision
Q2 2019 – Q2 2021
Orbs
Proof-of-Stake Core Infrastructure V2
Implement the next version of the Orbs Proof-of-Stake architecture with various improvements making the existing implementation more efficient, easier to use and more powerful with the ability to rely on stronger incentives like locking.
Details
Validator stake locking on Ethereum
Shared elections across all virtual chains
Automatic decentralized contract triggers
Election schedule from block-based to time-based
Publishing election results to Ethereum research
Efficient rewards distribution mechanism
Proof-of-Stake Ecosystem Tools
Create tools for participants in the Orbs PoS Universe. Validators will benefit from easier ways to keep their node healthy. Guardians will have better ways to measure Validators. Delegators will have easier ways to stake and observe network activity.
Details
Node health production monitor
Network monitor for Validator evaluation
Orbs PoS Universe dashboard
Ecosystem tools development grants
Orbs staking interface
Voting and delegation web interface (Hedron)
Instructions documentation for PoS participation
Orbs Audit Node
Audit nodes are important for network security. They allow any external participant (not necessarily a Validator) to verify that the network operation is correct. Audit nodes may choose to audit only a single or subset of virtual chains.
Details
Scalable peer-to-peer gossip for audit nodes
Incentives model for auditing research
Audit node blocks validation implementation
Orbs Two Tier Consensus
Two tier consensus is the hybrid aspect of Orbs. It allows to build permissioned apps – where the app can select its own block producers. These apps run over a permissionless infrastructure – where validators are selected by the network.
Details
Core implementation of two tier consensus
Optimization of empty block processing
Leader reputation system
Consensus library V2 architecture
Support for non-deterministic execution
Web oracles – external data read under consensus
DKG/BLS for verifiable randomness
Virtual Chains Infrastructure
Virtual chains are a key feature of Orbs that provides isolation between apps. It gives the network infinite scalability and sharding; and provides apps with lower cost of operation, guaranteed resources and independent governance.
Details
Virtual chain pre-order contract hook
Autonomous zero-effort virtual chain setup
Smart contract upgrade schemes
Virtual chain governance SDK
CPU resource management research
Autoscaling node resources with Terraform
“One-click” virtual chain deployment
Validator Node Deployment V2
The next generation of how a Validator deploys and operates an Orbs node. Improvements include efficiency for reduced operation cost, higher availability and uptime, optimizations for even more scaling and improved security.
Details
Validator Ethereum node production management
Secure vault / secret manager
Efficient block storage scalability with S3
Microservice separation to multiple machines
Hot update of network topology
Orbs Smart Contract SDK
Allow developers to build even better apps with Orbs for more versatile use cases. Developers are requesting richer API’s that support more languages, more powerful data structures and more flexible interoperability.
Details
Support for complex args (structs and arrays)
Event logging API
Signature verification and public key encryption API
Ethereum interoperability API
Improved support for 3rd party libraries
Collections and state data structures API
JavaScript VM processor research
Canonical replacements for non-deterministic API
App Developer Experience
Increase developer adoption by making the app development experience on Orbs easier than ever. Help developers learn how to build on Orbs and give better developer tools to debug and test their smart contracts.
Details
Dev AMI kits for popular clouds
Education center for learning Orbs
Developer documentation and API reference
IDE integration and Github plugin
Unit test SDK for testing smart contracts
Debugging of smart contracts
Ready-Made Use Case Templates
Increase business adoption of the Orbs network by offering solutions for popular blockchain use-cases. These templates reduce the integration time of blockchain technology into a business from months to days.
Details
S3-compatible immutable object storage
Decentralized identity protocols
Document notarization and authenticity
Pluggable on-chain governance for apps
Assets registry, rights and provenance
Network Production Enhancements
The Orbs network is in production mainnet from March 2019. Continue the process of making the network more mature, reliable stable, performant and secure – so it can host even bigger apps with more users and more value.
Details
Virtual chain docker isolation hardening
External security assessment for architecture
Bounty program for security vulnerabilities
DDoS mitigation in gateway nodes
Smart contract isolation research
Out-of-band gossip connection authentication
Reproducible performance benchmark
Performance tuning for node core
Cost benchmark for competitor comparison
Protocol Enhancement Research
Long term research for core improvements to the Orbs protocol. Every big feature like privacy with zero-knowledge proofs requires months of academic research before being implemented in production and added to the core.
Details
Immutable large data storage (IPFS alternative)
Checkpoints and chain truncation
Flexible addressing schemes for interoperability
Zero-knowledge proof primitives for privacy
PoS incentives model V2
Protocol on-chain governance research
Efficient ultra-light client research
State Merkle root recording on Ethereum
Online IDE for App Developers
Similar to Ethereum’s Remix, the online IDE lets app developers write smart contracts directly from their web browser without installing any tools. This is a great way to make experimentation with Orbs easier with less friction.
Details
Online coding tool for in-browser app development
State change display and manipulation
On-demand Isolated dedicated testnet instance
Prism Block Explorer
Prism is the Orbs block explorer which lets users access the chain directly, find transactions and inspect blocks. Prism is also a developer tool because it lets smart contract developers investigate their contracts and learn how they’re used.
Details
Deployed contracts explorer
State diff presentation
Block/transaction view, search by block/transaction ID
Contract view, search by contract name
Notes and Disclaimers
This document details the research and development roadmap for the Orbs network as currently envisioned by the core team of Orbs Ltd. However, Orbs is a decentralized project driven by community contribution and guidance. The items detailed in this roadmap therefore constitute a mere proposal assembled from community feedback and are subject to change continuously as new requirements arrive. Since these features are only proposed, this is a live document, that is subject to change, and provides no guarantee that any specific feature will become fully or partially developed. You are hereby advised not to rely on any item to be developed unless you have allocated your own developer resources and are planning to contribute such item yourself.
This document is for information purposes only and may be subject to change. Orbs Ltd. does not guarantee the accuracy of the statements made in this document and expressly disclaim all representations and warranties (whether express or implied by statute or otherwise) whatsoever, including but not limited to:
- any representations or warranties relating to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, suitability, title or non-infringement;
- that the contents of this document are accurate and free from any errors; and
- that such contents do not infringe any third party rights.
Orbs Ltd. shall have no liability for losses or damages (whether direct, indirect, consequential or any other kind of loss or damage) arising out of the use, reference to or reliance on the contents of this document, even if advised of the possibility of damages arising.
As far as Orbs Ltd. is aware, the information reproduced in this document is accurate and that the estimates and assumptions contained herein are reasonable. However, Orbs Ltd. offer no assurances as to the accuracy or completeness of this data.
The information contained in this document shall not form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any offer or commitment whatsoever in any jurisdiction. The information contained herein shall not constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, any offer for sale or subscription of, or solicitation of any offer to buy or subscribe for ORBS tokens or any products or services.
No promises of future performance or value are or will be made with respect to the Orbs network and/or ORBS tokens, including no promise of inherent value, no promise of any payments, and no guarantee that the Orbs network and/or ORBS tokens will hold any particular value. Unless prospective participants fully understand and accept the nature of the Orbs network and the potential risks associated with the use of the Orbs network and the acquisition, storage and transfer of ORBS tokens, they should not use the Orbs network or purchase, acquire or otherwise obtain or use any ORBS tokens.
This document does not constitute a prospectus or disclosure document and is not an offer to sell, nor the solicitation of any offer to buy any investment or financial instrument in any jurisdiction. ORBS tokens should not be acquired for speculative or investment purposes with the expectation of making an investment return.
This document contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively “forward-looking statements”) that relate to Orb Ltd.’s current expectations of future events. The forward-looking statements are not a forecast, projection or prediction of future results of operations. The network operation and development is reliant on the formation of the Orbs ecosystem and contribution by third party developers. Orbs Ltd. is unable to guarantee that sufficient members will contribute to the project to support and realize the intended design in its entirety.
Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and analysis made by Orbs project team in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors, and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this document are based upon what Orbs Ltd. believes are reasonable assumptions, there are risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors which could cause our actual results, performances, achievements and/or experiences to differ materially from the expectations expressed, implied, or perceived in forward-looking statements. Given such risks, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
