TECHNOLOGY
Our roadmap shows the progress made in each of the core stages of the TAO Framework which include the deployment of the Three-Dimensional Chain (3DC). Each letter represents one of the three consensus upgrades that correspond to the addition of a lock level on the 3DC.
The key architecture of this upgrade was the seven Layered Software Stack, which includes a 64-bit register-based Virtual Machine. Each layer carries out specialized processes, increasing the efficiency, while the design also exposes contract functionality by an integrated API. Tritium also introduced Signature Chains, which replace UTXO.
This upcoming upgrade includes many performance enhancements, and many additional APIs and contract templates that make developing easier. Augmented Contracts will extend the Virtual Machine to provide additional functionality including, but not limited to, methods, functions, operator overloading, and polymorphism.
Amine will provide the opportunity for nodes to run in ‘shard mode’, lowering their disk and memory usage, even when the network is experiencing high load. Shard mode will be voluntary, meaning a user will have to opt-in to a shard to begin processing in Amine state channels. This also provides the additional benefit of allowing the shards to mature over time to prove technological capabilities, before becoming mandatory with Obsidian.
Obsidian is the final stage of the deployment of the 3DC, which will move the voluntary mode of Amine and Tritium into mandatory. It activates the L3 lock layer, which is responsible for the Proof-of-Work ‘seal of approval’ that completes a single 3D-block. UTXO will no longer be supported at this point, and shard processing will become the standard.
