Blockchain architecture

Full Node
A full node is the core of the Waves blockchain, responsible for maintaining a complete history of all transactions. These nodes are crucial in the network, verifying transactions and blocks to ensure the integrity and accuracy of blockchain data. Full nodes use Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS) mechanism, allowing them to accept token leasing from other participants to increase their chances of being selected to generate the next block. Full nodes generate new blocks through a consensus mechanism, earning transaction fees and block rewards as a result.

Lightweight node
Lightweight nodes do not store the complete history of the blockchain, but rely on full nodes for transaction verification and other network interactions. This design allows lightweight nodes to operate more efficiently and consume fewer resources because they do not need to download the entire blockchain. The main functions of lightweight nodes are to accelerate transactions and enhance network communication, making them suitable for users who do not want to maintain a complete ledger but still want to participate in network activities.

Two-tier architecture
The Waves blockchain adopts a two-tier architecture to maintain its network, including full nodes and lightweight nodes. This architecture aims to optimize the scalability and performance of the network. Full nodes are responsible for the heavy work of transaction verification and block production, while lightweight nodes provide fast and efficient services for user transactions. This division of roles not only improves the overall network performance but also enhances security by decentralizing their respective responsibilities and roles in the ecosystem.

Consensus Mechanism

Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS) is a unique consensus mechanism of the Waves platform, which allows token holders to participate in network security and consensus without running a full node, thus improving the traditional Proof of Stake (PoS) model. In LPoS, WAVES token holders can lease their tokens to full node operators responsible for generating blocks. This mechanism maintains the decentralized nature of block validation while allowing more users to participate in network security, regardless of their technical abilities or willingness to run a full node.

Function and Advantage
In LPoS, the ability to generate blocks is proportional to the number of WAVES leased to the node. In other words, the more WAVES controlled by the node, whether through direct ownership or leasing, the greater the chance of generating the next block. Leaseholders maintain full control over their WAVES tokens because these tokens remain in their wallets and are not transferred to the node operator. This arrangement lowers the barrier to participation, ensuring that even people with fewer WAVES can contribute to network security and earn rewards.

Node operators can attract more leases by sharing a portion of block rewards and transaction fees with the lessees, so that both parties can actively support the network. This reward distribution mechanism enhances the security of the network by encouraging more people to participate, thereby distributing power more evenly in the network and reducing the risk of centralization.

Network Security and User Engagement
The LPoS mechanism not only makes it easier to participate in network consensus, but also enhances security. By allowing users to lease their stakes, LPoS encourages more people to participate in the network's consensus process, which is crucial for maintaining a strong and secure blockchain. In addition, since the leased WAVES are locked during the leasing period (but leasers can cancel at any time), this ensures the stability of network staking and consensus processes.

Economic incentives
LPoS provides strong economic incentives for both node operators and token leasers. Operators are incentivized to maintain high operational standards and honesty, as their reward generation capability is directly related to the amount of WAVES they can attract and hold. On the other hand, the motivation for leasers lies in the ability to passively earn rewards from holding without the need for extensive hardware investment or technical expertise, allowing even small holders to easily obtain rewards.

Advanced Protocol

Waves NG Protocol

Waves NG is an important innovation in blockchain technology, aimed at significantly improving transaction processing capabilities and reducing latency, making Waves one of the fastest blockchain networks. The protocol is inspired by Bitcoin-NG and optimizes block generation through a two-tier system of key blocks and micro blocks. Key blocks are generated regularly, granting miners permission to create micro blocks, which are smaller and can be generated more frequently, thereby accelerating transaction confirmation speed.

This design allows the Waves blockchain to handle higher transaction volumes, with an expected capacity of up to 100 transactions per second, significantly better than traditional blockchain systems. The efficiency of Waves NG not only enhances the scalability of the system, but also improves user experience through faster transaction verification.

smart contract
Waves also supports flexible and secure decentralized application (DApps) development, providing smart contract functionality. Unlike some other blockchain platforms, Waves' smart contracts do not require a large amount of gas fees to be consumed during execution, but instead adopt a fixed fee approach, which makes the development process and cost prediction simpler.

Waves uses a programming language called Ride to write smart contracts, which focuses on security and ease of use. Ride is not Turing complete, which reduces certain common errors and vulnerabilities in Turing complete languages. This design ensures the predictability of computational costs, enhances network security, and maintains high throughput.

The platform supports three types of smart contracts:

1. DApp Script:The functionality is the most flexible and can perform almost all operations that may be carried out on Waves.
2. Smart Account:Conditions for trading permission can be set, such as requiring multi-signatures.
3. Smart Assets:Restrictions can be imposed on the trading or transfer of assets, such as allowing trading only at specific prices or allowing transfer only to approved accounts.

Waves NG and smart contracts together lay a solid foundation for building scalable, efficient, and secure blockchain solutions, supporting a variety of applications from financial services to supply chain management.

Unit Zero

Unit Zero introduces a complex operational structure built on top of the underlying Waves network, called Layer-0, and extends its capabilities to Layer-1 of Unit Zero. This architecture allows certain nodes in Waves to directly participate in the Unit Zero network, enabling seamless integration and functionality expansion between the two layers. The operational mechanism is managed by chain contracts on the Waves network, which coordinate the consensus process of Unit Zero, including selecting block generators in Layer-1, where each block in Waves corresponds to an epoch in Unit Zero, with a specific generator responsible for block generation in that epoch.

The consensus mechanism used is a modified Proof of Stake (PoS) system that calculates the time delay for each generator to qualify for block generation, ensuring fair participation and enhancing network security. After producing a block, the generator interacts with the chain contract to register the block metadata back to the Waves blockchain, which helps resolve potential forks by maintaining the chain with the majority consensus.

Expanded Network and Token Economics
The Unit Zero network requires its nodes to make a significant commitment, with a minimum requirement of 20,000 WAVES for participating in block generation. The token economics of the network initially revolved around an intermediary token called L2MP, which served as the generating balance for nodes in the Unit Zero network during its first two years. This staking mechanism is managed through a staking contract on Waves, where L2MP holders can delegate tokens to represent the generating balance of their nodes.

The rewards for block production are distributed in the form of UNIT0 tokens, which include transaction fees in addition to fixed epoch rewards, creating an incentive structure to encourage active participation in the network's consensus and health.

Node architecture
The node architecture of Unit Zero is mainly divided into two parts:

• Execute Client:Responsible for processing transactions and maintaining the state of the blockchain. It runs in a peer-to-peer network, manages communication between nodes, and handles external JSON-RPC API requests.
• Consensus Client:Responsible for promoting block addition and consensus in the network. In Unit Zero, this client is actually an enhanced version of the Waves node, which integrates the consensus client extension, combining Waves' powerful network capabilities with the new blockchain layer.

This technology architecture not only enhances the scalability and efficiency of Unit Zero, but also ensures strong security and decentralization, making full use of the advantages of the Waves infrastructure.