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Zcash Network Upgrades Reference

This document provides context for the protocol eras used in sampling and analysis.

Network Upgrade Timeline

Era Activation Block Date Key Features
Sapling 419,200 - 653,599 Oct 2018 - Dec 2019 New shielded pool, improved performance
Blossom 653,600 - 903,799 Dec 2019 - Jul 2020 Block time 150s → 75s
Heartwood 903,800 - 1,046,399 Jul 2020 - Nov 2020 Shielded coinbase, FlyClient
Canopy 1,046,400 - 1,687,103 Nov 2020 - May 2022 Dev fund activation
NU5 1,687,104 - 2,726,399 May 2022 - Apr 2024 Orchard pool, unified addresses
NU6 2,726,400 - current Apr 2024 - present Current protocol

Why These Eras Matter for Analysis

Sapling (419,200 - 653,599)

Characteristics:

  • New efficient shielded pool introduced
  • Gradual adoption of shielded transactions
  • Transparent still common but declining
  • Block time: 150 seconds

Relevance to Analysis:

  • Transition period from transparent to shielded
  • Mixed usage patterns
  • Baseline for early shielded adoption

Blossom (653,600 - 903,799)

Characteristics:

  • Block time reduced to 75 seconds
  • Twice as many blocks per day (from ~576 to ~1152)
  • Continued Sapling adoption
  • More blocks = more overhead for initial sync

Relevance to Analysis:

  • Critical: Block time change affects bandwidth calculations
  • Must account for 2x blocks per day after Blossom
  • Same MB/block but different MB/day after this upgrade

Heartwood (903,800 - 1,046,399)

Characteristics:

  • Shielded coinbase enabled (miners can receive directly to Sapling)
  • FlyClient support for light clients
  • ZIP 213 (shielded coinbase)

Relevance to Analysis:

  • Shielded coinbase reduces transparent coinbase outputs
  • May show decrease in transparent transactions
  • Short era but important transition

Canopy (1,046,400 - 1,687,103)

Characteristics:

  • Dev fund activation (20% of block rewards)
  • Mature Sapling usage
  • Longest single-upgrade era
  • Stable protocol period

Relevance to Analysis:

  • Good baseline for "normal" modern usage
  • Large sample available
  • Represents stable state before Orchard

NU5 (1,687,104 - 2,726,399)

Characteristics:

  • Orchard pool introduced (new shielded pool)
  • Unified addresses (single address for all pools)
  • Halo 2 proving system
  • Transaction version 5

Relevance to Analysis:

  • Introduction of Orchard changes transaction mix
  • Unified addresses may affect usage patterns
  • Large era, represents recent "stable" state

NU6 (2,726,400 - current)

Characteristics:

  • Current protocol version
  • Most recent upgrade (April 2024)
  • Active development and adoption

Relevance to Analysis:

  • Most relevant for current decisions
  • Represents actual current usage
  • Should be heavily sampled
  • Ongoing changes as ecosystem adapts

Impact on Compact Block Analysis

Transparent Usage Trends

Sapling:      ████████████░░░░░░░░ (High → Medium)
Blossom:      ████████░░░░░░░░░░░░ (Medium)
Heartwood:    ██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ (Medium → Low)
Canopy:       ████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ (Low)
NU5:          ███░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ (Low)
NU6:          ███░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ (Low, current)

Block Frequency (Important!)

Before Blossom:

  • Block time: 150 seconds
  • Blocks per day: ~576
  • Daily bandwidth = avg_block_size × 576

After Blossom:

  • Block time: 75 seconds
  • Blocks per day: ~1,152
  • Daily bandwidth = avg_block_size × 1,152

⚠️ When calculating daily bandwidth, account for this doubling after block 653,600!

Sampling Recommendations

For Current State Analysis:

  • Focus on NU6 (current) and NU5 (recent stable)
  • 60-70% of samples from these eras

For Historical Context:

  • Sapling through Canopy shows evolution of usage patterns
  • Important to understand how transparent usage declined

For Bandwidth Calculations:

  • Separate pre-Blossom and post-Blossom blocks
  • Use correct blocks/day multiplier
  • Daily sync = avg_size × (576 or 1,152) depending on era

Querying Specific Eras

# Sapling (transition period)
cargo run --release -- http://127.0.0.1:9067 http://127.0.0.1:8232 range 500000 501000 sapling.csv

# Blossom (block time change)
cargo run --release -- http://127.0.0.1:9067 http://127.0.0.1:8232 range 750000 751000 blossom.csv

# Heartwood (shielded coinbase)
cargo run --release -- http://127.0.0.1:9067 http://127.0.0.1:8232 range 950000 951000 heartwood.csv

# Canopy (mature Sapling)
cargo run --release -- http://127.0.0.1:9067 http://127.0.0.1:8232 range 1300000 1301000 canopy.csv

# NU5 (Orchard introduction)
cargo run --release -- http://127.0.0.1:9067 http://127.0.0.1:8232 range 2000000 2001000 nu5.csv

# NU6 (current)
cargo run --release -- http://127.0.0.1:9067 http://127.0.0.1:8232 range 2800000 2801000 nu6.csv

References