Shared Pallet

This module is responsible for managing shared storage and configuration for other modules.

It is important that other pallets are able to use the Shared Module, so it should not have a dependency on any other modules in the Parachains Runtime.

For the moment, it is used exclusively to track the current session index across the Parachains Runtime system, and when it should be allowed to schedule future changes to Paras or Configurations.

Constants

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
// `SESSION_DELAY` is used to delay any changes to Paras registration or configurations.
// Wait until the session index is 2 larger then the current index to apply any changes,
// which guarantees that at least one full session has passed before any changes are applied.
pub(crate) const SESSION_DELAY: SessionIndex = 2;
}

Storage

Helper structs:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
struct AllowedRelayParentsTracker<Hash, BlockNumber> {
  // The past relay parents, paired with state roots, that are viable to build upon.
  //
  // They are in ascending chronologic order, so the newest relay parents are at
  // the back of the deque.
  //
  // (relay_parent, state_root)
  //
  // NOTE: the size limit of look-back is currently defined as a constant in Runtime.
  buffer: VecDeque<(Hash, Hash)>,

  // The number of the most recent relay-parent, if any.
  latest_number: BlockNumber,
}
}

Storage Layout:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
/// The current session index within the Parachains Runtime system.
CurrentSessionIndex: SessionIndex;
/// All the validators actively participating in parachain consensus.
/// Indices are into the broader validator set.
ActiveValidatorIndices: Vec<ValidatorIndex>,
/// The parachain attestation keys of the validators actively participating in parachain consensus.
/// This should be the same length as `ActiveValidatorIndices`.
ActiveValidatorKeys: Vec<ValidatorId>
/// Relay-parents allowed to build candidates upon.
AllowedRelayParents: AllowedRelayParentsTracker<T::Hash, T::BlockNumber>,
}

Initialization

The Shared Module currently has no initialization routines.

The Shared Module is initialized directly after the Configuration module, but before all other modules. It is important to update the Shared Module before any other module since its state may be used within the logic of other modules, and it is important that the state is consistent across them.

Session Change

During a session change, the Shared Module receives and stores the current Session Index directly from the initializer module, along with the broader validator set, and it returns the new list of validators.

The list of validators should be first shuffled according to the chain's random seed and then truncated. The indices of these validators should be set to ActiveValidatorIndices and then returned back to the initializer. ActiveValidatorKeys should be set accordingly.

This information is used in the:

• Configuration Module: For delaying updates to configurations until at lease one full session has passed.
• Paras Module: For delaying updates to paras until at least one full session has passed.

Allowed relay parents buffer, which is maintained by ParaInherent module, is cleared on every session change.

Finalization

The Shared Module currently has no finalization routines.

Functions

• scheduled_sessions() -> SessionIndex: Return the next session index where updates to the Parachains Runtime system would be safe to apply.
• set_session_index(SessionIndex): For tests. Set the current session index in the Shared Module.