Design Overview

This section provides an in-depth overview of the core components of ICN’s architecture, explaining how each component contributes to the overall system.

Fig. ICN overview

Core Components

1. Smart Contracts: Enforces the ICN economic & resource allocation system, and implements the performance validation logic.

2. ScalerNodes: Base resource unit node in the protocol. Physical servers of specific hardware class provisioned to the network by Hardware Providers.

3. Daemon: Core diagnostic agent for provisioning, telemetry, and hardware response. Provisioning of ScalerNodes is achieved through the installation of the Daemon.

4. HyperNodes: Independent validator nodes verifying Hardware resource quality and performance. HyperNodes reports are evaluated by the ICN Smart Contracts, ensuring that Builders receive the expected quality of service.

5. Satellite Network: Guarantees the availability and integrity of off-chain challenge data. In the current implementation, the Satellite Network is bootstrapped as part of the system setup.

6. Services & Apps: Builders book capacity in the network in ScalerNode units and deploy services and applications at scale.

Protocol Lifecycle

Fig. Protocol Lifecycle

The ICN architecture operates via a streamlined workflow that ensures efficiency and accountability:

1. Provisioning: ScalerNodes join the protocol under a specific hardware class and Daemons are deployed.

2. Resourcing: Builders, via the Console, book capacity in ScalerNode units in a specific region and access to the hardware is provided for deployment of services.

3. Monitoring: HyperNodes continuously audit performance metrics against the Daemons and submit reports off-chain to the Satellite Network. Daemons and HyperNodes execute challenges in sync via an Indexer from events captured from Smart Contracts.

4. On-chain Settlement: Smart contracts settle penalties and rewards based on challenge results from the Satellite Network and commit verifications.