New Bitcoin Core Release Gives Boost to Block Relay Network

The latest software release from the Bitcoin Core development community provided a boost to a network aimed at broadcasting transaction blocks more quickly around the world.

The Fast Internet Bitcoin Relay Engine, or FIBRE, was unveiled last summer as successor to the earlier Bitcoin Relay Network. Previously described as a kind of "nervous system" for the network, the concept at its heart seeks to enable miners to gain access to block data more quickly, helping them avoid creating orphan blocks, for one.

As shown on GitHub, FIBRE got some bug fixes along with its first release tied to Core's latest software version. But according to Core contributor Matt Corallo, it was work connected to compact blocks – as well as development related to how efficiently nodes on the network can transmit data – that resulted in a boost to FIBRE’s ability to move block information worldwide.

Corallo explained:

"One of the key stats I track is reliability of sources for given miners. eg if Bitfury finds a block in Georgia, and my public network receives the block via some node that is in the US, that’s a pretty good indicator that something is amiss and there is room for optimization. Even worse, if I don’t receive the block reliably from the same nodes every time, that’s a pretty good indicator that the block is taking a hop somewhere else before I get it, again, room for optimization."

Corallo went on to say that he has “noticed a remarkable improvement here” since the shift to 0.14.0 began.

"Bitfury is especially noticeable, but also my block sources from a few of the Chinese pools have gotten much more stable," he added.

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