chg: Cancel active sealing op when a new chain segment is received (MAT-1116) (#54)

* dev: Fix out-of-turn signing log statement

* dev: Cancel active sealing op when a new chain segment is received

* remove debug statement and return value

* minor: no need to use a channel

* Fix race condition in shouldSeal channel

* Info -> Debug statement

consensus/bor/bor.go

@@ -138,6 +138,12 @@ var (
 	errRecentlySigned = errors.New("recently signed")
 )
 
+// ActiveSealingOp keeps the context of the active sealing operation
+type ActiveSealingOp struct {
+	number uint64
+	cancel context.CancelFunc
+}
+
 // SignerFn is a signer callback function to request a header to be signed by a
 // backing account.
 type SignerFn func(accounts.Account, string, []byte) ([]byte, error)
@@ -246,8 +252,9 @@ type Bor struct {
 	stateReceiverABI abi.ABI
 	HeimdallClient   IHeimdallClient
 
-	stateDataFeed event.Feed
+	stateDataFeed   event.Feed
-	scope         event.SubscriptionScope
+	scope           event.SubscriptionScope
+	activeSealingOp *ActiveSealingOp
 	// The fields below are for testing only
 	fakeDiff bool // Skip difficulty verifications
 }
@@ -725,6 +732,9 @@ func (c *Bor) Authorize(signer common.Address, signFn SignerFn) {
 // Seal implements consensus.Engine, attempting to create a sealed block using
 // the local signing credentials.
 func (c *Bor) Seal(chain consensus.ChainReader, block *types.Block, results chan<- *types.Block, stop <-chan struct{}) error {
+	if c.activeSealingOp != nil {
+		return &SealingInFlightError{c.activeSealingOp.number}
+	}
 	header := block.Header()
 
 	// Sealing the genesis block is not supported
@@ -762,9 +772,6 @@ func (c *Bor) Seal(chain consensus.ChainReader, block *types.Block, results chan
 	wiggle := time.Duration(2*c.config.Period) * time.Second * time.Duration(successionNumber)
 	delay += wiggle
 
-	log.Info("Out-of-turn signing requested", "wiggle", common.PrettyDuration(wiggle))
-	log.Info("Sealing block with", "number", number, "delay", delay, "headerDifficulty", header.Difficulty, "signer", signer.Hex(), "proposer", snap.ValidatorSet.GetProposer().Address.Hex())
-
 	// Sign all the things!
 	sighash, err := signFn(accounts.Account{Address: signer}, accounts.MimetypeBor, BorRLP(header))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -774,23 +781,64 @@ func (c *Bor) Seal(chain consensus.ChainReader, block *types.Block, results chan
 
 	// Wait until sealing is terminated or delay timeout.
 	log.Trace("Waiting for slot to sign and propagate", "delay", common.PrettyDuration(delay))
+	shouldSeal := make(chan bool)
+	go c.WaitForSealingOp(number, shouldSeal, delay, stop)
 	go func() {
-		select {
+		defer func() {
-		case <-stop:
+			close(shouldSeal)
+			c.activeSealingOp = nil
+		}()
+		switch <-shouldSeal {
+		case false:
 			return
-		case <-time.After(delay):
+		case true:
+			if wiggle > 0 {
+				log.Info(
+					"Sealing out-of-turn",
+					"number", number,
+					"wiggle", common.PrettyDuration(wiggle),
+					"in-turn-signer", snap.ValidatorSet.GetProposer().Address.Hex(),
+				)
+			}
+			log.Info(
+				"Sealing successful",
+				"number", number,
+				"delay", delay,
+				"headerDifficulty", header.Difficulty,
+			)
 		}
 
 		select {
 		case results <- block.WithSeal(header):
 		default:
-			log.Warn("Sealing result is not read by miner", "sealhash", SealHash(header))
+			log.Warn("Sealing result was not read by miner", "sealhash", SealHash(header))
 		}
 	}()
-
 	return nil
 }
 
+// WaitForSealingOp blocks until delay elapses or stop signal is received
+func (c *Bor) WaitForSealingOp(number uint64, shouldSeal chan bool, delay time.Duration, stop <-chan struct{}) {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	c.activeSealingOp = &ActiveSealingOp{number, cancel}
+	select {
+	case <-stop:
+		shouldSeal <- false
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+		shouldSeal <- false
+	case <-time.After(delay):
+		shouldSeal <- true
+	}
+}
+
+// CancelActiveSealingOp cancels in-flight sealing process
+func (c *Bor) CancelActiveSealingOp() {
+	if c.activeSealingOp != nil {
+		log.Debug("Discarding active sealing operation", "number", c.activeSealingOp.number)
+		c.activeSealingOp.cancel()
+	}
+}
+
 // CalcDifficulty is the difficulty adjustment algorithm. It returns the difficulty
 // that a new block should have based on the previous blocks in the chain and the
 // current signer.

consensus/bor/errors.go

@@ -68,3 +68,14 @@ func (e *MaxCheckpointLengthExceededError) Error() string {
 		MaxCheckpointLength,
 	)
 }
+
+type SealingInFlightError struct {
+	Number uint64
+}
+
+func (e *SealingInFlightError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(
+		"Requested concurrent block sealing. Sealing for block %d is already in progress",
+		e.Number,
+	)
+}

consensus/consensus.go

@@ -116,6 +116,13 @@ type Engine interface {
 	Close() error
 }
 
+// Bor is a consensus engine developed by folks at Matic Network
+type Bor interface {
+	Engine
+	IsValidatorAction(chain ChainReader, from common.Address, tx *types.Transaction) bool
+	CancelActiveSealingOp()
+}
+
 // PoW is a consensus engine based on proof-of-work.
 type PoW interface {
 	Engine

core/blockchain.go

@@ -1718,6 +1718,7 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) insertChain(chain types.Blocks, verifySeals bool) (int, []
 	if lastCanon != nil && bc.CurrentBlock().Hash() == lastCanon.Hash() {
 		events = append(events, ChainHeadEvent{lastCanon})
 	}
+	bc.engine.(consensus.Bor).CancelActiveSealingOp()
 	return it.index, events, coalescedLogs, err
 }
 

core/tx_pool.go

@@ -117,12 +117,6 @@ const (
 	TxStatusIncluded
 )
 
-// bor acts as a way to be able to type cast consensus.Engine;
-// since importing "github.com/maticnetwork/bor/consensus/bor" results in a cyclic dependency
-type bor interface {
-	IsValidatorAction(chain consensus.ChainReader, from common.Address, tx *types.Transaction) bool
-}
-
 // blockChain provides the state of blockchain and current gas limit to do
 // some pre checks in tx pool and event subscribers.
 type blockChain interface {
@@ -537,7 +531,7 @@ func (pool *TxPool) validateTx(tx *types.Transaction, local bool) error {
 	// Drop non-local transactions under our own minimal accepted gas price
 	local = local || pool.locals.contains(from) // account may be local even if the transaction arrived from the network
 	if !local &&
-		!pool.chain.Engine().(bor).IsValidatorAction(pool.chain.(consensus.ChainReader), from, tx) &&
+		!pool.chain.Engine().(consensus.Bor).IsValidatorAction(pool.chain.(consensus.ChainReader), from, tx) &&
 		pool.gasPrice.Cmp(tx.GasPrice()) > 0 {
 		return ErrUnderpriced
 	}