lnd.xprv/routing/probability_estimator.go
Joost Jager dc0399af51
routing: use distinct probability estimation for local channels
Previously we used the a priori probability also for our own untried
channels. This led to local channels that had seen a success already
being prioritized over untried local channels. In some cases, depending
on the configured payment attempt cost, this could lead to the payment
taking a two hop route while a direct payment was also possible.
2019-11-07 11:26:52 +01:00

184 lines
7.1 KiB
Go

package routing
import (
"math"
"time"
"github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/lnwire"
"github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/routing/route"
)
// probabilityEstimator returns node and pair probabilities based on historical
// payment results.
type probabilityEstimator struct {
// penaltyHalfLife defines after how much time a penalized node or
// channel is back at 50% probability.
penaltyHalfLife time.Duration
// aprioriHopProbability is the assumed success probability of a hop in
// a route when no other information is available.
aprioriHopProbability float64
// aprioriWeight is a value in the range [0, 1] that defines to what
// extent historical results should be extrapolated to untried
// connections. Setting it to one will completely ignore historical
// results and always assume the configured a priori probability for
// untried connections. A value of zero will ignore the a priori
// probability completely and only base the probability on historical
// results, unless there are none available.
aprioriWeight float64
// prevSuccessProbability is the assumed probability for node pairs that
// successfully relayed the previous attempt.
prevSuccessProbability float64
}
// getNodeProbability calculates the probability for connections from a node
// that have not been tried before. The results parameter is a list of last
// payment results for that node.
func (p *probabilityEstimator) getNodeProbability(now time.Time,
results NodeResults, amt lnwire.MilliSatoshi) float64 {
// If the channel history is not to be taken into account, we can return
// early here with the configured a priori probability.
if p.aprioriWeight == 1 {
return p.aprioriHopProbability
}
// If there is no channel history, our best estimate is still the a
// priori probability.
if len(results) == 0 {
return p.aprioriHopProbability
}
// The value of the apriori weight is in the range [0, 1]. Convert it to
// a factor that properly expresses the intention of the weight in the
// following weight average calculation. When the apriori weight is 0,
// the apriori factor is also 0. This means it won't have any effect on
// the weighted average calculation below. When the apriori weight
// approaches 1, the apriori factor goes to infinity. It will heavily
// outweigh any observations that have been collected.
aprioriFactor := 1/(1-p.aprioriWeight) - 1
// Calculate a weighted average consisting of the apriori probability
// and historical observations. This is the part that incentivizes nodes
// to make sure that all (not just some) of their channels are in good
// shape. Senders will steer around nodes that have shown a few
// failures, even though there may be many channels still untried.
//
// If there is just a single observation and the apriori weight is 0,
// this single observation will totally determine the node probability.
// The node probability is returned for all other channels of the node.
// This means that one failure will lead to the success probability
// estimates for all other channels being 0 too. The probability for the
// channel that was tried will not even recover, because it is
// recovering to the node probability (which is zero). So one failure
// effectively prunes all channels of the node forever. This is the most
// aggressive way in which we can penalize nodes and unlikely to yield
// good results in a real network.
probabilitiesTotal := p.aprioriHopProbability * aprioriFactor
totalWeight := aprioriFactor
for _, result := range results {
age := now.Sub(result.Timestamp)
switch {
// Weigh success with a constant high weight of 1. There is no
// decay.
case result.Success:
totalWeight++
probabilitiesTotal += p.prevSuccessProbability
// Weigh failures in accordance with their age. The base
// probability of a failure is considered zero, so nothing needs
// to be added to probabilitiesTotal.
case amt >= result.MinPenalizeAmt:
totalWeight += p.getWeight(age)
}
}
return probabilitiesTotal / totalWeight
}
// getWeight calculates a weight in the range [0, 1] that should be assigned to
// a payment result. Weight follows an exponential curve that starts at 1 when
// the result is fresh and asymptotically approaches zero over time. The rate at
// which this happens is controlled by the penaltyHalfLife parameter.
func (p *probabilityEstimator) getWeight(age time.Duration) float64 {
exp := -age.Hours() / p.penaltyHalfLife.Hours()
return math.Pow(2, exp)
}
// getPairProbability estimates the probability of successfully traversing to
// toNode based on historical payment outcomes for the from node. Those outcomes
// are passed in via the results parameter.
func (p *probabilityEstimator) getPairProbability(
now time.Time, results NodeResults,
toNode route.Vertex, amt lnwire.MilliSatoshi) float64 {
nodeProbability := p.getNodeProbability(now, results, amt)
return p.calculateProbability(
now, results, nodeProbability, toNode, amt,
)
}
// getLocalPairProbability estimates the probability of successfully traversing
// our own local channels to toNode.
func (p *probabilityEstimator) getLocalPairProbability(
now time.Time, results NodeResults, toNode route.Vertex) float64 {
// For local channels that have never been tried before, we assume them
// to be successful. We have accurate balance and online status
// information on our own channels, so when we select them in a route it
// is close to certain that those channels will work.
nodeProbability := p.prevSuccessProbability
return p.calculateProbability(
now, results, nodeProbability, toNode, lnwire.MaxMilliSatoshi,
)
}
// calculateProbability estimates the probability of successfully traversing to
// toNode based on historical payment outcomes and a fall-back node probability.
func (p *probabilityEstimator) calculateProbability(
now time.Time, results NodeResults,
nodeProbability float64, toNode route.Vertex,
amt lnwire.MilliSatoshi) float64 {
// Retrieve the last pair outcome.
lastPairResult, ok := results[toNode]
// If there is no history for this pair, return the node probability
// that is a probability estimate for untried channel.
if !ok {
return nodeProbability
}
// For successes, we have a fixed (high) probability. Those pairs
// will be assumed good until proven otherwise.
if lastPairResult.Success {
return p.prevSuccessProbability
}
// Take into account a minimum penalize amount. For balance errors, a
// failure may be reported with such a minimum to prevent too aggressive
// penalization. If the current amount is smaller than the amount that
// previously triggered a failure, we act as if this is an untried
// channel.
if amt < lastPairResult.MinPenalizeAmt {
return nodeProbability
}
timeSinceLastFailure := now.Sub(lastPairResult.Timestamp)
// Calculate success probability based on the weight of the last
// failure. When the failure is fresh, its weight is 1 and we'll return
// probability 0. Over time the probability recovers to the node
// probability. It would be as if this channel was never tried before.
weight := p.getWeight(timeSinceLastFailure)
probability := nodeProbability * (1 - weight)
return probability
}