[Consensus] Fast Sync - Block Chunks

[jessicadaugherty]

Objective

Design & implement a mechanism for nodes to advertise & request block and metadata chunks.

Origin Document

The V1 consensus module syncing protocol specification.

Detailed specifications are available in the GitHub repo here.

Goals

• Improve the efficiency of requesting and advertising block & metadata chunks during state sync
• Allow temporarily offline nodes to catch up to the latest state of the network without doing an individual block-by-block sync
• Ensure smooth communication & resource management between nodes and their peers during block chunk exchange

Deliverable

• [ ] Implement a mechanism to advertise chunks of blocks & metadata
• [ ] Implement a mechanism to request & download chunks of blocks & metadata
• [ ] Integrate block chunks into the existing mechanism of block application
• [ ] Ensure resource efficiency when managing block chunks
• [ ] Add new endpoints & request/response types where appropriate
• [ ] Update debug commands and documentation accordingly

Non-goals / Non-deliverables

• Modifications to the block application process
• Direct node-to-node sync logic
• Block streaming

General issue deliverables

• [ ] Update the appropriate CHANGELOG
• [ ] Update any relevant READMEs (local and/or global)
• [ ] Update any relevant global documentation & references
• [ ] If applicable, update the source code tree explanation
• [ ] If applicable, add or update a state, sequence or flowchart diagram using mermaid

Testing Methodology

• [ ] All tests: make test_all
• [ ] LocalNet: verify a LocalNet is still functioning correctly by following the instructions at docs/development/README.md
• [ ] k8s LocalNet: verify a k8s LocalNet is still functioning correctly by following the instructions here

---

Creator: @jessicadaugherty Co-owner: @olshansk

[Olshansk]

@jessicadaugherty triaged 👍