0xMiden / 0xMiden/air-script

Improve `periodic_column` usage in Plonky3 backend

Open
#492 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
codegen
Dominant language
Rust
Stars
96
Forks
39
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

### What should be done?

This issue is a followup on https://github.com/0xMiden/air-script/pull/461:7

As Plonky3 currently does not support periodic columns out of the box, we've introduced in #461 multiple structs and implementation for their support in our backend.

However, their handling can be improved. For instance, we can no longer `prove` or `verify` traces, only check that a given trace follows the constraints described in the Air for testing.

### How should it be done?

- `fn periodic_columns(&self) -> Vec {` in `AirBuilderWithPeriodicColumns` should maybe return an Array

- `periodic_columns` in the `DebugConstraintBuilderWithPeriodicColumns` struct a bit differently
- Pad all periodic columns to the maximum length by periodic repetition
- Transpose the columns so that we have a vector of rows.
- We just return `&self.periodic_columns[self.row_index % col.len()]`

_Originally posted by @adr1anh in https://github.com/0xMiden/air-script/pull/461#discussion_r238264942

- Add support of `prove` and `verify`

### When is this task done?

This task is done when a better handling of periodic columns has been achieved and tested in all the current tests.

### Additional context

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Review the changes in PR #461, especially the structs `AirBuilderWithPeriodicColumns` and `DebugConstraintBuilderWithPeriodicColumns`. Understand how periodic columns are currently handled and the proposed improvements: padding, transposing, and enabling prove/verify. Run existing tests to ensure changes don't break functionality, focusing on tests related to periodic columns.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
backend, compilers
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.