NethermindEth / NethermindEth/pluto

Improve BLS performance: cache parsed keys, add batch verification, add benchmarks

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enhancement rust
Dominant language
Rust
Stars
8
Forks
5
Avg merge
4d 16h
Merged PRs (30d)
37

Description

Summary

All BLS operations take raw byte arrays (types.rs#L17-L21), so every call re-deserializes (verify does a G1 decompression per call) and re-runs subgroup checks — verify passes pk_validate = true and sig_groupcheck = true on every invocation. For a DV node the public shares are cluster-constant; nothing is memoized.

There is also no batch verification: blst's verify_multiple_aggregate_signatures is unused, and the hot paths verify one signature at a time — every incoming peer partial signature (parsigexverify_eth2_signed_datasigning.rs#L148), a nested validators×partials loop in dkg/src/aggregate.rs#L146, and one builder registration per validator in cluster/src/lock.rs#L427.

Additionally, aggregate_public_keys hand-rolls point addition through unsafe FFI and skips per-key subgroup validation — blst's safe AggregatePublicKey::aggregate(..., validate) covers it. A second independent blst wrapper with safe constructors already exists in pluto-frost (crates/frost/src/curve.rs); the ad-hoc scalar helpers in blst_impl.rs duplicate it.

There are no benchmarks: the only criterion setup in the workspace is crates/k1util/benches, while Charon benchmarks its BLS backend (tbls_test.go BenchmarkHerumiImplementation).

Proposed change

  • Introduce parsed key/signature types (wrapping blst types) validated once at construction; keep raw bytes only at serialization boundaries.
  • Add a batch-verification entry point and use it on the partial-signature paths.
  • Replace the unsafe aggregation with the blst safe API; consolidate scalar helpers with pluto-frost's wrappers.
  • Hoist the O(n²) scalar_from_u64 recomputation out of the interpolation loops — evaluate_polynomial rebuilds the same scalar every iteration and compute_lagrange_coefficients reconstructs per-index scalars inside the inner loop; build them once per index.
  • Add criterion benches (sign/verify/aggregate/threshold_aggregate) using the k1util bench as a template, so wins are measurable.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with crates/crypto/src/blst_impl.rs and trace the verification paths through crates/eth2util/src/signing.rs, dkg/src/aggregate.rs, and cluster/src/lock.rs. Use crates/k1util/benches as the benchmark template and review crates/frost/src/curve.rs for existing wrappers. Done means the proposed caching, batch verification, safe aggregation, scalar-hoisting, and criterion benchmarks are implemented and measurable.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
cryptography, distributed-systems, performance
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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