Technical Reference

Smart Contracts

⚠️ Important Notice: Development Status

These smart contracts are currently under active development and will undergo significant changes. They have not yet been audited and are not ready for production use. The code is shared for transparency and to gather community feedback during our development process.

Development Status

These contracts are currently in testnet phase and subject to:

• Ongoing development and architectural changes

• Future security audits

• Potential breaking changes

• Additional feature implementations

For Developers

If you're interested in building with these contracts:

1. Use them only for testnet development and experimentation

2. Monitor our GitHub repository for updates and changes

3. Join our developer Discord for technical discussions and support

4. Be aware that mainnet versions may differ significantly

Note: All contract addresses provided are for the Sahara Testnet. Mainnet addresses and final specifications will be published following successful security audits and testing phases.

Node Types

The Sahara Blockchain relies on several specialized types of nodes that work together to maintain network security, process transactions, and handle AI workloads. Each node type serves a specific purpose within our ecosystem.

Validator Requirements

Validator nodes form the backbone of the Sahara network's security and consensus mechanism. Using our Tendermint-based proof of stake system, validators process transactions, create new blocks, and maintain network integrity.

To operate a validator node, participants must meet specific requirements:

Key Responsibilities:

• Propose and validate new blocks

• Participate in consensus voting

• Maintain network security through staking

• Process and verify transactions

• Ensure network finality

Hardware Specifications:

• CPU: 16+ cores

• RAM: 64GB minimum

• Storage: 4TB NVMe SSD

• Network: 1Gbps dedicated connection

Staking Requirements:

• Minimum Stake: TBD

• Slashing Conditions: Downtime penalties and misbehavior sanctions

• Commission Rate: Between TBD

Validators earn rewards through:

• Block validation rewards

• Transaction fee shares

• Delegation commissions

RPC Nodes

RPC nodes serve as the primary interface between applications and the Sahara network. These nodes process API requests and enable developers to interact with the blockchain programmatically.

Key Features:

• Full transaction history synchronization

• WebSocket support for real-time updates

• Query and transaction submission endpoints

• Load balancing and rate limiting capabilities

Standard Endpoints:

// Query account balance
GET /api/v1/account/{address}/balance

// Submit transaction
POST /api/v1/transaction/submit

// Get block information
GET /api/v1/block/{height}

// Query AI asset metadata
GET /api/v1/asset/{assetId}

Block and Transaction Queries:

// Get latest block
GET /api/v1/block/latest
Response: {
    height: number,
    hash: string,
    timestamp: string,
    transactions: Transaction[]
}

// Get transaction status
GET /api/v1/tx/{hash}
Response: {
    status: "success" | "pending" | "failed",
    blockHeight: number,
    gasUsed: number,
    events: Event[]
}

TEE Architecture

The Sahara blockchain utilizes specialized TEE nodes to provide secure and verifiable AI computation. These nodes form a critical component of our execution layer, ensuring that AI workloads are processed with strong privacy guarantees and cryptographic verifiability.

Core Components

Our TEE implementation leverages Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology to create isolated execution environments. Within these secure enclaves, AI workloads run in complete isolation from the host system and other processes, ensuring computational integrity and data privacy.

The TEE node architecture consists of three primary components that work together to provide secure computation services:

• The Attestation Service verifies the authenticity of TEE environments before workload execution begins. This service generates cryptographic proofs that confirm the integrity of both the hardware environment and the code being executed, ensuring that computations occur in genuine, uncompromised TEE environments.

• The Secure Container Runtime manages the execution of AI workloads within the TEE. This specialized runtime handles memory encryption, secure I/O operations, and maintains isolation boundaries throughout the computation process. It ensures that sensitive data and model parameters remain encrypted in memory and are only accessible within the secure enclave.

• The Proof Generation System creates verifiable records of computation execution. These cryptographic proofs allow network participants to verify that computations were performed correctly within a genuine TEE without revealing the actual data or model parameters involved in the computation.

Security Features

TEE nodes implement several critical security measures to maintain workload confidentiality and integrity:

• Memory Encryption ensures that all data and computations within the TEE remain encrypted in memory, protecting against both software and hardware-based attacks. Even if an attacker gains physical access to the machine, they cannot access or modify the protected memory regions.

• Remote Attestation enables network participants to verify the authenticity of TEE environments before sending sensitive workloads. This process confirms both the hardware capabilities and the software configuration of the TEE node, ensuring that computations occur in trusted environments.

• Secure Key Management handles the generation and protection of cryptographic keys within the TEE. These keys never leave the secure enclave, providing a robust foundation for encrypted communication and data protection.

Integration with Blockchain

TEE nodes maintain continuous communication with the Sahara blockchain through several key interfaces:

• The workload deployment interface processes requests for AI computation, verifying permissions and resource availability before initializing secure execution environments.

• The attestation verification interface allows the blockchain to validate TEE authenticity and computational integrity through our proof generation system.

• The result publication interface securely records computation outcomes and their associated proofs on the blockchain, maintaining a verifiable record of all AI workload executions.

Through this comprehensive architecture, TEE nodes provide the secure computation foundation necessary for privacy-preserving AI development on the Sahara network. They enable developers to deploy sensitive AI workloads with confidence, knowing that their intellectual property and data remain protected throughout the computation process.