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endlessly
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advertised channels are being shown as available for routing, non-advertised channels may have some issue that makes routing through them not preferable, e.g. they’re an end-user (one who doesn’t want to route traffic), not a reliable router (e.g. a desktop that is sometimes offline), or other (maybe a router nearing exhaustion of its buffer capital?)
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buffer capital is the pool of funds available for a router to send out; if it becomes overly taxed by requests for outflow without sufficient inflow from others, then it could run out of (exhaust) available capital for routing and ultimately fail to route.
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onion routing is a way of anonymizing the network; it works by allowing a receiver of a routing request to know only the sender (predecessor) and next receiver (successor) in a multi-hop chain of transactions, thus any such network with more than 3 stops has obfuscated both end users from each other and middlemen.
Reading Assignment: Lightning Network & Lightning App Programming.
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How many times can you refill your LN channel?
It can be refilled over and over again. -
What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
Advertised channels are visible channels.
Non-advertised channels are not visible channels, and will need Lightning payment requests, allowing a payment sender to build routes. -
How does Buffer capital work?
Buffer capital needs to maintain enough balance, when funds will happen to be moving in the same direction.
Routing nodes that don’t contribute enough capital to handle periods of imbalance will experience channel exhaustion (when a node has no funds remaining in a channel) and routing failures. -
What is onion routing?
Intermediate nodes in the payment path know only the identity of their immediate predecessor and successor in the route. Importantly, the combination of source routing and onion routing protects the identities of payment senders and receivers so as to enhance user privacy and censorship-resistance.
- Anytime you want
- The non-advertised channels are the end user and are not connected all the time. Nodes advertised have many inbound and outbound channels.
- Helps to keep a balance state between spending and refill.
- Onion routing means that the intermediate nodes in the payment path know only the identity of their immediate predecessor and successor in the route. Importantly, the combination of source routing and onion routing protects the identities of payment senders and receivers so as to enhance user privacy and censorship-resistance.
1. How many times can you refill your LN channel?
Unlimited times
2. What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
Non-advertised channels are the ones that are not available for routing and are not visible in the network graph. On the contrary, advertised channels are visible in the network.
3. How does Buffer capital work?
Routing nodes can hold extra capital to avoid channel exhaustion; this is called buffer channel. Channel exhaustion means that nodes can fail on the routing due to lack of funds. In order to maintain communication with other nodes, routing nodes must hold enough buffer capital.
4. What is onion routing?
Onion routing means that intermediate nodes in the payment path know only the identity of their immediate predecessor and successor in the route.
From Wikipedia: Onion routing is a technique for anonymous communication over a computer network. In an onion network, messages are encapsulated in layers of encryption, analogous to layers of an onion. The encrypted data is transmitted through a series of network nodes called onion routers, each of which “peels” away from a single layer, uncovering the data’s next destination. When the final layer is decrypted, the message arrives at its destination. The sender remains anonymous because each intermediary knows only the location of the immediately preceding and following nodes. While onion routing provides a high level of security and anonymity, there are methods to break the anonymity of this technique, such as timing analysis
How many times can you refill your LN channel?
Unlimited
What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
Advertised channels are readily accessible for use for routing. Whereas, non-advertised channels are only intermittently available and shouldn’t be used for routing.
How does Buffer capital work?
Nodes provide enough funds or BTC so that the node can operate without interruption - essentially, the node has enough funds to weather the amount of payment transactions in either direction until the flow of funds reverses and returns the node to a more balanced state.
What is onion routing?
It optimizes privacy by only allowing the intermediate node in the payment path to know the identity of the immediate predecessor and successor in the route.
- As may times as you wish
- Advertised channels are visible in the network and as such should be online and available to route transactions. Non advertised channels are not visible as they are using lighter devices (laptops and mobile phones) and are intermittently connected by the end users.
- It refers to the amount of capital needed to be held within the node so that there is sufficient balance to allow transactions to be processed in any direction. If the node had an insufficient balance then that would not allow transactions to run through that node.
- Onion routing refers to the privacy of a node only knowing the immediate predecessor node and the immediate successor node. This enhances the confidentiality of the initial payor/end receiver and maintains its censorship resistance.
1 How many times can you refill your LN channel? As many times as you need to from what I read.
2 What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels? Advertised channels broadcast their availability. Usually are available 24-7-365 and have sufficient liquidity. Non-advertised don’t broadcast availability as they are usually personal devices and don’t have as much liquidity.
3 How does Buffer capital work?
Routing nodes maintain additional liquidity in the event there is more flow in one direction until that flow reverses and the channel can return to balance.
4 What is onion routing?
Transmission of internet data over the TOR network for increased privacy and user anomality. Onion routing also helps prevent network censorship since bridge nodes will only know it’s immediate receiving node and the node it is sending the payment to in a multi-hop route.
1.- How many times can you refill your LN channel?
LN channel can be refill as many times as you want.
2.- What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
End user nodes (mobiles, smartphones, …) arel not be available for routing by defaults. These nodes are called non-advertised channels, and only will be accessible through the use of extra routing information. Advertise nodes are the nodes that are availables for rounting bt default.
3.-How does Buffer capital work?
Buffer capital is the capital for a Lightning node which is need ed to maintain the inflow and outflow of a payment channel.
4,. What is onion routing?
onion routing means that intermediate nodes in the payment path know only the identity of their immediate predecessor and successor in the route
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How many times can you refill your LN channel?
It can be refilled as many times as you want -
What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
Payment channels that are only intermittently available should not be used for routing and generally won’t be advertised to the broader network.
Only advertised channels that are more reliable will be advertised on the network. -
How does Buffer capital work?
Routing nodes should provide enough buffer capital to avoid channel exhaustion and routing failures.
Users are incentived to create more buffer capital to avoid routing issues on the network. -
What is onion routing?
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Onion routing is a technique used in multi-hop payments that ensures that intermediate nodes in the payment path know only the identity of their immediate predecessor and successor in the route.
- : LN Channels can be refilled over and over, no limitations.
- : Non advertised channels are not available for routing and not visible in the network graph. (non public hops) They accessible through “extra routing information”. Advertised channels are used for routing and they are visible on the network graph.
- : Buffer capital is a the minimum balance of outgoing and ingoing capacity that a channel needs to avoid channel exhaustion and routing failures. In general, buffer capital serves for handling periods of imbalance.
- : Onion routing is a technique for anonymous communication over the Lightning Network. Non of the participants really know where the payment is coming from or where it’s going, they know only the previous/next hop. This technique increases the privacy of the Lightning Network.
How many times can you refill your LN channel?
You can refill your Lightning Network channel as frequently or infrequently as your wish - so long as you are aware that refilling your LN channel will be an on-chain transaction.
What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
Advertised channels are typically channels between gateway nodes and other gateway nodes or bridge nodes. When an end-user wishes to transact on the Lightning Network, it’s common for them to route through a gateway node with many channels set up. As the client will seek the closest available path to reach the other end-user to which they are transacting with - it’s common for advertised channels to be utilized, where a routing hub (gateway node), routes through another routing hub to transact through the least routes possible.
The channel between these two routing hubs is called an advertised channel.
How does Buffer capital work?
Buffer capital is important for routing nodes to have in order to be able to route many transactions through the network. On both sides of any given channel, a routing node needs to have sufficient capital to account for when there are imbalances on either end.
If a routing node does not have this extra (buffer) capital, it will be less reliable for nodes to route through, and they will typically eventually be dropped from being routed through.
What is onion routing?
Onion routing is the process of allowing a routing node to only have access to the preceding node, and the node to which it proceeds to flow the funds to. This enables the end-to-end transaction to stay quasi-anonymous to routing nodes along the journey of the initial sender and receiver of funds.
.1. How many times can you refill your LN channel?
To minimize onchain fees for open/close a channel, a channel can be open for years and refilled over and over again, just like a bank / cash account.
Splicing is resizing a channel (amount). A node can have many channels open at a time.
Any node must be able to interface with the BTC network.
Routing node: not necessary a full (validating) node, ex. light clients protocol ‘neutrino’
gateway Routing nodes directly serve (100s) endusers via non-advertised channels
.2. What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
non-advertised: the end-user phone/laptop not available for routing, not visible in network graph, accessible through extra-routing-info = routing-hints in the lightning-payment-request
advertised: available in routing tables = visible in network graph => routing more efficient
.3. How does Buffer capital work?
Buffer capital = funds to be spent (outflows) to other nodes connected, which receive (inflows) the fund.
There must always be enough funds for outflows if not filled via inflows to minimize channel exhaustion = routing failure as responsibility of a route-node-operator.
Autopilot : automates the process of finding gateway routing nodes and opening channels
.4. What is onion routing?
(=> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_routing)
The source of the data sends the onion to Router A, which removes a layer of encryption to learn only where to send it next and where it came from (though it does not know if the sender is the origin or just another node). Router A sends it to Router B, which decrypts another layer to learn its next destination. Router B sends it to Router C, which removes the final layer of encryption and transmits the original message to its destination.
Aka TOR = The Onion Routing.
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How many times can you refill your LN channel?
It is limitless -
What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
Non advertised channels require additional information to route as that information is not automatically broadcast. -
How does Buffer capital work?
By balancing the inflows and outflows between many users so that there is always a high enough capital balance to avoid channel exhaustion which leads to routing failures. -
What is onion routing?
It employs multihop payments that only know the identity of their immediate predecessor and successor in the route.
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How many times can you refill your LN channel?
Until you run out of accessible funds -
What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
non advertised are found through hints embedded in payment requests -
How does Buffer capital work?
provides continuous access, prevent lightning imbalance, and always stays on! -
What is onion routing?
You can only see the node before you and the node after
- How many times can you refill your LN channel?
There is no limit to how many times you can refill your LN channel as long as the channel is up and running and that the other node is online.
- What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
- Advertised channels are publicly known from all nodes on the network and are present in routing tables. They are advertised by nodes that actively participate in routing and intend to forward traffic.
- Non-advertised channels are the majority. Typically mobile nodes do not advertise channels. Payment senders include extra routing information about non-advertised channels they know about in “routing hints”. Invoices sent by recipients to senders can also include routing hints.
- How does Buffer capital work?
Routing nodes fund the channels they maintain with other nodes. In order to keep a channel operational in both directions, nodes should maintain a minimum balance in their side of the channel. If one side of a channel is empty then the channel is blocked in one direction.
[ This is similar to liquidity management of nostro accounts in legacy correspondent banking, whereby each bank must maintain a balance in an account it has with another bank in a foreign currency. The routing is done with SWIFT and each bank has its own proprietary UNIX mainframe system to maintain account balances.
End to end transfer takes 3 days if all goes well.
With Lightning it takes 3 seconds on a bad day. 
]
- What is onion routing?
This is a routing mechanism whereby each node in the path only knows the previous and next hop, without even knowing whether these hops are the initial sender or final destination.
Only the sender knows the final destination and the path length.
This is in contrast to IPv4 packet switching where each routing node can see the source and destination IP address in each packet.
Onion routing is possible because the sender knows the public key of the final destination as well as the public keys of each intermediate nodes in the path. The sender creates several nested layers of encryption, making sure that each intermediary node can decrypt only one specific layer with their private key.
When an intermediary node decrypts a message it receives, it can only extract another message addressed to the next hop. It cannot open the content of that message and therefore does not see the remaining hops in the path. All it can do is forward that message to the next hop.
1. How many times can you refill your LN channel?
The LN channel is like a bank account, so therefore we can refill the channel so often as necessary.
2. What’s the difference between Advertised and non -advertised channels?
Advertised channels/nods are routing nodes and are always connected with the internet and they are visible in the network.
Unlike advertised nodes/channels, Non-advertised channels and nodes are invisible in the network graph and they are not available for routing.
Non-advertised channels are the majority and are the end users’ nodes (smartphones, laptops, etc.).
They are accessible through routing hints implanted in the Lighting Tx.
3. How does Buffer capital work?
Buffer capital is like an insurance or warranty in the case funds of a routing node move in the same direction (e.g. more spending than receiving). The buffer capital makes sur that the routing node don’t falls into imbalance. If a routing node doesn’t have enough funds in the remaining channel, this node would be eventually disconnected by the other nodes.
4. What is onion routing?
Onion routing in the Lightning network means, that the intermediate nodes only know the identity of their immediate predecessor and successor in the route (this is good for privacy).
- You can refill you LN channel as many times as you want.
- Advertised channels are those that will help route other payments. The non-advertised ones are typically only the ones you’ll use from your laptop or smartphone.
- For a routing node to have buffer capital means that if the managed channels are spending more than they are receiving they need to have enough balance to handle that without being left with no channels to spend.
- Onion routing means that any particular node is only aware of the next and previous hop in the route.
- How many times can you refill your LN channel ?
- Unlimited
- What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels ?
- Non-advertised channels: channels will not available for routing and require routing hints for path
- Advertised channels: available for routing, visible on the network graph
- How does Buffer capital work ?
- Buffer Capital: funds that a routing node must maintain enough to be able to wait until the flow of funds reverses and channels return to a more balanced state
- What is Onion Routing ?
- Onion Routing means that intermediate nodes in the payment path know only the identity of their immediate predecessor and successor in the route.
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How many times can you recharge your LN channel?
As many times as you want, since the recharge is similar to how it is deposited in a bank account. -
What’s the difference between Advertised and non-advertised channels?
Unannounced channels are those that are not visible on the network graph, typically end-user channels, and are intermittently available. While the announced channels are those that are always available and visible. -
How does Buffer capital work?
When there are more movements of expenses than income, or more output than inputs, the routing node has an “additional capital” to supply this behavior for a specific time, waiting for the balance to be reestablished. -
What is onion routing?
This applies to multi-hop payments and consists of the intermediate nodes in the payment route only knowing the identity of their immediate predecessor and successor in the route.
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Lightning channels can be filled by the owner of that channel at any time to the channels limit.
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advertised channels can been seen by the network. while non advertised channels can only be routed through gateway nodes and wont be shown to the rest of the network.
3.buffer capital refers to channels having enough capital to be able to route payments without failure.
- Onion routing uses the Tor protocol to extend the users privacy and will only show the previous node it came from and not the original using multihops.