The consensus schedule gives an opportunity for a block proposal.
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A timetable can reserve a turn for a speaker even if that speaker misses the turn.
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Receive, check and share across independent nodesStep 1 / 4
A node receives a proposed transaction or block-related message. Receipt is not the same as accepting its claims.
A node receives a proposed transaction or block-related message. Receipt is not the same as accepting its claims.The node checks the relevant authorization and protocol rules. Popularity does not make an invalid state transition valid.Valid candidate data can propagate to peers. Connections and timing differ, so there is no perfect simultaneous worldwide view.Peers validate under the same protocol rules. This illustration is about verification and propagation, not a complete proof-of-stake consensus algorithm.
Animated local teaching model. No wallet, RPC or live blockchain data. Some labels and hashes are abbreviated for readability.
A scheduled interval
Ethereumproof of stake organizes time into slots under protocol constants. A proposer is assigned for the relevant opportunity. A slot is a scheduling unit, not a promise that a usable block will appear.
A proposal contains several kinds of data
A block includes consensus information and an execution payload under the protocol’s format. The execution side still needs to check the payload’s transactions and state effects.
An empty opportunity can happen
Missed proposals or network problems can leave a slot without a block in the accepted view. Blocks and slots therefore should not be treated as interchangeable counts in every situation.
Voting relates to the chain
Validators make attestations under their duties. These support fork choice and checkpoint agreement rather than a separate popularity vote for every payment. Read epochs and finality next for the wider timing structure.
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Does each scheduled slot guarantee an accepted block?
A proposal opportunity can be missed or fail to yield an accepted block.