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System Architecture

Architectural Overview​

Orbinum Network implements a three-layer architecture designed to separate concerns between coordination, computation, and cross-chain execution. This separation enables the platform to maintain blockchain-level security and consensus for state management while delegating computationally intensive AI operations to specialized off-chain infrastructure.

Three-Layer Architecture​

Application Layer​

Developer-facing interfaces and tools that abstract the underlying complexity of coordinating AI inference with cross-chain execution:

  • SDK: Development framework for building autonomous multichain agents with optional privacy features
  • APIs: REST and WebSocket interfaces for agent interaction
  • Developer Tools: Testing frameworks, debugging utilities, monitoring dashboards, and privacy tooling

Blockchain Layer​

Coordination infrastructure responsible for state management, economic settlement, quality ranking, and governance:

  • Agent Registry: Tracks deployed agents and their configurations (supports private metadata)
  • Orbit Registry: Manages AI miner networks and specializations
  • Task Scheduler: Coordinates inference requests and cross-chain operations
  • Quality Ranking: Maintains real-time provider performance metrics
  • Economic Settlement: Handles token operations and reward distribution
  • Governance: DAO control over protocol parameters

Execution Layer​

Distributed network of miners and validators performing computation and quality assessment:

  • Miners: Execute AI inference operations using specialized models
  • Validators: Produce blocks, finalize transactions, and evaluate miner quality
  • Relayers: Facilitate cross-chain message passing and execution
  • Bridges: Enable secure interaction with external blockchain networks

Optional Privacy Features​

Orbinum provides optional zero-knowledge (ZK) capabilities for users who require private AI inference. Privacy features are opt-in and work alongside standard transparent operations.

Privacy Model​

When privacy is enabled, ZK techniques protect sensitive data across the three-layer architecture:

Application Layer

  • Users opt-in to privacy mode when submitting inference requests
  • SDK prepares encrypted inputs and commitments
  • Supports selective disclosure of results

Execution Layer

  • Miners generate ZK proofs attesting to correct execution without revealing inputs or model details
  • Proofs published for verification while preserving confidentiality
  • Standard non-private inference remains available

Blockchain Layer

  • On-chain verification of compact ZK proofs for private transactions
  • Public settlement of payments without exposing request content
  • Transparent operations remain default for simplicity

Use Cases​

Privacy features enable:

  • Confidential business logic for proprietary trading strategies or internal workflows
  • Protected user data for sensitive personal or financial information
  • Model IP protection for proprietary AI models
  • Regulatory compliance for data privacy requirements (GDPR, HIPAA)

Users who don't require privacy can use standard transparent operations with lower computational overhead.

Technology Foundation​

Substrate Framework​

Orbinum's blockchain is built using Substrate, a modular blockchain development framework providing:

  • Proven Architecture: Powers numerous production blockchains with extensive security auditing
  • Modular Design: Pallet-based architecture for selective functionality integration
  • Forkless Upgrades: Runtime upgrades without hard forks
  • Performance: Asynchronous runtime and parallel transaction execution
  • EVM Compatibility: Full Ethereum Virtual Machine support through Frontier pallet

→ Learn more about EVM Compatibility

Consensus Mechanism​

Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS) consensus balances security, decentralization, and performance:

  • Active Validators: Up to 297 validators selected each era
  • Block Time: ~6 seconds
  • Finality: 12-18 seconds via GRANDPA
  • Era Duration: 24 hours (6 sessions of 4 hours each)

→ Learn more about Consensus

Network Participants​

The network is powered by three main participant types:

Validators secure the blockchain through block production, finalization, and quality evaluation. Require 10,000 $ON stake and enterprise-grade hardware.

Miners provide AI inference compute using GPU infrastructure. Specialize in specific Orbits (NLP, Vision, etc.) with 1,000 $ON stake per Orbit.

Nominators back validators with their stake to earn rewards without running infrastructure. Minimum 100 $ON stake.

Node Types​

Multiple node types serve different purposes in the network:

  • Full Node: Maintains complete state for dApp backends and development
  • Archive Node: Stores historical data for explorers and analytics
  • Validator Node: Participates in consensus with high uptime requirements
  • Light Client: Minimal sync for mobile wallets and IoT devices

→ Learn more about Running Nodes

Account Management​

Orbinum supports dual account systems for maximum compatibility:

Substrate Accounts use SS58 format for native operations (staking, governance, transfers)

Ethereum Accounts use standard 0x format for EVM compatibility (smart contracts, MetaMask, dApps)

→ Learn more about Wallets & Accounts

Cross-Chain Execution​

Orbinum enables agents to interact with multiple blockchains seamlessly:

Supported at Launch: Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Arweave

Universal Gas Abstraction: All operations paid in $ON with automatic conversion to native gas tokens

Security Model: Multi-signature bridges with time delays, rate limiting, and emergency pause capability

→ Learn more about Cross-Chain Agents

Performance Targets​

MetricTargetImplementation
Block Time6 secondsBABE consensus
Finality12-18 secondsGRANDPA finality
Throughput1,000+ TPSSubstrate runtime
AI Latency<2 seconds avgPer-Orbit monitoring
Uptime99.9%Validator SLAs
Cross-Chain<60 seconds avgIncluding finality

Scalability​

Vertical Scaling​

  • Asynchronous Runtime: Concurrent transaction processing
  • Parallel Execution: Non-overlapping state transactions
  • Off-Chain Workers: Heavy computation off-chain

Horizontal Scaling​

  • Provider Distribution: Unlimited providers per Orbit
  • Orbit Specialization: Domain-specific optimization
  • Custom Orbits: Private specialized workloads

Next Steps​

  • EVM Compatibility - Deploy Solidity contracts with Ethereum tooling
  • Running Nodes - Install and configure different node types
  • Validators - Participate in consensus and earn rewards
  • Miners - Provide AI inference compute
  • Staking - Back validators and earn passive income