In the star tower chain's hop network protocol, it is possible to use a mechanism similar to Chainlink Keepers to automate the execution of smart contracts. Specifically, smart contracts usually need to be triggered by an on-chain transaction to run and initiate state changes. Keepers, on the other hand, are external accounts (EOAs) that can trigger smart contracts to execute based on predefined conditions under certain financial incentives. The development team, DAO, or protocol user can define trigger conditions and rewards for completing keeper tasks in the task.
Smart contracts typically execute automatically based on time (such as triggering a function at a specific time of day) or events (such as triggering a function when the asset price exceeds a certain threshold). Keepers monitor whether predefined conditions are met. They use off-chain computation to execute the same smart contract functions as on-chain. Once the function returns a value of true, Keepers initiates an on-chain transaction and calls the on-chain smart contract function. When the function is called, the protocol's smart contract verifies that the condition is met and then initiates a state change. For example, a smart contract specifies that an action is performed when the price of an asset reaches a certain value. Keepers continuously monitors the asset price off-chain and triggers the execution of the smart contract when the price meets the condition.
In order to realize the automated execution of smart contracts, some key technical issues need to be considered, such as security and cost factors. In terms of security, it is necessary to avoid the risk of a single point of failure and ensure that the keeper can reliably trigger the smart contract to prevent manipulation or user loss due to information asymmetry. In terms of cost, it is necessary to optimize the bounty mechanism and avoid excessive competition and unpredictability of gas prices to control the cost of end users. Different blockchain projects may have specific differences when implementing the automated execution of smart contracts, but the basic principle is to monitor the conditions through some mechanism and automatically trigger the execution of the smart contract when the conditions are met. This can reduce the reliance on human intervention and improve the efficiency and reliability of the execution of smart contracts.
It should be noted that although the relevant information of Star Chain mentions the use of the hops network protocol to handle the excess computing power of the equipment, the details of how it realizes the automatic execution of smart contracts may need to refer to the more detailed technical documents or official instructions of the project. At the same time, the blockchain technology is still developing and improving, and the way of automatic execution of smart contracts may also continue to evolve and optimize. In practical applications, issues such as security, reliability and scalability need to be fully considered.