The Ethereum began Raiden network tests - the analogue Lightning Network

Raiden payment channel network for the first time carried out a shipment of tokens from a client in Copenhagen recipient in Mumbai involving node in Florianopolis. Opening, closing and channel confirmation was carried out in the test network Ethereum and do transactions carried out blokcheyna.
Raiden - payment channel technology similar to Lightning Network in the Bitcoin network.
Basic idea: instead of all transactions over the blokcheyn, users are sharing messages that sign the transfer of funds. Raiden is from p2p payment channels and smart contract and deposit of funds is in Ethereum network. Hosts Raiden communicate with each other to make payments, and Ethereum network management deposits. Simple API allows you to use Raiden in smart contracts and DApps.
Advantages of the technology

Linear scalability: perhaps more than a million transactions per second.
Speed: payments are made and confirmed in a split second.
Confidentiality: only the combined transactions pass through blokcheyn, individual payments are hidden.
Versatile: it works with any tokens corresponding Ethereum standards.
Minimum commission: 7 orders of magnitude smaller than in the main blokcheyne.
Creator Raiden Heiko Hees (Heiko Hees) told IBTimes:
The scripting language in the Bitcoin network is limited, so the construction of such a network - a difficult task. The Ethereum are much simpler - any developer to easily sort out the accompanying smart contracts.
Another problem with Bitcoin: Lightning implementation is impossible without the introduction of Segregated Witness technology that solves "plasticity transactions" problem.
Heath explains that the payment channel is defined by a smart contract for blokcheyne. Contract knows the sender and the recipient. The sender makes a deposit into the escrow account contract. The balance of many small transactions digitally sign is blokcheyna. These signatures are then exchanged for goods or for the amount of the deposit.
This way of working with multiple payments offline, but you need to have a deposit for each recipient. This is a great way to receive a payment, for example, for 1000 page views, but it is not suitable for multiple recipients. Example: online poker with several rounds and a lot of players.
The solution to this problem: suppose we opened five channels with five different people, and all users have done the same. It turns connected graph of all channels. As an analogy, we can offer Facebook: it is possible to establish a link between any two people through transitions ( "hops") among mutual friends. The principle is the same.
Multi-hopping technology allows the simultaneous fulfillment of the set of transactions that do not intersect with each other. This means linear scalability: more participants - higher capacity network.
Heath continues: "The problem is that if I sent the coin through you, I have no guarantee that you will send them on. This problem is solved by cryptographic techniques. In addition, bi-directional, tokens channels can be sent in both directions, and payments can be made between any two parties. "
Payments requiring virtually no commissions or additional agreements, ideal for Internet of Things (IoT) and for payments "from machine to machine."
I believe that the economy will be used IoT universal economic relations between different devices, senders and switches, while blokcheyn become common transport infrastructure backbone and the foundation. Look at IBM, Samsung, Microsoft, SAP - blokcheyn can become a single standard.
Another use of state channels - "cryptographic court": it works in the background and performs the action only in the event of a dispute.
Heath gives a simple example: "business process logic is executed blokcheyna, but you TP monitor. If a dispute arises, if someone signs a false change of state, you transfer the dispute to blokcheyn and declare that this partner was trying to sign a false change of state, so he loses the deposit "...
"We have a logic that can be tested smart contract for blokcheyne, and connecting it with the theory of games, where for" bad behavior "of the penalty, we receive applications that run outside the blokcheyna behind which is only the role of an arbitrator."
A new stage in the development of the network Raiden - scale demonstration of 100 000 transactions per second. Heath suggests that this will happen before the end of August 2016, but adds that the guarantee will not be able to give. The system can operate with tiny amounts - up to one-millionth of a dollar.