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| trace-id = 32HEXDIGLC ; 16 bytes array identifier. All zeroes forbidden | ||
| parent-id = 16HEXDIGLC ; 8 bytes array identifier. All zeroes forbidden | ||
| trace-flags = 2HEXDIGLC ; 8 bit flags. Currently, only one bit is used. See below for details | ||
| sampling-constant = sampling-random-value parent-sampling-constant |
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| sampling-constant = sampling-random-value parent-sampling-constant | |
| sampling-constant = sampling-random-value parent-sampling-rate |
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It is not really the rate. It is a constant used to calculate the probability. For example, a value of 2 works out to a probability of p = 2^-x = 2^-2 = 0.25
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the term "parent sampling constant" has no meaning to me. It is still a sampling rate, it's just encoded in a particular manner.
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The way we have it specified in open-telemetry/oteps#168, this field contains the "adjusted count" specifically encoded by the logarithm for non-zero values and as 63 for the zero case.
| trace-flags = 2HEXDIGLC ; 8 bit flags. Currently, only one bit is used. See below for details | ||
| sampling-constant = sampling-random-value parent-sampling-constant | ||
| sampling-random-value = 2HEXDIGLC ; geometrically distributed 8-bit random value used for consistent sampling | ||
| parent-sampling-constant = 2HEXDIGLC ; 8-bit value used to represent the head sampling probability. |
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I think the intention of limiting values to 6-bits only was that on the wire the combined constant could be represented with just 3 hexes, not 4. Was this discussed and decided against?
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I understood the original 6-bit requirement was because of the desire to use a 64-bit int, but due to some restrictions of some languages (e.g. java) it is easier to ignore the sign bit hence 63 bits of data. Then a state for 0 was needed because there is no x such that 2^-x = 0 leaving 62 bits. From there, only 6 bits is needed to represent the number of leading 0s in a 62-bit binary number and 62 was the highest required exponent because 2^-62 was the minimum sampling rate.
AFAIK the 6-bit + 6-bit 3-hex-character representation was just a happy coincidence of this earlier decision.
In any case, the decision to use 4 or 3 characters doesn't matter that much to me. 4 is slightly easier to parse (parse 2 hex bytes vs some bit shifting needed) and much easier for a human to read.
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I agree on both counts.
The use of 4 bytes is simpler to explain and implement, and 3 is definitely acceptable.
One reason to go with 4 instead of 3 is that it makes #467 orthogonal. The random value is only needed when the randomness flag is not set, according to that proposal (@bogdandrutu). Combining this proposal with #467, the p value is only needed when sampled and the r value is built in--we arrive at a nice outcome:
- With randomness flag set: 2 bytes extra when sampled, 0 bytes extra when not sampled
- Without randomness flag set: 4 bytes extra when sampled, 2 bytes extra when not sampled
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Having now specified how OpenTelemetry could use Keeping in mind the original purpose of this work--which is to count spans and logs that happen in traced contexts and translate them into estimated metrics about how many associated spans and logs are happening in all contexts--we're better off with on-by-default implementations of probability sampling. The combination of these proposals leads to easier integration for span-to-metrics pipelines at a cost of 2 bytes per sampled context and 0 bytes per unsampled context. |
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This draft proposal is an early proposal at solving #463
It does not directly compete with, but is overlapping with, #467
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