SMART — the epoch-counter

The former usage of the epoch counter (one epoch lasts from one MSA round to the next) sets some constraints about the max. number of slots available for MP rounds. It is easier implementable and more convenient if the epoch counter implicitely is incremented witch each fireworks byte. As an additional advantage the pair (epoch counter, slot counter) can be used as timestamp in the ST cluster. Thus these values should be made available in the IFS for application tasks.
Resolution:
The meaning of the epoch is changed. In addition to the values "epoch counter" and "slot counter" the "currently assigned cluster name", the "number of the current round", and the current state of the nodes protocol is made available in the "Configuration File (file no. 0x08)". Supporting the epoch counter is an optional service for an ST.
Since the maximum length of an MP round has been based on the horizon of the slot-counter this also influences the maximum length of a MP round. Another constraint is the length of the owner file (see issue XXXX). Thus the length of an MP round is limited to 64 Slots.

see above