Swarm MRUs: Adaptive frequency / Predictable lookups / API simplification (#17559)

* swarm/storage/mru: Adaptive Frequency

swarm/storage/mru/lookup: fixed getBaseTime
Added NewEpoch constructor

swarm/api/client: better error handling in GetResource()


swarm/storage/mru: Renamed structures.
Renamed ResourceMetadata to ResourceID. 
Renamed ResourceID.Name to ResourceID.Topic

swarm/storage/mru: Added binarySerializer interface and test tools

swarm/storage/mru/lookup: Changed base time to time and + marshallers

swarm/storage/mru:  Added ResourceID (former resourceMetadata)

swarm/storage/mru: Added ResourceViewId and serialization tests

swarm/storage/mru/lookup: fixed epoch unmarshaller. Added Epoch Equals

swarm/storage/mru: Fixes as per review comments

cmd/swarm: reworded resource create/update help text regarding topic

swarm/storage/mru: Added UpdateLookup and serializer tests

swarm/storage/mru: Added UpdateHeader, serializers and tests

swarm/storage/mru: changed UpdateAddr / epoch to Base()

swarm/storage/mru: Added resourceUpdate serializer and tests

swarm/storage/mru: Added SignedResourceUpdate tests and serializers

swarm/storage/mru/lookup: fixed GetFirstEpoch bug

swarm/storage/mru: refactor, comments, cleanup

Also added tests for Topic
swarm/storage/mru: handler tests pass

swarm/storage/mru: all resource package tests pass

swarm/storage/mru: resource test pass after adding
timestamp checking support

swarm/storage/mru: Added JSON serializers to ResourceIDView structures

swarm/storage/mru: Sever, client, API test pass

swarm/storage/mru: server test pass

swarm/storage/mru: Added topic length check

swarm/storage/mru: removed some literals,
improved "previous lookup" test case

swarm/storage/mru: some fixes and comments as per review

swarm/storage/mru: first working version without metadata chunk

swarm/storage/mru: Various fixes as per review

swarm/storage/mru: client test pass

swarm/storage/mru: resource query strings and manifest-less queries


swarm/storage/mru: simplify naming

swarm/storage/mru: first autofreq working version



swarm/storage/mru: renamed ToValues to AppendValues

swarm/resource/mru: Added ToValues / FromValues for URL query strings

swarm/storage/mru: Changed POST resource to work with query strings.
No more JSON.

swarm/storage/mru: removed resourceid

swarm/storage/mru: Opened up structures

swarm/storage/mru: Merged Request and SignedResourceUpdate

swarm/storage/mru: removed initial data from CLI resource create

swarm/storage/mru: Refactor Topic as a direct fixed-length array

swarm/storage/mru/lookup: Comprehensive GetNextLevel tests

swarm/storage/mru: Added comments

Added length checks in Topic
swarm/storage/mru: fixes in tests and some code comments

swarm/storage/mru/lookup: new optimized lookup algorithm

swarm/api: moved getResourceView to api out of server

swarm/storage/mru: Lookup algorithm working

swarm/storage/mru: comments and renamed NewLookupParams

Deleted commented code


swarm/storage/mru/lookup: renamed Epoch.LaterThan to After

swarm/storage/mru/lookup: Comments and tidying naming



swarm/storage/mru: fix lookup algorithm

swarm/storage/mru: exposed lookup hint
removed updateheader

swarm/storage/mru/lookup: changed GetNextEpoch for initial values

swarm/storage/mru: resource tests pass

swarm/storage/mru: valueSerializer interface and tests



swarm/storage/mru/lookup: Comments, improvements, fixes, more tests

swarm/storage/mru: renamed UpdateLookup to ID, LookupParams to Query

swarm/storage/mru: renamed query receiver var



swarm/cmd: MRU CLI tests

* cmd/swarm: remove rogue fmt

* swarm/storage/mru: Add version / header for future use

* swarm/storage/mru: Fixes/comments as per review

cmd/swarm: remove rogue fmt

swarm/storage/mru: Add version / header for future use-

* swarm/storage/mru: fix linter errors

* cmd/swarm: Speeded up TestCLIResourceUpdate

33 files changed, 2648 insertions, 2562 deletions

diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/binaryserializer.go b/swarm/storage/mru/binaryserializer.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3123a82ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/binaryserializer.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package mru
+
+import "github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
+
+type binarySerializer interface {
+	binaryPut(serializedData []byte) error
+	binaryLength() int
+	binaryGet(serializedData []byte) error
+}
+
+// Values interface represents a string key-value store
+// useful for building query strings
+type Values interface {
+	Get(key string) string
+	Set(key, value string)
+}
+
+type valueSerializer interface {
+	FromValues(values Values) error
+	AppendValues(values Values)
+}
+
+// Hex serializes the structure and converts it to a hex string
+func Hex(bin binarySerializer) string {
+	b := make([]byte, bin.binaryLength())
+	bin.binaryPut(b)
+	return hexutil.Encode(b)
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/binaryserializer_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/binaryserializer_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f524157d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/binaryserializer_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
+)
+
+// KV mocks a key value store
+type KV map[string]string
+
+func (kv KV) Get(key string) string {
+	return kv[key]
+}
+func (kv KV) Set(key, value string) {
+	kv[key] = value
+}
+
+func compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t *testing.T, variableName string, actualValue []byte, expectedHex string) {
+	if hexutil.Encode(actualValue) != expectedHex {
+		t.Fatalf("%s: Expected %s to be %s, got %s", t.Name(), variableName, expectedHex, hexutil.Encode(actualValue))
+	}
+}
+
+func testBinarySerializerRecovery(t *testing.T, bin binarySerializer, expectedHex string) {
+	name := reflect.TypeOf(bin).Elem().Name()
+	serialized := make([]byte, bin.binaryLength())
+	if err := bin.binaryPut(serialized); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("%s.binaryPut error when trying to serialize structure: %s", name, err)
+	}
+
+	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, name, serialized, expectedHex)
+
+	recovered := reflect.New(reflect.TypeOf(bin).Elem()).Interface().(binarySerializer)
+	if err := recovered.binaryGet(serialized); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("%s.binaryGet error when trying to deserialize structure: %s", name, err)
+	}
+
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(bin, recovered) {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected that the recovered %s equals the marshalled %s", name, name)
+	}
+
+	serializedWrongLength := make([]byte, 1)
+	copy(serializedWrongLength[:], serialized)
+	if err := recovered.binaryGet(serializedWrongLength); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected %s.binaryGet to fail since data is too small", name)
+	}
+}
+
+func testBinarySerializerLengthCheck(t *testing.T, bin binarySerializer) {
+	name := reflect.TypeOf(bin).Elem().Name()
+	// make a slice that is too small to contain the metadata
+	serialized := make([]byte, bin.binaryLength()-1)
+
+	if err := bin.binaryPut(serialized); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected %s.binaryPut to fail, since target slice is too small", name)
+	}
+}
+
+func testValueSerializer(t *testing.T, v valueSerializer, expected KV) {
+	name := reflect.TypeOf(v).Elem().Name()
+	kv := make(KV)
+
+	v.AppendValues(kv)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(expected, kv) {
+		expj, _ := json.Marshal(expected)
+		gotj, _ := json.Marshal(kv)
+		t.Fatalf("Expected %s.AppendValues to return %s, got %s", name, string(expj), string(gotj))
+	}
+
+	recovered := reflect.New(reflect.TypeOf(v).Elem()).Interface().(valueSerializer)
+	err := recovered.FromValues(kv)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(recovered, v) {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected recovered %s to be the same", name)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/cacheentry.go b/swarm/storage/mru/cacheentry.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..280331f77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/cacheentry.go
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
+)
+
+const (
+	hasherCount            = 8
+	resourceHashAlgorithm  = storage.SHA3Hash
+	defaultRetrieveTimeout = 100 * time.Millisecond
+)
+
+// cacheEntry caches resource data and the metadata of its root chunk.
+type cacheEntry struct {
+	ResourceUpdate
+	*bytes.Reader
+	lastKey storage.Address
+}
+
+// implements storage.LazySectionReader
+func (r *cacheEntry) Size(ctx context.Context, _ chan bool) (int64, error) {
+	return int64(len(r.ResourceUpdate.data)), nil
+}
+
+//returns the resource's topic
+func (r *cacheEntry) Topic() Topic {
+	return r.View.Topic
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/doc.go b/swarm/storage/mru/doc.go
index e1d7c2c34..19330e0c1 100644
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/doc.go
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/doc.go
@@ -1,61 +1,44 @@
-// Package mru defines Mutable resource updates.
-// A Mutable Resource is an entity which allows updates to a resource
-// without resorting to ENS on each update.
-// The update scheme is built on swarm chunks with chunk keys following
-// a predictable, versionable pattern.
-//
-// Updates are defined to be periodic in nature, where the update frequency
-// is expressed in seconds.
-//
-// The root entry of a mutable resource is tied to a unique identifier that
-// is deterministically generated out of the metadata content that describes
-// the resource. This metadata includes a user-defined resource name, a resource
-// start time that indicates when the resource becomes valid,
-// the frequency in seconds with which the resource is expected to be updated, both of
-// which are stored as little-endian uint64 values in the database (for a
-// total of 16 bytes). It also contains the owner's address (ownerAddr)
-// This MRU info is stored in a separate content-addressed chunk
-// (call it the metadata chunk), with the following layout:
-//
-// (00|length|startTime|frequency|name|ownerAddr)
-//
-// (The two first zero-value bytes are used for disambiguation by the chunk validator,
-// and update chunk will always have a value > 0 there.)
-//
-// Each metadata chunk is identified by its rootAddr, calculated as follows:
-// metaHash=H(len(metadata), startTime, frequency,name)
-// rootAddr = H(metaHash, ownerAddr).
-// where H is the SHA3 hash function
-// This scheme effectively locks the root chunk so that only the owner of the private key
-// that ownerAddr was derived from can sign updates.
-//
-// The root entry tells the requester from when the mutable resource was
-// first added (Unix time in seconds) and in which moments to look for the
-// actual updates. Thus, a resource update for identifier "føø.bar"
-// starting at unix time 1528800000 with frequency 300 (every 5 mins) will have updates on 1528800300,
-// 1528800600, 1528800900 and so on.
-//
-// Actual data updates are also made in the form of swarm chunks. The keys
-// of the updates are the hash of a concatenation of properties as follows:
-//
-// updateAddr = H(period, version, rootAddr)
-// where H is the SHA3 hash function
-// The period is (currentTime - startTime) / frequency
-//
-// Using our previous example, this means that a period 3 will happen when the
-// clock hits 1528800900
-//
-// If more than one update is made in the same period, incremental
-// version numbers are used successively.
-//
-// A user looking up a resource would only need to know the rootAddr in order to get the versions
-//
-// the resource update data is:
-// resourcedata = headerlength|period|version|rootAddr|flags|metaHash
-// where flags is a 1-byte flags field. Flag 0 is set to 1 to indicate multihash
-//
-// the full update data that goes in the chunk payload is:
-// resourcedata|sign(resourcedata)
-//
-// headerlength is a 16 bit value containing the byte length of period|version|rootAddr|flags|metaHash
+/*
+Package mru defines Mutable resource updates.
+
+A Mutable Resource is an entity which allows updates to a resource
+without resorting to ENS on each update.
+The update scheme is built on swarm chunks with chunk keys following
+a predictable, versionable pattern.
+
+A Resource is tied to a unique identifier that is deterministically generated out of
+the chosen topic.
+
+A Resource View is defined as a specific user's point of view about a particular resource.
+Thus, a View is a Topic + the user's address (userAddr)
+
+Actual data updates are also made in the form of swarm chunks. The keys
+of the updates are the hash of a concatenation of properties as follows:
+
+updateAddr = H(View, Epoch ID)
+where H is the SHA3 hash function
+View is the combination of Topic and the user address
+Epoch ID is a time slot. See the lookup package for more information.
+
+A user looking up a resource would only need to know the View in order to
+another user's updates
+
+The resource update data is:
+resourcedata = View|Epoch|data
+
+the full update data that goes in the chunk payload is:
+resourcedata|sign(resourcedata)
+
+Structure Summary:
+
+Request: Resource update with signature
+	ResourceUpdate: headers + data
+		Header: Protocol version and reserved for future use placeholders
+		ID: Information about how to locate a specific update
+			View: Author of the update and what is updating
+				Topic: Item that the updates are about
+				User: User who updates the resource
+			Epoch: time slot where the update is stored
+
+*/
 package mru
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/handler.go b/swarm/storage/mru/handler.go
index 18c667f14..3e7654795 100644
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/handler.go
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/handler.go
@@ -21,11 +21,12 @@ package mru
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
-	"unsafe"
 
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/chunk"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage/mru/lookup"
+
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/log"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
 )
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ import (
 type Handler struct {
 	chunkStore      *storage.NetStore
 	HashSize        int
-	resources       map[uint64]*resource
+	resources       map[uint64]*cacheEntry
 	resourceLock    sync.RWMutex
 	storeTimeout    time.Duration
 	queryMaxPeriods uint32
@@ -42,12 +43,10 @@ type Handler struct {
 // HandlerParams pass parameters to the Handler constructor NewHandler
 // Signer and TimestampProvider are mandatory parameters
 type HandlerParams struct {
-	QueryMaxPeriods uint32
 }
 
 // hashPool contains a pool of ready hashers
 var hashPool sync.Pool
-var minimumChunkLength int
 
 // init initializes the package and hashPool
 func init() {
@@ -56,19 +55,12 @@ func init() {
 			return storage.MakeHashFunc(resourceHashAlgorithm)()
 		},
 	}
-	if minimumMetadataLength < minimumUpdateDataLength {
-		minimumChunkLength = minimumMetadataLength
-	} else {
-		minimumChunkLength = minimumUpdateDataLength
-	}
 }
 
 // NewHandler creates a new Mutable Resource API
 func NewHandler(params *HandlerParams) *Handler {
 	rh := &Handler{
-		resources:       make(map[uint64]*resource),
-		storeTimeout:    defaultStoreTimeout,
-		queryMaxPeriods: params.QueryMaxPeriods,
+		resources: make(map[uint64]*cacheEntry),
 	}
 
 	for i := 0; i < hasherCount; i++ {
@@ -88,44 +80,25 @@ func (h *Handler) SetStore(store *storage.NetStore) {
 }
 
 // Validate is a chunk validation method
-// If it looks like a resource update, the chunk address is checked against the ownerAddr of the update's signature
+// If it looks like a resource update, the chunk address is checked against the userAddr of the update's signature
 // It implements the storage.ChunkValidator interface
 func (h *Handler) Validate(chunkAddr storage.Address, data []byte) bool {
 	dataLength := len(data)
-	if dataLength < minimumChunkLength || dataLength > chunk.DefaultSize+8 {
+	if dataLength < minimumSignedUpdateLength {
 		return false
 	}
 
-	//metadata chunks have the first two bytes set to zero
-	if data[0] == 0 && data[1] == 0 && dataLength >= minimumMetadataLength {
-		//metadata chunk
-		rootAddr, _ := metadataHash(data)
-		valid := bytes.Equal(chunkAddr, rootAddr)
-		if !valid {
-			log.Debug("Invalid root metadata chunk with address", "addr", chunkAddr.Hex())
-		}
-		return valid
-	}
-
-	// if it is not a metadata chunk, check if it is a properly formatted update chunk with
+	// check if it is a properly formatted update chunk with
 	// valid signature and proof of ownership of the resource it is trying
 	// to update
 
 	// First, deserialize the chunk
-	var r SignedResourceUpdate
+	var r Request
 	if err := r.fromChunk(chunkAddr, data); err != nil {
 		log.Debug("Invalid resource chunk", "addr", chunkAddr.Hex(), "err", err.Error())
 		return false
 	}
 
-	// check that the lookup information contained in the chunk matches the updateAddr (chunk search key)
-	// that was used to retrieve this chunk
-	// if this validation fails, someone forged a chunk.
-	if !bytes.Equal(chunkAddr, r.updateHeader.UpdateAddr()) {
-		log.Debug("period,version,rootAddr contained in update chunk do not match updateAddr", "addr", chunkAddr.Hex())
-		return false
-	}
-
 	// Verify signatures and that the signer actually owns the resource
 	// If it fails, it means either the signature is not valid, data is corrupted
 	// or someone is trying to update someone else's resource.
@@ -138,301 +111,134 @@ func (h *Handler) Validate(chunkAddr storage.Address, data []byte) bool {
 }
 
 // GetContent retrieves the data payload of the last synced update of the Mutable Resource
-func (h *Handler) GetContent(rootAddr storage.Address) (storage.Address, []byte, error) {
-	rsrc := h.get(rootAddr)
-	if rsrc == nil || !rsrc.isSynced() {
-		return nil, nil, NewError(ErrNotFound, " does not exist or is not synced")
-	}
-	return rsrc.lastKey, rsrc.data, nil
-}
-
-// GetLastPeriod retrieves the period of the last synced update of the Mutable Resource
-func (h *Handler) GetLastPeriod(rootAddr storage.Address) (uint32, error) {
-	rsrc := h.get(rootAddr)
-	if rsrc == nil {
-		return 0, NewError(ErrNotFound, " does not exist")
-	} else if !rsrc.isSynced() {
-		return 0, NewError(ErrNotSynced, " is not synced")
+func (h *Handler) GetContent(view *View) (storage.Address, []byte, error) {
+	if view == nil {
+		return nil, nil, NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "view is nil")
 	}
-	return rsrc.period, nil
-}
-
-// GetVersion retrieves the period of the last synced update of the Mutable Resource
-func (h *Handler) GetVersion(rootAddr storage.Address) (uint32, error) {
-	rsrc := h.get(rootAddr)
+	rsrc := h.get(view)
 	if rsrc == nil {
-		return 0, NewError(ErrNotFound, " does not exist")
-	} else if !rsrc.isSynced() {
-		return 0, NewError(ErrNotSynced, " is not synced")
-	}
-	return rsrc.version, nil
-}
-
-// New creates a new metadata chunk out of the request passed in.
-func (h *Handler) New(ctx context.Context, request *Request) error {
-
-	// frequency 0 is invalid
-	if request.metadata.Frequency == 0 {
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "frequency cannot be 0 when creating a resource")
+		return nil, nil, NewError(ErrNotFound, "resource does not exist")
 	}
-
-	// make sure owner is set to something
-	if request.metadata.Owner == zeroAddr {
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "ownerAddr must be set to create a new metadata chunk")
-	}
-
-	// create the meta chunk and store it in swarm
-	chunk, metaHash, err := request.metadata.newChunk()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	if request.metaHash != nil && !bytes.Equal(request.metaHash, metaHash) ||
-		request.rootAddr != nil && !bytes.Equal(request.rootAddr, chunk.Address()) {
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "metaHash in UpdateRequest does not match actual metadata")
-	}
-
-	request.metaHash = metaHash
-	request.rootAddr = chunk.Address()
-
-	h.chunkStore.Put(ctx, chunk)
-	log.Debug("new resource", "name", request.metadata.Name, "startTime", request.metadata.StartTime, "frequency", request.metadata.Frequency, "owner", request.metadata.Owner)
-
-	// create the internal index for the resource and populate it with its metadata
-	rsrc := &resource{
-		resourceUpdate: resourceUpdate{
-			updateHeader: updateHeader{
-				UpdateLookup: UpdateLookup{
-					rootAddr: chunk.Address(),
-				},
-			},
-		},
-		ResourceMetadata: request.metadata,
-		updated:          time.Now(),
-	}
-	h.set(chunk.Address(), rsrc)
-
-	return nil
+	return rsrc.lastKey, rsrc.data, nil
 }
 
-// NewUpdateRequest prepares an UpdateRequest structure with all the necessary information to
+// NewRequest prepares a Request structure with all the necessary information to
 // just add the desired data and sign it.
 // The resulting structure can then be signed and passed to Handler.Update to be verified and sent
-func (h *Handler) NewUpdateRequest(ctx context.Context, rootAddr storage.Address) (updateRequest *Request, err error) {
-
-	if rootAddr == nil {
-		return nil, NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "rootAddr cannot be nil")
+func (h *Handler) NewRequest(ctx context.Context, view *View) (request *Request, err error) {
+	if view == nil {
+		return nil, NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "view cannot be nil")
 	}
 
-	// Make sure we have a cache of the metadata chunk
-	rsrc, err := h.Load(ctx, rootAddr)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
+	now := TimestampProvider.Now().Time
+	request = new(Request)
+	request.Header.Version = ProtocolVersion
 
-	now := TimestampProvider.Now()
+	query := NewQueryLatest(view, lookup.NoClue)
 
-	updateRequest = new(Request)
-	updateRequest.period, err = getNextPeriod(rsrc.StartTime.Time, now.Time, rsrc.Frequency)
+	rsrc, err := h.Lookup(ctx, query)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	if _, err = h.lookup(rsrc, LookupLatestVersionInPeriod(rsrc.rootAddr, updateRequest.period)); err != nil {
 		if err.(*Error).code != ErrNotFound {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		// not finding updates means that there is a network error
-		// or that the resource really does not have updates in this period.
+		// or that the resource really does not have updates
 	}
 
-	updateRequest.multihash = rsrc.multihash
-	updateRequest.rootAddr = rsrc.rootAddr
-	updateRequest.metaHash = rsrc.metaHash
-	updateRequest.metadata = rsrc.ResourceMetadata
+	request.View = *view
 
-	// if we already have an update for this period then increment version
-	// resource object MUST be in sync for version to be correct, but we checked this earlier in the method already
-	if h.hasUpdate(rootAddr, updateRequest.period) {
-		updateRequest.version = rsrc.version + 1
+	// if we already have an update, then find next epoch
+	if rsrc != nil {
+		request.Epoch = lookup.GetNextEpoch(rsrc.Epoch, now)
 	} else {
-		updateRequest.version = 1
+		request.Epoch = lookup.GetFirstEpoch(now)
 	}
 
-	return updateRequest, nil
+	return request, nil
 }
 
-// Lookup retrieves a specific or latest version of the resource update with metadata chunk at params.Root
-// Lookup works differently depending on the configuration of `LookupParams`
-// See the `LookupParams` documentation and helper functions:
-// `LookupLatest`, `LookupLatestVersionInPeriod` and `LookupVersion`
+// Lookup retrieves a specific or latest version of the resource
+// Lookup works differently depending on the configuration of `ID`
+// See the `ID` documentation and helper functions:
+// `LookupLatest` and `LookupBefore`
 // When looking for the latest update, it starts at the next period after the current time.
 // upon failure tries the corresponding keys of each previous period until one is found
 // (or startTime is reached, in which case there are no updates).
-func (h *Handler) Lookup(ctx context.Context, params *LookupParams) (*resource, error) {
+func (h *Handler) Lookup(ctx context.Context, query *Query) (*cacheEntry, error) {
 
-	rsrc := h.get(params.rootAddr)
-	if rsrc == nil {
-		return nil, NewError(ErrNothingToReturn, "resource not loaded")
+	timeLimit := query.TimeLimit
+	if timeLimit == 0 { // if time limit is set to zero, the user wants to get the latest update
+		timeLimit = TimestampProvider.Now().Time
 	}
-	return h.lookup(rsrc, params)
-}
 
-// LookupPrevious returns the resource before the one currently loaded in the resource cache
-// This is useful where resource updates are used incrementally in contrast to
-// merely replacing content.
-// Requires a cached resource object to determine the current state of the resource.
-func (h *Handler) LookupPrevious(ctx context.Context, params *LookupParams) (*resource, error) {
-	rsrc := h.get(params.rootAddr)
-	if rsrc == nil {
-		return nil, NewError(ErrNothingToReturn, "resource not loaded")
-	}
-	if !rsrc.isSynced() {
-		return nil, NewError(ErrNotSynced, "LookupPrevious requires synced resource.")
-	} else if rsrc.period == 0 {
-		return nil, NewError(ErrNothingToReturn, " not found")
-	}
-	var version, period uint32
-	if rsrc.version > 1 {
-		version = rsrc.version - 1
-		period = rsrc.period
-	} else if rsrc.period == 1 {
-		return nil, NewError(ErrNothingToReturn, "Current update is the oldest")
-	} else {
-		version = 0
-		period = rsrc.period - 1
+	if query.Hint == lookup.NoClue { // try to use our cache
+		entry := h.get(&query.View)
+		if entry != nil && entry.Epoch.Time <= timeLimit { // avoid bad hints
+			query.Hint = entry.Epoch
+		}
 	}
-	return h.lookup(rsrc, NewLookupParams(rsrc.rootAddr, period, version, params.Limit))
-}
 
-// base code for public lookup methods
-func (h *Handler) lookup(rsrc *resource, params *LookupParams) (*resource, error) {
-
-	lp := *params
 	// we can't look for anything without a store
 	if h.chunkStore == nil {
 		return nil, NewError(ErrInit, "Call Handler.SetStore() before performing lookups")
 	}
 
-	var specificperiod bool
-	if lp.period > 0 {
-		specificperiod = true
-	} else {
-		// get the current time and the next period
-		now := TimestampProvider.Now()
-
-		var period uint32
-		period, err := getNextPeriod(rsrc.StartTime.Time, now.Time, rsrc.Frequency)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		lp.period = period
-	}
+	var ul ID
+	ul.View = query.View
+	var readCount int
 
-	// start from the last possible period, and iterate previous ones
-	// (unless we want a specific period only) until we find a match.
-	// If we hit startTime we're out of options
-	var specificversion bool
-	if lp.version > 0 {
-		specificversion = true
-	} else {
-		lp.version = 1
-	}
+	// Invoke the lookup engine.
+	// The callback will be called every time the lookup algorithm needs to guess
+	requestPtr, err := lookup.Lookup(timeLimit, query.Hint, func(epoch lookup.Epoch, now uint64) (interface{}, error) {
+		readCount++
+		ul.Epoch = epoch
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, defaultRetrieveTimeout)
+		defer cancel()
 
-	var hops uint32
-	if lp.Limit == 0 {
-		lp.Limit = h.queryMaxPeriods
-	}
-	log.Trace("resource lookup", "period", lp.period, "version", lp.version, "limit", lp.Limit)
-	for lp.period > 0 {
-		if lp.Limit != 0 && hops > lp.Limit {
-			return nil, NewErrorf(ErrPeriodDepth, "Lookup exceeded max period hops (%d)", lp.Limit)
+		chunk, err := h.chunkStore.Get(ctx, ul.Addr())
+		if err != nil { // TODO: check for catastrophic errors other than chunk not found
+			return nil, nil
 		}
-		updateAddr := lp.UpdateAddr()
-
-		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), defaultRetrieveTimeout)
-		defer cancel()
 
-		chunk, err := h.chunkStore.Get(ctx, updateAddr)
-		if err == nil {
-			if specificversion {
-				return h.updateIndex(rsrc, chunk)
-			}
-			// check if we have versions > 1. If a version fails, the previous version is used and returned.
-			log.Trace("rsrc update version 1 found, checking for version updates", "period", lp.period, "updateAddr", updateAddr)
-			for {
-				newversion := lp.version + 1
-				updateAddr := lp.UpdateAddr()
-
-				ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), defaultRetrieveTimeout)
-				defer cancel()
-
-				newchunk, err := h.chunkStore.Get(ctx, updateAddr)
-				if err != nil {
-					return h.updateIndex(rsrc, chunk)
-				}
-				chunk = newchunk
-				lp.version = newversion
-				log.Trace("version update found, checking next", "version", lp.version, "period", lp.period, "updateAddr", updateAddr)
-			}
+		var request Request
+		if err := request.fromChunk(chunk.Address(), chunk.Data()); err != nil {
+			return nil, nil
 		}
-		if specificperiod {
-			break
+		if request.Time <= timeLimit {
+			return &request, nil
 		}
-		log.Trace("rsrc update not found, checking previous period", "period", lp.period, "updateAddr", updateAddr)
-		lp.period--
-		hops++
-	}
-	return nil, NewError(ErrNotFound, "no updates found")
-}
-
-// Load retrieves the Mutable Resource metadata chunk stored at rootAddr
-// Upon retrieval it creates/updates the index entry for it with metadata corresponding to the chunk contents
-func (h *Handler) Load(ctx context.Context, rootAddr storage.Address) (*resource, error) {
-	//TODO: Maybe add timeout to context, defaultRetrieveTimeout?
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, defaultRetrieveTimeout)
-	defer cancel()
-	chunk, err := h.chunkStore.Get(ctx, rootAddr)
+		return nil, nil
+	})
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, NewError(ErrNotFound, err.Error())
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	// create the index entry
-	rsrc := &resource{}
+	log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Resource lookup finished in %d lookups", readCount))
 
-	if err := rsrc.ResourceMetadata.binaryGet(chunk.Data()); err != nil { // Will fail if this is not really a metadata chunk
-		return nil, err
+	request, _ := requestPtr.(*Request)
+	if request == nil {
+		return nil, NewError(ErrNotFound, "no updates found")
 	}
+	return h.updateCache(request)
 
-	rsrc.rootAddr, rsrc.metaHash = metadataHash(chunk.Data())
-	if !bytes.Equal(rsrc.rootAddr, rootAddr) {
-		return nil, NewError(ErrCorruptData, "Corrupt metadata chunk")
-	}
-	h.set(rootAddr, rsrc)
-	log.Trace("resource index load", "rootkey", rootAddr, "name", rsrc.ResourceMetadata.Name, "starttime", rsrc.ResourceMetadata.StartTime, "frequency", rsrc.ResourceMetadata.Frequency)
-	return rsrc, nil
 }
 
-// update mutable resource index map with specified content
-func (h *Handler) updateIndex(rsrc *resource, chunk storage.Chunk) (*resource, error) {
+// update mutable resource cache map with specified content
+func (h *Handler) updateCache(request *Request) (*cacheEntry, error) {
 
-	// retrieve metadata from chunk data and check that it matches this mutable resource
-	var r SignedResourceUpdate
-	if err := r.fromChunk(chunk.Address(), chunk.Data()); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	updateAddr := request.Addr()
+	log.Trace("resource cache update", "topic", request.Topic.Hex(), "updatekey", updateAddr, "epoch time", request.Epoch.Time, "epoch level", request.Epoch.Level)
+
+	rsrc := h.get(&request.View)
+	if rsrc == nil {
+		rsrc = &cacheEntry{}
+		h.set(&request.View, rsrc)
 	}
-	log.Trace("resource index update", "name", rsrc.ResourceMetadata.Name, "updatekey", chunk.Address(), "period", r.period, "version", r.version)
 
 	// update our rsrcs entry map
-	rsrc.lastKey = chunk.Address()
-	rsrc.period = r.period
-	rsrc.version = r.version
-	rsrc.updated = time.Now()
-	rsrc.data = make([]byte, len(r.data))
-	rsrc.multihash = r.multihash
-	copy(rsrc.data, r.data)
+	rsrc.lastKey = updateAddr
+	rsrc.ResourceUpdate = request.ResourceUpdate
 	rsrc.Reader = bytes.NewReader(rsrc.data)
-	log.Debug("resource synced", "name", rsrc.ResourceMetadata.Name, "updateAddr", chunk.Address(), "period", rsrc.period, "version", rsrc.version)
-	h.set(chunk.Address(), rsrc)
 	return rsrc, nil
 }
 
@@ -442,23 +248,16 @@ func (h *Handler) updateIndex(rsrc *resource, chunk storage.Chunk) (*resource, e
 // Note that a Mutable Resource update cannot span chunks, and thus has a MAX NET LENGTH 4096, INCLUDING update header data and signature. An error will be returned if the total length of the chunk payload will exceed this limit.
 // Update can only check if the caller is trying to overwrite the very last known version, otherwise it just puts the update
 // on the network.
-func (h *Handler) Update(ctx context.Context, r *SignedResourceUpdate) (storage.Address, error) {
-	return h.update(ctx, r)
-}
-
-// create and commit an update
-func (h *Handler) update(ctx context.Context, r *SignedResourceUpdate) (updateAddr storage.Address, err error) {
+func (h *Handler) Update(ctx context.Context, r *Request) (updateAddr storage.Address, err error) {
 
 	// we can't update anything without a store
 	if h.chunkStore == nil {
 		return nil, NewError(ErrInit, "Call Handler.SetStore() before updating")
 	}
 
-	rsrc := h.get(r.rootAddr)
-	if rsrc != nil && rsrc.period != 0 && rsrc.version != 0 && // This is the only cheap check we can do for sure
-		rsrc.period == r.period && rsrc.version >= r.version { // without having to lookup update chunks
-
-		return nil, NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "A former update in this period is already known to exist")
+	rsrc := h.get(&r.View)
+	if rsrc != nil && rsrc.Epoch.Equals(r.Epoch) { // This is the only cheap check we can do for sure
+		return nil, NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "A former update in this epoch is already known to exist")
 	}
 
 	chunk, err := r.toChunk() // Serialize the update into a chunk. Fails if data is too big
@@ -468,49 +267,32 @@ func (h *Handler) update(ctx context.Context, r *SignedResourceUpdate) (updateAd
 
 	// send the chunk
 	h.chunkStore.Put(ctx, chunk)
-	log.Trace("resource update", "updateAddr", r.updateAddr, "lastperiod", r.period, "version", r.version, "data", chunk.Data(), "multihash", r.multihash)
-
-	// update our resources map entry if the new update is older than the one we have, if we have it.
-	if rsrc != nil && (r.period > rsrc.period || (rsrc.period == r.period && r.version > rsrc.version)) {
-		rsrc.period = r.period
-		rsrc.version = r.version
+	log.Trace("resource update", "updateAddr", r.idAddr, "epoch time", r.Epoch.Time, "epoch level", r.Epoch.Level, "data", chunk.Data())
+	// update our resources map cache entry if the new update is older than the one we have, if we have it.
+	if rsrc != nil && r.Epoch.After(rsrc.Epoch) {
+		rsrc.Epoch = r.Epoch
 		rsrc.data = make([]byte, len(r.data))
-		rsrc.updated = time.Now()
-		rsrc.lastKey = r.updateAddr
-		rsrc.multihash = r.multihash
+		rsrc.lastKey = r.idAddr
 		copy(rsrc.data, r.data)
 		rsrc.Reader = bytes.NewReader(rsrc.data)
 	}
-	return r.updateAddr, nil
+
+	return r.idAddr, nil
 }
 
-// Retrieves the resource index value for the given nameHash
-func (h *Handler) get(rootAddr storage.Address) *resource {
-	if len(rootAddr) < storage.AddressLength {
-		log.Warn("Handler.get with invalid rootAddr")
-		return nil
-	}
-	hashKey := *(*uint64)(unsafe.Pointer(&rootAddr[0]))
+// Retrieves the resource cache value for the given nameHash
+func (h *Handler) get(view *View) *cacheEntry {
+	mapKey := view.mapKey()
 	h.resourceLock.RLock()
 	defer h.resourceLock.RUnlock()
-	rsrc := h.resources[hashKey]
+	rsrc := h.resources[mapKey]
 	return rsrc
 }
 
-// Sets the resource index value for the given nameHash
-func (h *Handler) set(rootAddr storage.Address, rsrc *resource) {
-	if len(rootAddr) < storage.AddressLength {
-		log.Warn("Handler.set with invalid rootAddr")
-		return
-	}
-	hashKey := *(*uint64)(unsafe.Pointer(&rootAddr[0]))
+// Sets the resource cache value for the given View
+func (h *Handler) set(view *View, rsrc *cacheEntry) {
+	mapKey := view.mapKey()
 	h.resourceLock.Lock()
 	defer h.resourceLock.Unlock()
-	h.resources[hashKey] = rsrc
-}
-
-// Checks if we already have an update on this resource, according to the value in the current state of the resource index
-func (h *Handler) hasUpdate(rootAddr storage.Address, period uint32) bool {
-	rsrc := h.get(rootAddr)
-	return rsrc != nil && rsrc.period == period
+	h.resources[mapKey] = rsrc
 }
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/handler_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/handler_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..13eb9e51b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/handler_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,520 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/log"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/chunk"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage/mru/lookup"
+)
+
+var (
+	loglevel  = flag.Int("loglevel", 3, "loglevel")
+	startTime = Timestamp{
+		Time: uint64(4200),
+	}
+	cleanF       func()
+	resourceName = "føø.bar"
+	hashfunc     = storage.MakeHashFunc(storage.DefaultHash)
+)
+
+func init() {
+	flag.Parse()
+	log.Root().SetHandler(log.CallerFileHandler(log.LvlFilterHandler(log.Lvl(*loglevel), log.StreamHandler(os.Stderr, log.TerminalFormat(true)))))
+}
+
+// simulated timeProvider
+type fakeTimeProvider struct {
+	currentTime uint64
+}
+
+func (f *fakeTimeProvider) Tick() {
+	f.currentTime++
+}
+
+func (f *fakeTimeProvider) Set(time uint64) {
+	f.currentTime = time
+}
+
+func (f *fakeTimeProvider) FastForward(offset uint64) {
+	f.currentTime += offset
+}
+
+func (f *fakeTimeProvider) Now() Timestamp {
+	return Timestamp{
+		Time: f.currentTime,
+	}
+}
+
+// make updates and retrieve them based on periods and versions
+func TestResourceHandler(t *testing.T) {
+
+	// make fake timeProvider
+	clock := &fakeTimeProvider{
+		currentTime: startTime.Time, // clock starts at t=4200
+	}
+
+	// signer containing private key
+	signer := newAliceSigner()
+
+	rh, datadir, teardownTest, err := setupTest(clock, signer)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer teardownTest()
+
+	// create a new resource
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+
+	topic, _ := NewTopic("Mess with mru code and see what ghost catches you", nil)
+	view := View{
+		Topic: topic,
+		User:  signer.Address(),
+	}
+
+	// data for updates:
+	updates := []string{
+		"blinky", // t=4200
+		"pinky",  // t=4242
+		"inky",   // t=4284
+		"clyde",  // t=4285
+	}
+
+	request := NewFirstRequest(view.Topic) // this timestamps the update at t = 4200 (start time)
+	resourcekey := make(map[string]storage.Address)
+	data := []byte(updates[0])
+	request.SetData(data)
+	if err := request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	resourcekey[updates[0]], err = rh.Update(ctx, request)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// move the clock ahead 21 seconds
+	clock.FastForward(21) // t=4221
+
+	request, err = rh.NewRequest(ctx, &request.View) // this timestamps the update at t = 4221
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if request.Epoch.Base() != 0 || request.Epoch.Level != lookup.HighestLevel-1 {
+		t.Fatalf("Suggested epoch BaseTime should be 0 and Epoch level should be %d", lookup.HighestLevel-1)
+	}
+
+	request.Epoch.Level = lookup.HighestLevel // force level 25 instead of 24 to make it fail
+	data = []byte(updates[1])
+	request.SetData(data)
+	if err := request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	resourcekey[updates[1]], err = rh.Update(ctx, request)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Expected update to fail since an update in this epoch already exists")
+	}
+
+	// move the clock ahead 21 seconds
+	clock.FastForward(21) // t=4242
+	request, err = rh.NewRequest(ctx, &request.View)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	request.SetData(data)
+	if err := request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	resourcekey[updates[1]], err = rh.Update(ctx, request)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// move the clock ahead 42 seconds
+	clock.FastForward(42) // t=4284
+	request, err = rh.NewRequest(ctx, &request.View)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	data = []byte(updates[2])
+	request.SetData(data)
+	if err := request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	resourcekey[updates[2]], err = rh.Update(ctx, request)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// move the clock ahead 1 second
+	clock.FastForward(1) // t=4285
+	request, err = rh.NewRequest(ctx, &request.View)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if request.Epoch.Base() != 0 || request.Epoch.Level != 22 {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected epoch base time to be %d, got %d. Expected epoch level to be %d, got %d", 0, request.Epoch.Base(), 22, request.Epoch.Level)
+	}
+	data = []byte(updates[3])
+	request.SetData(data)
+
+	if err := request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	resourcekey[updates[3]], err = rh.Update(ctx, request)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	time.Sleep(time.Second)
+	rh.Close()
+
+	// check we can retrieve the updates after close
+	clock.FastForward(2000) // t=6285
+
+	rhparams := &HandlerParams{}
+
+	rh2, err := NewTestHandler(datadir, rhparams)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	rsrc2, err := rh2.Lookup(ctx, NewQueryLatest(&request.View, lookup.NoClue))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// last update should be "clyde"
+	if !bytes.Equal(rsrc2.data, []byte(updates[len(updates)-1])) {
+		t.Fatalf("resource data was %v, expected %v", string(rsrc2.data), updates[len(updates)-1])
+	}
+	if rsrc2.Level != 22 {
+		t.Fatalf("resource epoch level was %d, expected 22", rsrc2.Level)
+	}
+	if rsrc2.Base() != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("resource epoch base time was %d, expected 0", rsrc2.Base())
+	}
+	log.Debug("Latest lookup", "epoch base time", rsrc2.Base(), "epoch level", rsrc2.Level, "data", rsrc2.data)
+
+	// specific point in time
+	rsrc, err := rh2.Lookup(ctx, NewQuery(&request.View, 4284, lookup.NoClue))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// check data
+	if !bytes.Equal(rsrc.data, []byte(updates[2])) {
+		t.Fatalf("resource data (historical) was %v, expected %v", string(rsrc2.data), updates[2])
+	}
+	log.Debug("Historical lookup", "epoch base time", rsrc2.Base(), "epoch level", rsrc2.Level, "data", rsrc2.data)
+
+	// beyond the first should yield an error
+	rsrc, err = rh2.Lookup(ctx, NewQuery(&request.View, startTime.Time-1, lookup.NoClue))
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected previous to fail, returned epoch %s data %v", rsrc.Epoch.String(), rsrc.data)
+	}
+
+}
+
+const Day = 60 * 60 * 24
+const Year = Day * 365
+const Month = Day * 30
+
+func generateData(x uint64) []byte {
+	return []byte(fmt.Sprintf("%d", x))
+}
+
+func TestSparseUpdates(t *testing.T) {
+
+	// make fake timeProvider
+	timeProvider := &fakeTimeProvider{
+		currentTime: startTime.Time,
+	}
+
+	// signer containing private key
+	signer := newAliceSigner()
+
+	rh, datadir, teardownTest, err := setupTest(timeProvider, signer)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer teardownTest()
+	defer os.RemoveAll(datadir)
+
+	// create a new resource
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+	topic, _ := NewTopic("Very slow updates", nil)
+	view := View{
+		Topic: topic,
+		User:  signer.Address(),
+	}
+
+	// publish one update every 5 years since Unix 0 until today
+	today := uint64(1533799046)
+	var epoch lookup.Epoch
+	var lastUpdateTime uint64
+	for T := uint64(0); T < today; T += 5 * Year {
+		request := NewFirstRequest(view.Topic)
+		request.Epoch = lookup.GetNextEpoch(epoch, T)
+		request.data = generateData(T) // this generates some data that depends on T, so we can check later
+		request.Sign(signer)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		if _, err := rh.Update(ctx, request); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		epoch = request.Epoch
+		lastUpdateTime = T
+	}
+
+	query := NewQuery(&view, today, lookup.NoClue)
+
+	_, err = rh.Lookup(ctx, query)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	_, content, err := rh.GetContent(&view)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if !bytes.Equal(generateData(lastUpdateTime), content) {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected to recover last written value %d, got %s", lastUpdateTime, string(content))
+	}
+
+	// lookup the closest update to 35*Year + 6* Month (~ June 2005):
+	// it should find the update we put on 35*Year, since we were updating every 5 years.
+
+	query.TimeLimit = 35*Year + 6*Month
+
+	_, err = rh.Lookup(ctx, query)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	_, content, err = rh.GetContent(&view)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if !bytes.Equal(generateData(35*Year), content) {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected to recover %d, got %s", 35*Year, string(content))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestValidator(t *testing.T) {
+
+	// make fake timeProvider
+	timeProvider := &fakeTimeProvider{
+		currentTime: startTime.Time,
+	}
+
+	// signer containing private key. Alice will be the good girl
+	signer := newAliceSigner()
+
+	// set up  sim timeProvider
+	rh, _, teardownTest, err := setupTest(timeProvider, signer)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer teardownTest()
+
+	// create new resource
+	topic, _ := NewTopic(resourceName, nil)
+	view := View{
+		Topic: topic,
+		User:  signer.Address(),
+	}
+	mr := NewFirstRequest(view.Topic)
+
+	// chunk with address
+	data := []byte("foo")
+	mr.SetData(data)
+	if err := mr.Sign(signer); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("sign fail: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	chunk, err := mr.toChunk()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !rh.Validate(chunk.Address(), chunk.Data()) {
+		t.Fatal("Chunk validator fail on update chunk")
+	}
+
+	address := chunk.Address()
+	// mess with the address
+	address[0] = 11
+	address[15] = 99
+
+	if rh.Validate(address, chunk.Data()) {
+		t.Fatal("Expected Validate to fail with false chunk address")
+	}
+}
+
+// tests that the content address validator correctly checks the data
+// tests that resource update chunks are passed through content address validator
+// there is some redundancy in this test as it also tests content addressed chunks,
+// which should be evaluated as invalid chunks by this validator
+func TestValidatorInStore(t *testing.T) {
+
+	// make fake timeProvider
+	TimestampProvider = &fakeTimeProvider{
+		currentTime: startTime.Time,
+	}
+
+	// signer containing private key
+	signer := newAliceSigner()
+
+	// set up localstore
+	datadir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "storage-testresourcevalidator")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer os.RemoveAll(datadir)
+
+	handlerParams := storage.NewDefaultLocalStoreParams()
+	handlerParams.Init(datadir)
+	store, err := storage.NewLocalStore(handlerParams, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// set up resource handler and add is as a validator to the localstore
+	rhParams := &HandlerParams{}
+	rh := NewHandler(rhParams)
+	store.Validators = append(store.Validators, rh)
+
+	// create content addressed chunks, one good, one faulty
+	chunks := storage.GenerateRandomChunks(chunk.DefaultSize, 2)
+	goodChunk := chunks[0]
+	badChunk := storage.NewChunk(chunks[1].Address(), goodChunk.Data())
+
+	topic, _ := NewTopic("xyzzy", nil)
+	view := View{
+		Topic: topic,
+		User:  signer.Address(),
+	}
+
+	// create a resource update chunk with correct publickey
+	id := ID{
+		Epoch: lookup.Epoch{Time: 42,
+			Level: 1,
+		},
+		View: view,
+	}
+
+	updateAddr := id.Addr()
+	data := []byte("bar")
+
+	r := new(Request)
+	r.idAddr = updateAddr
+	r.ResourceUpdate.ID = id
+	r.data = data
+
+	r.Sign(signer)
+
+	uglyChunk, err := r.toChunk()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// put the chunks in the store and check their error status
+	err = store.Put(context.Background(), goodChunk)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error on good content address chunk with resource validator only, but got nil")
+	}
+	err = store.Put(context.Background(), badChunk)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error on bad content address chunk with resource validator only, but got nil")
+	}
+	err = store.Put(context.Background(), uglyChunk)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected no error on resource update chunk with resource validator only, but got: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// create rpc and resourcehandler
+func setupTest(timeProvider timestampProvider, signer Signer) (rh *TestHandler, datadir string, teardown func(), err error) {
+
+	var fsClean func()
+	var rpcClean func()
+	cleanF = func() {
+		if fsClean != nil {
+			fsClean()
+		}
+		if rpcClean != nil {
+			rpcClean()
+		}
+	}
+
+	// temp datadir
+	datadir, err = ioutil.TempDir("", "rh")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, "", nil, err
+	}
+	fsClean = func() {
+		os.RemoveAll(datadir)
+	}
+
+	TimestampProvider = timeProvider
+	rhparams := &HandlerParams{}
+	rh, err = NewTestHandler(datadir, rhparams)
+	return rh, datadir, cleanF, err
+}
+
+func newAliceSigner() *GenericSigner {
+	privKey, _ := crypto.HexToECDSA("deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef")
+	return NewGenericSigner(privKey)
+}
+
+func newBobSigner() *GenericSigner {
+	privKey, _ := crypto.HexToECDSA("accedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedecaca")
+	return NewGenericSigner(privKey)
+}
+
+func newCharlieSigner() *GenericSigner {
+	privKey, _ := crypto.HexToECDSA("facadefacadefacadefacadefacadefacadefacadefacadefacadefacadefaca")
+	return NewGenericSigner(privKey)
+}
+
+func getUpdateDirect(rh *Handler, addr storage.Address) ([]byte, error) {
+	chunk, err := rh.chunkStore.Get(context.TODO(), addr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var r Request
+	if err := r.fromChunk(addr, chunk.Data()); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return r.data, nil
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/id.go b/swarm/storage/mru/id.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f008169ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/id.go
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"hash"
+	"strconv"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage/mru/lookup"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
+)
+
+// ID uniquely identifies an update on the network.
+type ID struct {
+	View         `json:"view"`
+	lookup.Epoch `json:"epoch"`
+}
+
+// ID layout:
+// View viewLength bytes
+// Epoch EpochLength
+const idLength = viewLength + lookup.EpochLength
+
+// Addr calculates the resource update chunk address corresponding to this ID
+func (u *ID) Addr() (updateAddr storage.Address) {
+	serializedData := make([]byte, idLength)
+	var cursor int
+	u.View.binaryPut(serializedData[cursor : cursor+viewLength])
+	cursor += viewLength
+
+	eid := u.Epoch.ID()
+	copy(serializedData[cursor:cursor+lookup.EpochLength], eid[:])
+
+	hasher := hashPool.Get().(hash.Hash)
+	defer hashPool.Put(hasher)
+	hasher.Reset()
+	hasher.Write(serializedData)
+	return hasher.Sum(nil)
+}
+
+// binaryPut serializes this instance into the provided slice
+func (u *ID) binaryPut(serializedData []byte) error {
+	if len(serializedData) != idLength {
+		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Incorrect slice size to serialize ID. Expected %d, got %d", idLength, len(serializedData))
+	}
+	var cursor int
+	if err := u.View.binaryPut(serializedData[cursor : cursor+viewLength]); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	cursor += viewLength
+
+	epochBytes, err := u.Epoch.MarshalBinary()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	copy(serializedData[cursor:cursor+lookup.EpochLength], epochBytes[:])
+	cursor += lookup.EpochLength
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// binaryLength returns the expected size of this structure when serialized
+func (u *ID) binaryLength() int {
+	return idLength
+}
+
+// binaryGet restores the current instance from the information contained in the passed slice
+func (u *ID) binaryGet(serializedData []byte) error {
+	if len(serializedData) != idLength {
+		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Incorrect slice size to read ID. Expected %d, got %d", idLength, len(serializedData))
+	}
+
+	var cursor int
+	if err := u.View.binaryGet(serializedData[cursor : cursor+viewLength]); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	cursor += viewLength
+
+	if err := u.Epoch.UnmarshalBinary(serializedData[cursor : cursor+lookup.EpochLength]); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	cursor += lookup.EpochLength
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// FromValues deserializes this instance from a string key-value store
+// useful to parse query strings
+func (u *ID) FromValues(values Values) error {
+	level, _ := strconv.ParseUint(values.Get("level"), 10, 32)
+	u.Epoch.Level = uint8(level)
+	u.Epoch.Time, _ = strconv.ParseUint(values.Get("time"), 10, 64)
+
+	if u.View.User == (common.Address{}) {
+		return u.View.FromValues(values)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// AppendValues serializes this structure into the provided string key-value store
+// useful to build query strings
+func (u *ID) AppendValues(values Values) {
+	values.Set("level", fmt.Sprintf("%d", u.Epoch.Level))
+	values.Set("time", fmt.Sprintf("%d", u.Epoch.Time))
+	u.View.AppendValues(values)
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/id_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/id_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eba58fbf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/id_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage/mru/lookup"
+)
+
+func getTestID() *ID {
+	return &ID{
+		View:  *getTestView(),
+		Epoch: lookup.GetFirstEpoch(1000),
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIDAddr(t *testing.T) {
+	ul := getTestID()
+	updateAddr := ul.Addr()
+	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "updateAddr", updateAddr, "0x8b24583ec293e085f4c78aaee66d1bc5abfb8b4233304d14a349afa57af2a783")
+}
+
+func TestIDSerializer(t *testing.T) {
+	testBinarySerializerRecovery(t, getTestID(), "0x776f726c64206e657773207265706f72742c20657665727920686f7572000000876a8936a7cd0b79ef0735ad0896c1afe278781ce803000000000019")
+}
+
+func TestIDLengthCheck(t *testing.T) {
+	testBinarySerializerLengthCheck(t, getTestID())
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/lookup.go b/swarm/storage/mru/lookup.go
deleted file mode 100644
index b52cd5b4f..000000000
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/lookup.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,117 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
-// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
-// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-// (at your option) any later version.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
-// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
-//
-// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
-// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-package mru
-
-import (
-	"encoding/binary"
-	"hash"
-
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
-)
-
-// LookupParams is used to specify constraints when performing an update lookup
-// Limit defines whether or not the lookup should be limited
-// If Limit is set to true then Max defines the amount of hops that can be performed
-type LookupParams struct {
-	UpdateLookup
-	Limit uint32
-}
-
-// RootAddr returns the metadata chunk address
-func (r *LookupParams) RootAddr() storage.Address {
-	return r.rootAddr
-}
-
-func NewLookupParams(rootAddr storage.Address, period, version uint32, limit uint32) *LookupParams {
-	return &LookupParams{
-		UpdateLookup: UpdateLookup{
-			period:   period,
-			version:  version,
-			rootAddr: rootAddr,
-		},
-		Limit: limit,
-	}
-}
-
-// LookupLatest generates lookup parameters that look for the latest version of a resource
-func LookupLatest(rootAddr storage.Address) *LookupParams {
-	return NewLookupParams(rootAddr, 0, 0, 0)
-}
-
-// LookupLatestVersionInPeriod generates lookup parameters that look for the latest version of a resource in a given period
-func LookupLatestVersionInPeriod(rootAddr storage.Address, period uint32) *LookupParams {
-	return NewLookupParams(rootAddr, period, 0, 0)
-}
-
-// LookupVersion generates lookup parameters that look for a specific version of a resource
-func LookupVersion(rootAddr storage.Address, period, version uint32) *LookupParams {
-	return NewLookupParams(rootAddr, period, version, 0)
-}
-
-// UpdateLookup represents the components of a resource update search key
-type UpdateLookup struct {
-	period   uint32
-	version  uint32
-	rootAddr storage.Address
-}
-
-// 4 bytes period
-// 4 bytes version
-// storage.Keylength for rootAddr
-const updateLookupLength = 4 + 4 + storage.AddressLength
-
-// UpdateAddr calculates the resource update chunk address corresponding to this lookup key
-func (u *UpdateLookup) UpdateAddr() (updateAddr storage.Address) {
-	serializedData := make([]byte, updateLookupLength)
-	u.binaryPut(serializedData)
-	hasher := hashPool.Get().(hash.Hash)
-	defer hashPool.Put(hasher)
-	hasher.Reset()
-	hasher.Write(serializedData)
-	return hasher.Sum(nil)
-}
-
-// binaryPut serializes this UpdateLookup instance into the provided slice
-func (u *UpdateLookup) binaryPut(serializedData []byte) error {
-	if len(serializedData) != updateLookupLength {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Incorrect slice size to serialize UpdateLookup. Expected %d, got %d", updateLookupLength, len(serializedData))
-	}
-	if len(u.rootAddr) != storage.AddressLength {
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "UpdateLookup.binaryPut called without rootAddr set")
-	}
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(serializedData[:4], u.period)
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(serializedData[4:8], u.version)
-	copy(serializedData[8:], u.rootAddr[:])
-	return nil
-}
-
-// binaryLength returns the expected size of this structure when serialized
-func (u *UpdateLookup) binaryLength() int {
-	return updateLookupLength
-}
-
-// binaryGet restores the current instance from the information contained in the passed slice
-func (u *UpdateLookup) binaryGet(serializedData []byte) error {
-	if len(serializedData) != updateLookupLength {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Incorrect slice size to read UpdateLookup. Expected %d, got %d", updateLookupLength, len(serializedData))
-	}
-	u.period = binary.LittleEndian.Uint32(serializedData[:4])
-	u.version = binary.LittleEndian.Uint32(serializedData[4:8])
-	u.rootAddr = storage.Address(make([]byte, storage.AddressLength))
-	copy(u.rootAddr[:], serializedData[8:])
-	return nil
-}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/epoch.go b/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/epoch.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bafe95477
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/epoch.go
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package lookup
+
+import (
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+)
+
+// Epoch represents a time slot at a particular frequency level
+type Epoch struct {
+	Time  uint64 `json:"time"`  // Time stores the time at which the update or lookup takes place
+	Level uint8  `json:"level"` // Level indicates the frequency level as the exponent of a power of 2
+}
+
+// EpochID is a unique identifier for an Epoch, based on its level and base time.
+type EpochID [8]byte
+
+// EpochLength stores the serialized binary length of an Epoch
+const EpochLength = 8
+
+// MaxTime contains the highest possible time value an Epoch can handle
+const MaxTime uint64 = (1 << 56) - 1
+
+// Base returns the base time of the Epoch
+func (e *Epoch) Base() uint64 {
+	return getBaseTime(e.Time, e.Level)
+}
+
+// ID Returns the unique identifier of this epoch
+func (e *Epoch) ID() EpochID {
+	base := e.Base()
+	var id EpochID
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(id[:], base)
+	id[7] = e.Level
+	return id
+}
+
+// MarshalBinary implements the encoding.BinaryMarshaller interface
+func (e *Epoch) MarshalBinary() (data []byte, err error) {
+	b := make([]byte, 8)
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(b[:], e.Time)
+	b[7] = e.Level
+	return b, nil
+}
+
+// UnmarshalBinary implements the encoding.BinaryUnmarshaller interface
+func (e *Epoch) UnmarshalBinary(data []byte) error {
+	if len(data) != EpochLength {
+		return errors.New("Invalid data unmarshalling Epoch")
+	}
+	b := make([]byte, 8)
+	copy(b, data)
+	e.Level = b[7]
+	b[7] = 0
+	e.Time = binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(b)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// After returns true if this epoch occurs later or exactly at the other epoch.
+func (e *Epoch) After(epoch Epoch) bool {
+	if e.Time == epoch.Time {
+		return e.Level < epoch.Level
+	}
+	return e.Time >= epoch.Time
+}
+
+// Equals compares two epochs and returns true if they refer to the same time period.
+func (e *Epoch) Equals(epoch Epoch) bool {
+	return e.Level == epoch.Level && e.Base() == epoch.Base()
+}
+
+// String implements the Stringer interface.
+func (e *Epoch) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("Epoch{Time:%d, Level:%d}", e.Time, e.Level)
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/epoch_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/epoch_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c63ec6c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/epoch_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package lookup_test
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage/mru/lookup"
+)
+
+func TestMarshallers(t *testing.T) {
+
+	for i := uint64(1); i < lookup.MaxTime; i *= 3 {
+		e := lookup.Epoch{
+			Time:  i,
+			Level: uint8(i % 20),
+		}
+		b, err := e.MarshalBinary()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		var e2 lookup.Epoch
+		if err := e2.UnmarshalBinary(b); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if e != e2 {
+			t.Fatal("Expected unmarshalled epoch to be equal to marshalled onet.Fatal(err)")
+		}
+	}
+
+}
+
+func TestAfter(t *testing.T) {
+	a := lookup.Epoch{
+		Time:  5,
+		Level: 3,
+	}
+	b := lookup.Epoch{
+		Time:  6,
+		Level: 3,
+	}
+	c := lookup.Epoch{
+		Time:  6,
+		Level: 4,
+	}
+
+	if b.After(a) != true {
+		t.Fatal("Expected 'after' to be true, got false")
+	}
+
+	if b.After(b) != false {
+		t.Fatal("Expected 'after' to be false when both epochs are identical, got true")
+	}
+
+	if b.After(c) != true {
+		t.Fatal("Expected 'after' to be true when both epochs have the same time but the level is lower in the first one, but got false")
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/lookup.go b/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/lookup.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c98248d70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/lookup.go
@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+/*
+Package lookup defines resource lookup algorithms and provides tools to place updates
+so they can be found
+*/
+package lookup
+
+const maxuint64 = ^uint64(0)
+
+// LowestLevel establishes the frequency resolution of the lookup algorithm as a power of 2.
+const LowestLevel uint8 = 0 // default is 0 (1 second)
+
+// HighestLevel sets the lowest frequency the algorithm will operate at, as a power of 2.
+// 25 -> 2^25 equals to roughly one year.
+const HighestLevel = 25 // default is 25 (~1 year)
+
+// DefaultLevel sets what level will be chosen to search when there is no hint
+const DefaultLevel = HighestLevel
+
+//Algorithm is the function signature of a lookup algorithm
+type Algorithm func(now uint64, hint Epoch, read ReadFunc) (value interface{}, err error)
+
+// Lookup finds the update with the highest timestamp that is smaller or equal than 'now'
+// It takes a hint which should be the epoch where the last known update was
+// If you don't know in what epoch the last update happened, simply submit lookup.NoClue
+// read() will be called on each lookup attempt
+// Returns an error only if read() returns an error
+// Returns nil if an update was not found
+var Lookup Algorithm = FluzCapacitorAlgorithm
+
+// ReadFunc is a handler called by Lookup each time it attempts to find a value
+// It should return <nil> if a value is not found
+// It should return <nil> if a value is found, but its timestamp is higher than "now"
+// It should only return an error in case the handler wants to stop the
+// lookup process entirely.
+type ReadFunc func(epoch Epoch, now uint64) (interface{}, error)
+
+// NoClue is a hint that can be provided when the Lookup caller does not have
+// a clue about where the last update may be
+var NoClue = Epoch{}
+
+// getBaseTime returns the epoch base time of the given
+// time and level
+func getBaseTime(t uint64, level uint8) uint64 {
+	return t & (maxuint64 << level)
+}
+
+// Hint creates a hint based only on the last known update time
+func Hint(last uint64) Epoch {
+	return Epoch{
+		Time:  last,
+		Level: DefaultLevel,
+	}
+}
+
+// GetNextLevel returns the frequency level a next update should be placed at, provided where
+// the last update was and what time it is now.
+// This is the first nonzero bit of the XOR of 'last' and 'now', counting from the highest significant bit
+// but limited to not return a level that is smaller than the last-1
+func GetNextLevel(last Epoch, now uint64) uint8 {
+	// First XOR the last epoch base time with the current clock.
+	// This will set all the common most significant bits to zero.
+	mix := (last.Base() ^ now)
+
+	// Then, make sure we stop the below loop before one level below the current, by setting
+	// that level's bit to 1.
+	// If the next level is lower than the current one, it must be exactly level-1 and not lower.
+	mix |= (1 << (last.Level - 1))
+
+	// if the last update was more than 2^highestLevel seconds ago, choose the highest level
+	if mix > (maxuint64 >> (64 - HighestLevel - 1)) {
+		return HighestLevel
+	}
+
+	// set up a mask to scan for nonzero bits, starting at the highest level
+	mask := uint64(1 << (HighestLevel))
+
+	for i := uint8(HighestLevel); i > LowestLevel; i-- {
+		if mix&mask != 0 { // if we find a nonzero bit, this is the level the next update should be at.
+			return i
+		}
+		mask = mask >> 1 // move our bit one position to the right
+	}
+	return 0
+}
+
+// GetNextEpoch returns the epoch where the next update should be located
+// according to where the previous update was
+// and what time it is now.
+func GetNextEpoch(last Epoch, now uint64) Epoch {
+	if last == NoClue {
+		return GetFirstEpoch(now)
+	}
+	level := GetNextLevel(last, now)
+	return Epoch{
+		Level: level,
+		Time:  now,
+	}
+}
+
+// GetFirstEpoch returns the epoch where the first update should be located
+// based on what time it is now.
+func GetFirstEpoch(now uint64) Epoch {
+	return Epoch{Level: HighestLevel, Time: now}
+}
+
+var worstHint = Epoch{Time: 0, Level: 63}
+
+// FluzCapacitorAlgorithm works by narrowing the epoch search area if an update is found
+// going back and forth in time
+// First, it will attempt to find an update where it should be now if the hint was
+// really the last update. If that lookup fails, then the last update must be either the hint itself
+// or the epochs right below. If however, that lookup succeeds, then the update must be
+// that one or within the epochs right below.
+// see the guide for a more graphical representation
+func FluzCapacitorAlgorithm(now uint64, hint Epoch, read ReadFunc) (value interface{}, err error) {
+	var lastFound interface{}
+	var epoch Epoch
+	if hint == NoClue {
+		hint = worstHint
+	}
+
+	t := now
+
+	for {
+		epoch = GetNextEpoch(hint, t)
+		value, err = read(epoch, now)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if value != nil {
+			lastFound = value
+			if epoch.Level == LowestLevel || epoch.Equals(hint) {
+				return value, nil
+			}
+			hint = epoch
+			continue
+		}
+		if epoch.Base() == hint.Base() {
+			if lastFound != nil {
+				return lastFound, nil
+			}
+			// we have reached the hint itself
+			if hint == worstHint {
+				return nil, nil
+			}
+			// check it out
+			value, err = read(hint, now)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			if value != nil {
+				return value, nil
+			}
+			// bad hint.
+			epoch = hint
+			hint = worstHint
+		}
+		base := epoch.Base()
+		if base == 0 {
+			return nil, nil
+		}
+		t = base - 1
+	}
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/lookup_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/lookup_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ca0bb73bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/lookup/lookup_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,416 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package lookup_test
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"math/rand"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/log"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage/mru/lookup"
+)
+
+type Data struct {
+	Payload uint64
+	Time    uint64
+}
+
+type Store map[lookup.EpochID]*Data
+
+func write(store Store, epoch lookup.Epoch, value *Data) {
+	log.Debug("Write: %d-%d, value='%d'\n", epoch.Base(), epoch.Level, value.Payload)
+	store[epoch.ID()] = value
+}
+
+func update(store Store, last lookup.Epoch, now uint64, value *Data) lookup.Epoch {
+	var epoch lookup.Epoch
+
+	epoch = lookup.GetNextEpoch(last, now)
+
+	write(store, epoch, value)
+
+	return epoch
+}
+
+const Day = 60 * 60 * 24
+const Year = Day * 365
+const Month = Day * 30
+
+func makeReadFunc(store Store, counter *int) lookup.ReadFunc {
+	return func(epoch lookup.Epoch, now uint64) (interface{}, error) {
+		*counter++
+		data := store[epoch.ID()]
+		var valueStr string
+		if data != nil {
+			valueStr = fmt.Sprintf("%d", data.Payload)
+		}
+		log.Debug("Read: %d-%d, value='%s'\n", epoch.Base(), epoch.Level, valueStr)
+		if data != nil && data.Time <= now {
+			return data, nil
+		}
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+}
+
+func TestLookup(t *testing.T) {
+
+	store := make(Store)
+	readCount := 0
+	readFunc := makeReadFunc(store, &readCount)
+
+	// write an update every month for 12 months 3 years ago and then silence for two years
+	now := uint64(1533799046)
+	var epoch lookup.Epoch
+
+	var lastData *Data
+	for i := uint64(0); i < 12; i++ {
+		t := uint64(now - Year*3 + i*Month)
+		data := Data{
+			Payload: t, //our "payload" will be the timestamp itself.
+			Time:    t,
+		}
+		epoch = update(store, epoch, t, &data)
+		lastData = &data
+	}
+
+	// try to get the last value
+
+	value, err := lookup.Lookup(now, lookup.NoClue, readFunc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	readCountWithoutHint := readCount
+
+	if value != lastData {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to return the last written value: %v. Got %v", lastData, value)
+	}
+
+	// reset the read count for the next test
+	readCount = 0
+	// Provide a hint to get a faster lookup. In particular, we give the exact location of the last update
+	value, err = lookup.Lookup(now, epoch, readFunc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if value != lastData {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to return the last written value: %v. Got %v", lastData, value)
+	}
+
+	if readCount > readCountWithoutHint {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to complete with fewer or same reads than %d since we provided a hint. Did %d reads.", readCountWithoutHint, readCount)
+	}
+
+	// try to get an intermediate value
+	// if we look for a value in now - Year*3 + 6*Month, we should get that value
+	// Since the "payload" is the timestamp itself, we can check this.
+
+	expectedTime := now - Year*3 + 6*Month
+
+	value, err = lookup.Lookup(expectedTime, lookup.NoClue, readFunc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	data, ok := value.(*Data)
+
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatal("Expected value to contain data")
+	}
+
+	if data.Time != expectedTime {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected value timestamp to be %d, got %d", data.Time, expectedTime)
+	}
+
+}
+
+func TestOneUpdateAt0(t *testing.T) {
+
+	store := make(Store)
+	readCount := 0
+
+	readFunc := makeReadFunc(store, &readCount)
+	now := uint64(1533903729)
+
+	var epoch lookup.Epoch
+	data := Data{
+		Payload: 79,
+		Time:    0,
+	}
+	update(store, epoch, 0, &data)
+
+	value, err := lookup.Lookup(now, lookup.NoClue, readFunc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if value != &data {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to return the last written value: %v. Got %v", data, value)
+	}
+}
+
+// Tests the update is found even when a bad hint is given
+func TestBadHint(t *testing.T) {
+
+	store := make(Store)
+	readCount := 0
+
+	readFunc := makeReadFunc(store, &readCount)
+	now := uint64(1533903729)
+
+	var epoch lookup.Epoch
+	data := Data{
+		Payload: 79,
+		Time:    0,
+	}
+
+	// place an update for t=1200
+	update(store, epoch, 1200, &data)
+
+	// come up with some evil hint
+	badHint := lookup.Epoch{
+		Level: 18,
+		Time:  1200000000,
+	}
+
+	value, err := lookup.Lookup(now, badHint, readFunc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if value != &data {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to return the last written value: %v. Got %v", data, value)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestLookupFail(t *testing.T) {
+
+	store := make(Store)
+	readCount := 0
+
+	readFunc := makeReadFunc(store, &readCount)
+	now := uint64(1533903729)
+
+	// don't write anything and try to look up.
+	// we're testing we don't get stuck in a loop
+
+	value, err := lookup.Lookup(now, lookup.NoClue, readFunc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if value != nil {
+		t.Fatal("Expected value to be nil, since the update should've failed")
+	}
+
+	expectedReads := now/(1<<lookup.HighestLevel) + 1
+	if uint64(readCount) != expectedReads {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to fail after %d reads. Did %d reads.", expectedReads, readCount)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHighFreqUpdates(t *testing.T) {
+
+	store := make(Store)
+	readCount := 0
+
+	readFunc := makeReadFunc(store, &readCount)
+	now := uint64(1533903729)
+
+	// write an update every second for the last 1000 seconds
+	var epoch lookup.Epoch
+
+	var lastData *Data
+	for i := uint64(0); i <= 994; i++ {
+		T := uint64(now - 1000 + i)
+		data := Data{
+			Payload: T, //our "payload" will be the timestamp itself.
+			Time:    T,
+		}
+		epoch = update(store, epoch, T, &data)
+		lastData = &data
+	}
+
+	value, err := lookup.Lookup(lastData.Time, lookup.NoClue, readFunc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if value != lastData {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to return the last written value: %v. Got %v", lastData, value)
+	}
+
+	readCountWithoutHint := readCount
+	// reset the read count for the next test
+	readCount = 0
+	// Provide a hint to get a faster lookup. In particular, we give the exact location of the last update
+	value, err = lookup.Lookup(now, epoch, readFunc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if value != lastData {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to return the last written value: %v. Got %v", lastData, value)
+	}
+
+	if readCount > readCountWithoutHint {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to complete with fewer or equal reads than %d since we provided a hint. Did %d reads.", readCountWithoutHint, readCount)
+	}
+
+	for i := uint64(0); i <= 994; i++ {
+		T := uint64(now - 1000 + i) // update every second for the last 1000 seconds
+		value, err := lookup.Lookup(T, lookup.NoClue, readFunc)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		data, _ := value.(*Data)
+		if data == nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to return %d, got nil", T)
+		}
+		if data.Payload != T {
+			t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to return %d, got %d", T, data.Time)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSparseUpdates(t *testing.T) {
+
+	store := make(Store)
+	readCount := 0
+	readFunc := makeReadFunc(store, &readCount)
+
+	// write an update every 5 years 3 times starting in Jan 1st 1970 and then silence
+
+	now := uint64(1533799046)
+	var epoch lookup.Epoch
+
+	var lastData *Data
+	for i := uint64(0); i < 5; i++ {
+		T := uint64(Year * 5 * i) // write an update every 5 years 3 times starting in Jan 1st 1970 and then silence
+		data := Data{
+			Payload: T, //our "payload" will be the timestamp itself.
+			Time:    T,
+		}
+		epoch = update(store, epoch, T, &data)
+		lastData = &data
+	}
+
+	// try to get the last value
+
+	value, err := lookup.Lookup(now, lookup.NoClue, readFunc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	readCountWithoutHint := readCount
+
+	if value != lastData {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to return the last written value: %v. Got %v", lastData, value)
+	}
+
+	// reset the read count for the next test
+	readCount = 0
+	// Provide a hint to get a faster lookup. In particular, we give the exact location of the last update
+	value, err = lookup.Lookup(now, epoch, readFunc)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if value != lastData {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to return the last written value: %v. Got %v", lastData, value)
+	}
+
+	if readCount > readCountWithoutHint {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected lookup to complete with fewer reads than %d since we provided a hint. Did %d reads.", readCountWithoutHint, readCount)
+	}
+
+}
+
+// testG will hold precooked test results
+// fields are abbreviated to reduce the size of the literal below
+type testG struct {
+	e lookup.Epoch // last
+	n uint64       // next level
+	x uint8        // expected result
+}
+
+// test cases
+var testGetNextLevelCases []testG = []testG{{e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 989875233, Level: 12}, n: 989875233, x: 11}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 995807650, Level: 18}, n: 995598156, x: 19}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 969167082, Level: 0}, n: 968990357, x: 18}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 993087628, Level: 14}, n: 992987044, x: 20}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 963364631, Level: 20}, n: 963364630, x: 19}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 963497510, Level: 16}, n: 963370732, x: 18}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 955421349, Level: 22}, n: 955421348, x: 21}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 968220379, Level: 15}, n: 968220378, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 939129014, Level: 6}, n: 939128771, x: 11}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 907847903, Level: 6}, n: 907791833, x: 18}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 910835564, Level: 15}, n: 910835564, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 913578333, Level: 22}, n: 881808431, x: 25}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 895818460, Level: 3}, n: 895818132, x: 9}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 903843025, Level: 24}, n: 895609561, x: 23}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 877889433, Level: 13}, n: 877877093, x: 15}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 901450396, Level: 10}, n: 901450058, x: 9}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 925179910, Level: 3}, n: 925168393, x: 16}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 913485477, Level: 21}, n: 913485476, x: 20}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 924462991, Level: 18}, n: 924462990, x: 17}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 941175128, Level: 13}, n: 941175127, x: 12}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 920126583, Level: 3}, n: 920100782, x: 19}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 932403200, Level: 9}, n: 932279891, x: 17}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 948284931, Level: 2}, n: 948284921, x: 9}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 953540997, Level: 7}, n: 950547986, x: 22}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 926639837, Level: 18}, n: 918608882, x: 24}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 954637598, Level: 1}, n: 954578761, x: 17}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 943482981, Level: 10}, n: 942924151, x: 19}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 963580771, Level: 7}, n: 963580771, x: 6}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 993744930, Level: 7}, n: 993690858, x: 16}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1018890213, Level: 12}, n: 1018890212, x: 11}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1030309411, Level: 2}, n: 1030309227, x: 9}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1063204997, Level: 20}, n: 1063204996, x: 19}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1094340832, Level: 6}, n: 1094340633, x: 7}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1077880597, Level: 10}, n: 1075914292, x: 20}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1051114957, Level: 18}, n: 1051114957, x: 17}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1045649701, Level: 22}, n: 1045649700, x: 21}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1066198885, Level: 14}, n: 1066198884, x: 13}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1053231952, Level: 1}, n: 1053210845, x: 16}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1068763404, Level: 14}, n: 1068675428, x: 18}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1039042173, Level: 15}, n: 1038973110, x: 17}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1050747636, Level: 6}, n: 1050747364, x: 9}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1030034434, Level: 23}, n: 1030034433, x: 22}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1003783425, Level: 18}, n: 1003783424, x: 17}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 988163976, Level: 15}, n: 988084064, x: 17}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1007222377, Level: 15}, n: 1007222377, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1001211375, Level: 13}, n: 1001208178, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 997623199, Level: 8}, n: 997623198, x: 7}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1026283830, Level: 10}, n: 1006681704, x: 24}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1019421907, Level: 20}, n: 1019421906, x: 19}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1043154306, Level: 16}, n: 1043108343, x: 16}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1075643767, Level: 17}, n: 1075325898, x: 18}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1043726309, Level: 20}, n: 1043726308, x: 19}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1056415324, Level: 17}, n: 1056415324, x: 16}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1088650219, Level: 13}, n: 1088650218, x: 12}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1088551662, Level: 7}, n: 1088543355, x: 13}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1069667265, Level: 6}, n: 1069667075, x: 7}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1079145970, Level: 18}, n: 1079145969, x: 17}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1083338876, Level: 7}, n: 1083338875, x: 6}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1051581086, Level: 4}, n: 1051568869, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1028430882, Level: 4}, n: 1028430864, x: 5}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1057356462, Level: 1}, n: 1057356417, x: 5}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1033104266, Level: 0}, n: 1033097479, x: 13}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1031391367, Level: 11}, n: 1031387304, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1049781164, Level: 15}, n: 1049781163, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1027271628, Level: 12}, n: 1027271627, x: 11}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1057270560, Level: 23}, n: 1057270560, x: 22}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1047501317, Level: 15}, n: 1047501317, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1058349035, Level: 11}, n: 1045175573, x: 24}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1057396147, Level: 20}, n: 1057396147, x: 19}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1048906375, Level: 18}, n: 1039616919, x: 25}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1074294831, Level: 20}, n: 1074294831, x: 19}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1088946052, Level: 1}, n: 1088917364, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1112337595, Level: 17}, n: 1111008110, x: 22}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1099990284, Level: 5}, n: 1099968370, x: 15}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1087036441, Level: 16}, n: 1053967855, x: 25}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1069225185, Level: 8}, n: 1069224660, x: 10}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1057505479, Level: 9}, n: 1057505170, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1072381377, Level: 12}, n: 1065950959, x: 22}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1093887139, Level: 8}, n: 1093863305, x: 14}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1082366510, Level: 24}, n: 1082366510, x: 23}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1103231132, Level: 14}, n: 1102292201, x: 22}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1094502355, Level: 3}, n: 1094324652, x: 18}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1068488344, Level: 12}, n: 1067577330, x: 19}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1050278233, Level: 12}, n: 1050278232, x: 11}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1047660768, Level: 5}, n: 1047652137, x: 17}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1060116167, Level: 11}, n: 1060114091, x: 12}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1068149392, Level: 21}, n: 1052074801, x: 24}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1081934120, Level: 6}, n: 1081933847, x: 8}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1107943693, Level: 16}, n: 1107096139, x: 25}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1131571649, Level: 9}, n: 1131570428, x: 11}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1123139367, Level: 0}, n: 1122912198, x: 20}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1121144423, Level: 6}, n: 1120568289, x: 20}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1089932411, Level: 17}, n: 1089932410, x: 16}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1104899012, Level: 22}, n: 1098978789, x: 22}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1094588059, Level: 21}, n: 1094588059, x: 20}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1114987438, Level: 24}, n: 1114987437, x: 23}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1084186305, Level: 7}, n: 1084186241, x: 6}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1058827111, Level: 8}, n: 1058826504, x: 9}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1090679810, Level: 12}, n: 1090616539, x: 17}, {e: lookup.Epoch{Time: 1084299475, Level: 23}, n: 1084299475, x: 22}}
+
+func TestGetNextLevel(t *testing.T) {
+
+	// First, test well-known cases
+	last := lookup.Epoch{
+		Time:  1533799046,
+		Level: 5,
+	}
+
+	level := lookup.GetNextLevel(last, last.Time)
+	expected := uint8(4)
+	if level != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected GetNextLevel to return %d for same-time updates at a nonzero level, got %d", expected, level)
+	}
+
+	level = lookup.GetNextLevel(last, last.Time+(1<<lookup.HighestLevel)+3000)
+	expected = lookup.HighestLevel
+	if level != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected GetNextLevel to return %d for updates set 2^lookup.HighestLevel seconds away, got %d", expected, level)
+	}
+
+	level = lookup.GetNextLevel(last, last.Time+(1<<last.Level))
+	expected = last.Level
+	if level != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected GetNextLevel to return %d for updates set 2^last.Level seconds away, got %d", expected, level)
+	}
+
+	last.Level = 0
+	level = lookup.GetNextLevel(last, last.Time)
+	expected = 0
+	if level != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected GetNextLevel to return %d for same-time updates at a zero level, got %d", expected, level)
+	}
+
+	// run a batch of 100 cooked tests
+	for _, s := range testGetNextLevelCases {
+		level := lookup.GetNextLevel(s.e, s.n)
+		if level != s.x {
+			t.Fatalf("Expected GetNextLevel to return %d for last=%s when now=%d, got %d", s.x, s.e.String(), s.n, level)
+		}
+	}
+
+}
+
+// cookGetNextLevelTests is used to generate a deterministic
+// set of cases for TestGetNextLevel and thus "freeze" its current behavior
+func CookGetNextLevelTests(t *testing.T) {
+	st := ""
+	var last lookup.Epoch
+	last.Time = 1000000000
+	var now uint64
+	var expected uint8
+	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
+		last.Time += uint64(rand.Intn(1<<26)) - (1 << 25)
+		last.Level = uint8(rand.Intn(25))
+		v := last.Level + uint8(rand.Intn(lookup.HighestLevel))
+		if v > lookup.HighestLevel {
+			v = 0
+		}
+		now = last.Time + uint64(rand.Intn(1<<v+1)) - (1 << v)
+		expected = lookup.GetNextLevel(last, now)
+		st = fmt.Sprintf("%s,testG{e:lookup.Epoch{Time:%d, Level:%d}, n:%d, x:%d}", st, last.Time, last.Level, now, expected)
+	}
+	fmt.Println(st)
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/lookup_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/lookup_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index b66b200a3..000000000
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/lookup_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,85 +0,0 @@
-package mru
-
-import (
-	"bytes"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
-)
-
-func getTestUpdateLookup() *UpdateLookup {
-	metadata := *getTestMetadata()
-	rootAddr, _, _, _ := metadata.serializeAndHash()
-	return &UpdateLookup{
-		period:   79,
-		version:  2010,
-		rootAddr: rootAddr,
-	}
-}
-
-func compareUpdateLookup(a, b *UpdateLookup) bool {
-	return a.version == b.version &&
-		a.period == b.period &&
-		bytes.Equal(a.rootAddr, b.rootAddr)
-}
-
-func TestUpdateLookupUpdateAddr(t *testing.T) {
-	ul := getTestUpdateLookup()
-	updateAddr := ul.UpdateAddr()
-	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "updateAddr", updateAddr, "0x8fbc8d4777ef6da790257eda80ab4321fabd08cbdbe67e4e3da6caca386d64e0")
-}
-
-func TestUpdateLookupSerializer(t *testing.T) {
-	serializedUpdateLookup := make([]byte, updateLookupLength)
-	ul := getTestUpdateLookup()
-	if err := ul.binaryPut(serializedUpdateLookup); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "serializedUpdateLookup", serializedUpdateLookup, "0x4f000000da070000fb0ed7efa696bdb0b54cd75554cc3117ffc891454317df7dd6fefad978e2f2fb")
-
-	// set receiving slice to the wrong size
-	serializedUpdateLookup = make([]byte, updateLookupLength+7)
-	if err := ul.binaryPut(serializedUpdateLookup); err == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected UpdateLookup.binaryPut to fail when receiving slice has a length != %d", updateLookupLength)
-	}
-
-	// set rootAddr to an invalid length
-	ul.rootAddr = []byte{1, 2, 3, 4}
-	serializedUpdateLookup = make([]byte, updateLookupLength)
-	if err := ul.binaryPut(serializedUpdateLookup); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected UpdateLookup.binaryPut to fail when rootAddr is not of the correct size")
-	}
-}
-
-func TestUpdateLookupDeserializer(t *testing.T) {
-	serializedUpdateLookup, _ := hexutil.Decode("0x4f000000da070000fb0ed7efa696bdb0b54cd75554cc3117ffc891454317df7dd6fefad978e2f2fb")
-	var recoveredUpdateLookup UpdateLookup
-	if err := recoveredUpdateLookup.binaryGet(serializedUpdateLookup); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	originalUpdateLookup := *getTestUpdateLookup()
-	if !compareUpdateLookup(&originalUpdateLookup, &recoveredUpdateLookup) {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected recovered UpdateLookup to match")
-	}
-
-	// set source slice to the wrong size
-	serializedUpdateLookup = make([]byte, updateLookupLength+4)
-	if err := recoveredUpdateLookup.binaryGet(serializedUpdateLookup); err == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected UpdateLookup.binaryGet to fail when source slice has a length != %d", updateLookupLength)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestUpdateLookupSerializeDeserialize(t *testing.T) {
-	serializedUpdateLookup := make([]byte, updateLookupLength)
-	originalUpdateLookup := getTestUpdateLookup()
-	if err := originalUpdateLookup.binaryPut(serializedUpdateLookup); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	var recoveredUpdateLookup UpdateLookup
-	if err := recoveredUpdateLookup.binaryGet(serializedUpdateLookup); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if !compareUpdateLookup(originalUpdateLookup, &recoveredUpdateLookup) {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected recovered UpdateLookup to match")
-	}
-}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/metadata.go b/swarm/storage/mru/metadata.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 509114895..000000000
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/metadata.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,187 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
-// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
-// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-// (at your option) any later version.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
-// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
-//
-// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
-// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-package mru
-
-import (
-	"encoding/binary"
-	"hash"
-
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
-)
-
-// ResourceMetadata encapsulates the immutable information about a mutable resource :)
-// once serialized into a chunk, the resource can be retrieved by knowing its content-addressed rootAddr
-type ResourceMetadata struct {
-	StartTime Timestamp      // time at which the resource starts to be valid
-	Frequency uint64         // expected update frequency for the resource
-	Name      string         // name of the resource, for the reference of the user or to disambiguate resources with same starttime, frequency, owneraddr
-	Owner     common.Address // public address of the resource owner
-}
-
-const frequencyLength = 8 // sizeof(uint64)
-const nameLengthLength = 1
-
-// Resource metadata chunk layout:
-// 4 prefix bytes (chunkPrefixLength). The first two set to zero. The second two indicate the length
-// Timestamp: timestampLength bytes
-// frequency: frequencyLength bytes
-// name length: nameLengthLength bytes
-// name (variable length, can be empty, up to 255 bytes)
-// ownerAddr: common.AddressLength
-const minimumMetadataLength = chunkPrefixLength + timestampLength + frequencyLength + nameLengthLength + common.AddressLength
-
-// binaryGet populates the resource metadata from a byte array
-func (r *ResourceMetadata) binaryGet(serializedData []byte) error {
-	if len(serializedData) < minimumMetadataLength {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Metadata chunk to deserialize is too short. Expected at least %d. Got %d.", minimumMetadataLength, len(serializedData))
-	}
-
-	// first two bytes must be set to zero to indicate metadata chunks, so enforce this.
-	if serializedData[0] != 0 || serializedData[1] != 0 {
-		return NewError(ErrCorruptData, "Invalid metadata chunk")
-	}
-
-	cursor := 2
-	metadataLength := int(binary.LittleEndian.Uint16(serializedData[cursor : cursor+2])) // metadataLength does not include the 4 prefix bytes
-	if metadataLength+chunkPrefixLength != len(serializedData) {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrCorruptData, "Incorrect declared metadata length. Expected %d, got %d.", metadataLength+chunkPrefixLength, len(serializedData))
-	}
-
-	cursor += 2
-
-	if err := r.StartTime.binaryGet(serializedData[cursor : cursor+timestampLength]); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	cursor += timestampLength
-
-	r.Frequency = binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(serializedData[cursor : cursor+frequencyLength])
-	cursor += frequencyLength
-
-	nameLength := int(serializedData[cursor])
-	if nameLength+minimumMetadataLength > len(serializedData) {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Metadata chunk to deserialize is too short when decoding resource name. Expected at least %d. Got %d.", nameLength+minimumMetadataLength, len(serializedData))
-	}
-	cursor++
-	r.Name = string(serializedData[cursor : cursor+nameLength])
-	cursor += nameLength
-
-	copy(r.Owner[:], serializedData[cursor:])
-	cursor += common.AddressLength
-	if cursor != len(serializedData) {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Metadata chunk has leftover data after deserialization. %d left to read", len(serializedData)-cursor)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-// binaryPut encodes the metadata into a byte array
-func (r *ResourceMetadata) binaryPut(serializedData []byte) error {
-	metadataChunkLength := r.binaryLength()
-	if len(serializedData) != metadataChunkLength {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Need a slice of exactly %d bytes to serialize this metadata, but got a slice of size %d.", metadataChunkLength, len(serializedData))
-	}
-
-	// root chunk has first two bytes both set to 0, which distinguishes from update bytes
-	// therefore, skip the first two bytes of a zero-initialized array.
-	cursor := 2
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(serializedData[cursor:cursor+2], uint16(metadataChunkLength-chunkPrefixLength)) // metadataLength does not include the 4 prefix bytes
-	cursor += 2
-
-	r.StartTime.binaryPut(serializedData[cursor : cursor+timestampLength])
-	cursor += timestampLength
-
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(serializedData[cursor:cursor+frequencyLength], r.Frequency)
-	cursor += frequencyLength
-
-	// Encode the name string as a 1 byte length followed by the encoded string.
-	// Longer strings will be truncated.
-	nameLength := len(r.Name)
-	if nameLength > 255 {
-		nameLength = 255
-	}
-	serializedData[cursor] = uint8(nameLength)
-	cursor++
-	copy(serializedData[cursor:cursor+nameLength], []byte(r.Name[:nameLength]))
-	cursor += nameLength
-
-	copy(serializedData[cursor:cursor+common.AddressLength], r.Owner[:])
-	cursor += common.AddressLength
-
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (r *ResourceMetadata) binaryLength() int {
-	return minimumMetadataLength + len(r.Name)
-}
-
-// serializeAndHash returns the root chunk addr and metadata hash that help identify and ascertain ownership of this resource
-// returns the serialized metadata as a byproduct of having to hash it.
-func (r *ResourceMetadata) serializeAndHash() (rootAddr, metaHash []byte, chunkData []byte, err error) {
-
-	chunkData = make([]byte, r.binaryLength())
-	if err := r.binaryPut(chunkData); err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, nil, err
-	}
-	rootAddr, metaHash = metadataHash(chunkData)
-	return rootAddr, metaHash, chunkData, nil
-
-}
-
-// creates a metadata chunk out of a resourceMetadata structure
-func (metadata *ResourceMetadata) newChunk() (chunk storage.Chunk, metaHash []byte, err error) {
-	// the metadata chunk contains a timestamp of when the resource starts to be valid
-	// and also how frequently it is expected to be updated
-	// from this we know at what time we should look for updates, and how often
-	// it also contains the name of the resource, so we know what resource we are working with
-
-	// the key (rootAddr) of the metadata chunk is content-addressed
-	// if it wasn't we couldn't replace it later
-	// resolving this relationship is left up to external agents (for example ENS)
-	rootAddr, metaHash, chunkData, err := metadata.serializeAndHash()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, err
-	}
-
-	// make the chunk and send it to swarm
-	chunk = storage.NewChunk(rootAddr, chunkData)
-
-	return chunk, metaHash, nil
-}
-
-// metadataHash returns the metadata chunk root address and metadata hash
-// that help identify and ascertain ownership of this resource
-// We compute it as rootAddr = H(ownerAddr, H(metadata))
-// Where H() is SHA3
-// metadata are all the metadata fields, except ownerAddr
-// ownerAddr is the public address of the resource owner
-// Update chunks must carry a rootAddr reference and metaHash in order to be verified
-// This way, a node that receives an update can check the signature, recover the public address
-// and check the ownership by computing H(ownerAddr, metaHash) and comparing it to the rootAddr
-// the resource is claiming to update without having to lookup the metadata chunk.
-// see verifyResourceOwnerhsip in signedupdate.go
-func metadataHash(chunkData []byte) (rootAddr, metaHash []byte) {
-	hasher := hashPool.Get().(hash.Hash)
-	defer hashPool.Put(hasher)
-	hasher.Reset()
-	hasher.Write(chunkData[:len(chunkData)-common.AddressLength])
-	metaHash = hasher.Sum(nil)
-	hasher.Reset()
-	hasher.Write(metaHash)
-	hasher.Write(chunkData[len(chunkData)-common.AddressLength:])
-	rootAddr = hasher.Sum(nil)
-	return
-}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/metadata_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/metadata_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index abbac6e3e..000000000
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/metadata_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,126 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
-// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
-// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-// (at your option) any later version.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
-// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
-//
-// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
-// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-package mru
-
-import (
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
-)
-
-func compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t *testing.T, variableName string, actualValue []byte, expectedHex string) {
-	if hexutil.Encode(actualValue) != expectedHex {
-		t.Fatalf("%s: Expected %s to be %s, got %s", t.Name(), variableName, expectedHex, hexutil.Encode(actualValue))
-	}
-}
-
-func getTestMetadata() *ResourceMetadata {
-	return &ResourceMetadata{
-		Name: "world news report, every hour, on the hour",
-		StartTime: Timestamp{
-			Time: 1528880400,
-		},
-		Frequency: 3600,
-		Owner:     newCharlieSigner().Address(),
-	}
-}
-
-func TestMetadataSerializerDeserializer(t *testing.T) {
-	metadata := *getTestMetadata()
-
-	rootAddr, metaHash, chunkData, err := metadata.serializeAndHash() // creates hashes and marshals, in one go
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	const expectedRootAddr = "0xfb0ed7efa696bdb0b54cd75554cc3117ffc891454317df7dd6fefad978e2f2fb"
-	const expectedMetaHash = "0xf74a10ce8f26ffc8bfaa07c3031a34b2c61f517955e7deb1592daccf96c69cf0"
-	const expectedChunkData = "0x00004f0010dd205b00000000100e0000000000002a776f726c64206e657773207265706f72742c20657665727920686f75722c206f6e2074686520686f7572876a8936a7cd0b79ef0735ad0896c1afe278781c"
-
-	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "rootAddr", rootAddr, expectedRootAddr)
-	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "metaHash", metaHash, expectedMetaHash)
-	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "chunkData", chunkData, expectedChunkData)
-
-	recoveredMetadata := ResourceMetadata{}
-	recoveredMetadata.binaryGet(chunkData)
-
-	if recoveredMetadata != metadata {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected that the recovered metadata equals the marshalled metadata")
-	}
-
-	// we are going to mess with the data, so create a backup to go back to it for the next test
-	backup := make([]byte, len(chunkData))
-	copy(backup, chunkData)
-
-	chunkData = []byte{1, 2, 3}
-	if err := recoveredMetadata.binaryGet(chunkData); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected binaryGet to fail since chunk is too small")
-	}
-
-	// restore backup
-	chunkData = make([]byte, len(backup))
-	copy(chunkData, backup)
-
-	// mess with the prefix so it is not zero
-	chunkData[0] = 7
-	chunkData[1] = 9
-
-	if err := recoveredMetadata.binaryGet(chunkData); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected binaryGet to fail since prefix bytes are not zero")
-	}
-
-	// restore backup
-	chunkData = make([]byte, len(backup))
-	copy(chunkData, backup)
-
-	// mess with the length header to trigger an error
-	chunkData[2] = 255
-	chunkData[3] = 44
-	if err := recoveredMetadata.binaryGet(chunkData); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected binaryGet to fail since header length does not match")
-	}
-
-	// restore backup
-	chunkData = make([]byte, len(backup))
-	copy(chunkData, backup)
-
-	// mess with name length header to trigger a chunk too short error
-	chunkData[20] = 255
-	if err := recoveredMetadata.binaryGet(chunkData); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected binaryGet to fail since name length is incorrect")
-	}
-
-	// restore backup
-	chunkData = make([]byte, len(backup))
-	copy(chunkData, backup)
-
-	// mess with name length header to trigger an leftover bytes to read error
-	chunkData[20] = 3
-	if err := recoveredMetadata.binaryGet(chunkData); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected binaryGet to fail since name length is too small")
-	}
-}
-
-func TestMetadataSerializerLengthCheck(t *testing.T) {
-	metadata := *getTestMetadata()
-
-	// make a slice that is too small to contain the metadata
-	serializedMetadata := make([]byte, 4)
-
-	if err := metadata.binaryPut(serializedMetadata); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected metadata.binaryPut to fail, since target slice is too small")
-	}
-
-}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/query.go b/swarm/storage/mru/query.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a0f261c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/query.go
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage/mru/lookup"
+)
+
+// Query is used to specify constraints when performing an update lookup
+// TimeLimit indicates an upper bound for the search. Set to 0 for "now"
+type Query struct {
+	View
+	Hint      lookup.Epoch
+	TimeLimit uint64
+}
+
+// FromValues deserializes this instance from a string key-value store
+// useful to parse query strings
+func (q *Query) FromValues(values Values) error {
+	time, _ := strconv.ParseUint(values.Get("time"), 10, 64)
+	q.TimeLimit = uint64(time)
+
+	level, _ := strconv.ParseUint(values.Get("hint.level"), 10, 32)
+	q.Hint.Level = uint8(level)
+	q.Hint.Time, _ = strconv.ParseUint(values.Get("hint.time"), 10, 64)
+	if q.View.User == (common.Address{}) {
+		return q.View.FromValues(values)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// AppendValues serializes this structure into the provided string key-value store
+// useful to build query strings
+func (q *Query) AppendValues(values Values) {
+	if q.TimeLimit != 0 {
+		values.Set("time", fmt.Sprintf("%d", q.TimeLimit))
+	}
+	if q.Hint.Level != 0 {
+		values.Set("hint.level", fmt.Sprintf("%d", q.Hint.Level))
+	}
+	if q.Hint.Time != 0 {
+		values.Set("hint.time", fmt.Sprintf("%d", q.Hint.Time))
+	}
+	q.View.AppendValues(values)
+}
+
+// NewQuery constructs an Query structure to find updates on or before `time`
+// if time == 0, the latest update will be looked up
+func NewQuery(view *View, time uint64, hint lookup.Epoch) *Query {
+	return &Query{
+		TimeLimit: time,
+		View:      *view,
+		Hint:      hint,
+	}
+}
+
+// NewQueryLatest generates lookup parameters that look for the latest version of a resource
+func NewQueryLatest(view *View, hint lookup.Epoch) *Query {
+	return NewQuery(view, 0, hint)
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/query_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/query_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..189a465d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/query_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func getTestQuery() *Query {
+	ul := getTestID()
+	return &Query{
+		TimeLimit: 5000,
+		View:      ul.View,
+		Hint:      ul.Epoch,
+	}
+}
+
+func TestQueryValues(t *testing.T) {
+	var expected = KV{"hint.level": "25", "hint.time": "1000", "time": "5000", "topic": "0x776f726c64206e657773207265706f72742c20657665727920686f7572000000", "user": "0x876A8936A7Cd0b79Ef0735AD0896c1AFe278781c"}
+
+	query := getTestQuery()
+	testValueSerializer(t, query, expected)
+
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/request.go b/swarm/storage/mru/request.go
index af2ccf5c7..f6d0f38ff 100644
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/request.go
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/request.go
@@ -19,157 +19,218 @@ package mru
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"hash"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage/mru/lookup"
 )
 
+// Request represents an update and/or resource create message
+type Request struct {
+	ResourceUpdate // actual content that will be put on the chunk, less signature
+	Signature      *Signature
+	idAddr         storage.Address // cached chunk address for the update (not serialized, for internal use)
+	binaryData     []byte          // cached serialized data (does not get serialized again!, for efficiency/internal use)
+}
+
 // updateRequestJSON represents a JSON-serialized UpdateRequest
 type updateRequestJSON struct {
-	Name      string `json:"name,omitempty"`
-	Frequency uint64 `json:"frequency,omitempty"`
-	StartTime uint64 `json:"startTime,omitempty"`
-	Owner     string `json:"ownerAddr,omitempty"`
-	RootAddr  string `json:"rootAddr,omitempty"`
-	MetaHash  string `json:"metaHash,omitempty"`
-	Version   uint32 `json:"version,omitempty"`
-	Period    uint32 `json:"period,omitempty"`
-	Data      string `json:"data,omitempty"`
-	Multihash bool   `json:"multiHash"`
-	Signature string `json:"signature,omitempty"`
+	ID
+	ProtocolVersion uint8  `json:"protocolVersion"`
+	Data            string `json:"data,omitempty"`
+	Signature       string `json:"signature,omitempty"`
 }
 
-// Request represents an update and/or resource create message
-type Request struct {
-	SignedResourceUpdate
-	metadata ResourceMetadata
-	isNew    bool
+// Request layout
+// resourceUpdate bytes
+// SignatureLength bytes
+const minimumSignedUpdateLength = minimumUpdateDataLength + signatureLength
+
+// NewFirstRequest returns a ready to sign request to publish a first update
+func NewFirstRequest(topic Topic) *Request {
+
+	request := new(Request)
+
+	// get the current time
+	now := TimestampProvider.Now().Time
+	request.Epoch = lookup.GetFirstEpoch(now)
+	request.View.Topic = topic
+	request.Header.Version = ProtocolVersion
+
+	return request
+}
+
+// SetData stores the payload data the resource will be updated with
+func (r *Request) SetData(data []byte) {
+	r.data = data
+	r.Signature = nil
 }
 
-var zeroAddr = common.Address{}
+// IsUpdate returns true if this request models a signed update or otherwise it is a signature request
+func (r *Request) IsUpdate() bool {
+	return r.Signature != nil
+}
 
-// NewCreateUpdateRequest returns a ready to sign request to create and initialize a resource with data
-func NewCreateUpdateRequest(metadata *ResourceMetadata) (*Request, error) {
+// Verify checks that signatures are valid and that the signer owns the resource to be updated
+func (r *Request) Verify() (err error) {
+	if len(r.data) == 0 {
+		return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "Update does not contain data")
+	}
+	if r.Signature == nil {
+		return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Missing signature field")
+	}
 
-	request, err := NewCreateRequest(metadata)
+	digest, err := r.GetDigest()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return err
 	}
 
-	// get the current time
-	now := TimestampProvider.Now().Time
-
-	request.version = 1
-	request.period, err = getNextPeriod(metadata.StartTime.Time, now, metadata.Frequency)
+	// get the address of the signer (which also checks that it's a valid signature)
+	r.View.User, err = getUserAddr(digest, *r.Signature)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return err
 	}
-	return request, nil
+
+	// check that the lookup information contained in the chunk matches the updateAddr (chunk search key)
+	// that was used to retrieve this chunk
+	// if this validation fails, someone forged a chunk.
+	if !bytes.Equal(r.idAddr, r.Addr()) {
+		return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Signature address does not match with update user address")
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
 
-// NewCreateRequest returns a request to create a new resource
-func NewCreateRequest(metadata *ResourceMetadata) (request *Request, err error) {
-	if metadata.StartTime.Time == 0 { // get the current time
-		metadata.StartTime = TimestampProvider.Now()
+// Sign executes the signature to validate the resource
+func (r *Request) Sign(signer Signer) error {
+	r.View.User = signer.Address()
+	r.binaryData = nil           //invalidate serialized data
+	digest, err := r.GetDigest() // computes digest and serializes into .binaryData
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
-	if metadata.Owner == zeroAddr {
-		return nil, NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "OwnerAddr is not set")
+	signature, err := signer.Sign(digest)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
-	request = &Request{
-		metadata: *metadata,
+	// Although the Signer interface returns the public address of the signer,
+	// recover it from the signature to see if they match
+	userAddr, err := getUserAddr(digest, signature)
+	if err != nil {
+		return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Error verifying signature")
 	}
-	request.rootAddr, request.metaHash, _, err = request.metadata.serializeAndHash()
-	request.isNew = true
-	return request, nil
-}
 
-// Frequency returns the resource's expected update frequency
-func (r *Request) Frequency() uint64 {
-	return r.metadata.Frequency
-}
+	if userAddr != signer.Address() { // sanity check to make sure the Signer is declaring the same address used to sign!
+		return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Signer address does not match update user address")
+	}
 
-// Name returns the resource human-readable name
-func (r *Request) Name() string {
-	return r.metadata.Name
+	r.Signature = &signature
+	r.idAddr = r.Addr()
+	return nil
 }
 
-// Multihash returns true if the resource data should be interpreted as a multihash
-func (r *Request) Multihash() bool {
-	return r.multihash
-}
+// GetDigest creates the resource update digest used in signatures
+// the serialized payload is cached in .binaryData
+func (r *Request) GetDigest() (result common.Hash, err error) {
+	hasher := hashPool.Get().(hash.Hash)
+	defer hashPool.Put(hasher)
+	hasher.Reset()
+	dataLength := r.ResourceUpdate.binaryLength()
+	if r.binaryData == nil {
+		r.binaryData = make([]byte, dataLength+signatureLength)
+		if err := r.ResourceUpdate.binaryPut(r.binaryData[:dataLength]); err != nil {
+			return result, err
+		}
+	}
+	hasher.Write(r.binaryData[:dataLength]) //everything except the signature.
 
-// Period returns in which period the resource will be published
-func (r *Request) Period() uint32 {
-	return r.period
+	return common.BytesToHash(hasher.Sum(nil)), nil
 }
 
-// Version returns the resource version to publish
-func (r *Request) Version() uint32 {
-	return r.version
-}
+// create an update chunk.
+func (r *Request) toChunk() (storage.Chunk, error) {
 
-// RootAddr returns the metadata chunk address
-func (r *Request) RootAddr() storage.Address {
-	return r.rootAddr
-}
+	// Check that the update is signed and serialized
+	// For efficiency, data is serialized during signature and cached in
+	// the binaryData field when computing the signature digest in .getDigest()
+	if r.Signature == nil || r.binaryData == nil {
+		return nil, NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "toChunk called without a valid signature or payload data. Call .Sign() first.")
+	}
 
-// StartTime returns the time that the resource was/will be created at
-func (r *Request) StartTime() Timestamp {
-	return r.metadata.StartTime
-}
+	resourceUpdateLength := r.ResourceUpdate.binaryLength()
+
+	// signature is the last item in the chunk data
+	copy(r.binaryData[resourceUpdateLength:], r.Signature[:])
 
-// Owner returns the resource owner's address
-func (r *Request) Owner() common.Address {
-	return r.metadata.Owner
+	chunk := storage.NewChunk(r.idAddr, r.binaryData)
+	return chunk, nil
 }
 
-// Sign executes the signature to validate the resource and sets the owner address field
-func (r *Request) Sign(signer Signer) error {
-	if r.metadata.Owner != zeroAddr && r.metadata.Owner != signer.Address() {
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Signer does not match current owner of the resource")
-	}
+// fromChunk populates this structure from chunk data. It does not verify the signature is valid.
+func (r *Request) fromChunk(updateAddr storage.Address, chunkdata []byte) error {
+	// for update chunk layout see Request definition
 
-	if err := r.SignedResourceUpdate.Sign(signer); err != nil {
+	//deserialize the resource update portion
+	if err := r.ResourceUpdate.binaryGet(chunkdata[:len(chunkdata)-signatureLength]); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	r.metadata.Owner = signer.Address()
-	return nil
-}
 
-// SetData stores the payload data the resource will be updated with
-func (r *Request) SetData(data []byte, multihash bool) {
-	r.data = data
-	r.multihash = multihash
-	r.signature = nil
-	if !r.isNew {
-		r.metadata.Frequency = 0 // mark as update
+	// Extract the signature
+	var signature *Signature
+	cursor := r.ResourceUpdate.binaryLength()
+	sigdata := chunkdata[cursor : cursor+signatureLength]
+	if len(sigdata) > 0 {
+		signature = &Signature{}
+		copy(signature[:], sigdata)
 	}
+
+	r.Signature = signature
+	r.idAddr = updateAddr
+	r.binaryData = chunkdata
+
+	return nil
+
 }
 
-func (r *Request) IsNew() bool {
-	return r.metadata.Frequency > 0 && (r.period <= 1 || r.version <= 1)
+// FromValues deserializes this instance from a string key-value store
+// useful to parse query strings
+func (r *Request) FromValues(values Values, data []byte) error {
+	signatureBytes, err := hexutil.Decode(values.Get("signature"))
+	if err != nil {
+		r.Signature = nil
+	} else {
+		if len(signatureBytes) != signatureLength {
+			return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Incorrect signature length")
+		}
+		r.Signature = new(Signature)
+		copy(r.Signature[:], signatureBytes)
+	}
+	err = r.ResourceUpdate.FromValues(values, data)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	r.idAddr = r.Addr()
+	return err
 }
 
-func (r *Request) IsUpdate() bool {
-	return r.signature != nil
+// AppendValues serializes this structure into the provided string key-value store
+// useful to build query strings
+func (r *Request) AppendValues(values Values) []byte {
+	if r.Signature != nil {
+		values.Set("signature", hexutil.Encode(r.Signature[:]))
+	}
+	return r.ResourceUpdate.AppendValues(values)
 }
 
 // fromJSON takes an update request JSON and populates an UpdateRequest
 func (r *Request) fromJSON(j *updateRequestJSON) error {
 
-	r.version = j.Version
-	r.period = j.Period
-	r.multihash = j.Multihash
-	r.metadata.Name = j.Name
-	r.metadata.Frequency = j.Frequency
-	r.metadata.StartTime.Time = j.StartTime
-
-	if err := decodeHexArray(r.metadata.Owner[:], j.Owner, "ownerAddr"); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
+	r.ID = j.ID
+	r.Header.Version = j.ProtocolVersion
 
 	var err error
 	if j.Data != "" {
@@ -179,73 +240,18 @@ func (r *Request) fromJSON(j *updateRequestJSON) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	var declaredRootAddr storage.Address
-	var declaredMetaHash []byte
-
-	declaredRootAddr, err = decodeHexSlice(j.RootAddr, storage.AddressLength, "rootAddr")
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	declaredMetaHash, err = decodeHexSlice(j.MetaHash, 32, "metaHash")
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	if r.IsNew() {
-		// for new resource creation, rootAddr and metaHash are optional because
-		// we can derive them from the content itself.
-		// however, if the user sent them, we check them for consistency.
-
-		r.rootAddr, r.metaHash, _, err = r.metadata.serializeAndHash()
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if j.RootAddr != "" && !bytes.Equal(declaredRootAddr, r.rootAddr) {
-			return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "rootAddr does not match resource metadata")
-		}
-		if j.MetaHash != "" && !bytes.Equal(declaredMetaHash, r.metaHash) {
-			return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "metaHash does not match resource metadata")
-		}
-
-	} else {
-		//Update message
-		r.rootAddr = declaredRootAddr
-		r.metaHash = declaredMetaHash
-	}
-
 	if j.Signature != "" {
 		sigBytes, err := hexutil.Decode(j.Signature)
 		if err != nil || len(sigBytes) != signatureLength {
 			return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Cannot decode signature")
 		}
-		r.signature = new(Signature)
-		r.updateAddr = r.UpdateAddr()
-		copy(r.signature[:], sigBytes)
+		r.Signature = new(Signature)
+		r.idAddr = r.Addr()
+		copy(r.Signature[:], sigBytes)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func decodeHexArray(dst []byte, src, name string) error {
-	bytes, err := decodeHexSlice(src, len(dst), name)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	if bytes != nil {
-		copy(dst, bytes)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-func decodeHexSlice(src string, expectedLength int, name string) (bytes []byte, err error) {
-	if src != "" {
-		bytes, err = hexutil.Decode(src)
-		if err != nil || len(bytes) != expectedLength {
-			return nil, NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Cannot decode %s", name)
-		}
-	}
-	return bytes, nil
-}
-
 // UnmarshalJSON takes a JSON structure stored in a byte array and populates the Request object
 // Implements json.Unmarshaler interface
 func (r *Request) UnmarshalJSON(rawData []byte) error {
@@ -259,38 +265,19 @@ func (r *Request) UnmarshalJSON(rawData []byte) error {
 // MarshalJSON takes an update request and encodes it as a JSON structure into a byte array
 // Implements json.Marshaler interface
 func (r *Request) MarshalJSON() (rawData []byte, err error) {
-	var signatureString, dataHashString, rootAddrString, metaHashString string
-	if r.signature != nil {
-		signatureString = hexutil.Encode(r.signature[:])
+	var signatureString, dataString string
+	if r.Signature != nil {
+		signatureString = hexutil.Encode(r.Signature[:])
 	}
 	if r.data != nil {
-		dataHashString = hexutil.Encode(r.data)
-	}
-	if r.rootAddr != nil {
-		rootAddrString = hexutil.Encode(r.rootAddr)
-	}
-	if r.metaHash != nil {
-		metaHashString = hexutil.Encode(r.metaHash)
-	}
-	var ownerAddrString string
-	if r.metadata.Frequency == 0 {
-		ownerAddrString = ""
-	} else {
-		ownerAddrString = hexutil.Encode(r.metadata.Owner[:])
+		dataString = hexutil.Encode(r.data)
 	}
 
 	requestJSON := &updateRequestJSON{
-		Name:      r.metadata.Name,
-		Frequency: r.metadata.Frequency,
-		StartTime: r.metadata.StartTime.Time,
-		Version:   r.version,
-		Period:    r.period,
-		Owner:     ownerAddrString,
-		Data:      dataHashString,
-		Multihash: r.multihash,
-		Signature: signatureString,
-		RootAddr:  rootAddrString,
-		MetaHash:  metaHashString,
+		ID:              r.ID,
+		ProtocolVersion: r.Header.Version,
+		Data:            dataString,
+		Signature:       signatureString,
 	}
 
 	return json.Marshal(requestJSON)
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/request_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/request_test.go
index dba55b27e..c32d5ec13 100644
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/request_test.go
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/request_test.go
@@ -1,11 +1,32 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
 package mru
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage/mru/lookup"
 )
 
 func areEqualJSON(s1, s2 string) (bool, error) {
@@ -29,19 +50,13 @@ func areEqualJSON(s1, s2 string) (bool, error) {
 // while also checking cryptographically that only the owner of a resource can update it.
 func TestEncodingDecodingUpdateRequests(t *testing.T) {
 
-	signer := newCharlieSigner()  //Charlie, our good guy
-	falseSigner := newBobSigner() //Bob will play the bad guy again
+	charlie := newCharlieSigner() //Charlie
+	bob := newBobSigner()         //Bob
 
 	// Create a resource to our good guy Charlie's name
-	createRequest, err := NewCreateRequest(&ResourceMetadata{
-		Name:      "a good resource name",
-		Frequency: 300,
-		StartTime: Timestamp{Time: 1528900000},
-		Owner:     signer.Address()})
-
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Error creating resource name: %s", err)
-	}
+	topic, _ := NewTopic("a good resource name", nil)
+	createRequest := NewFirstRequest(topic)
+	createRequest.User = charlie.Address()
 
 	// We now encode the create message to simulate we send it over the wire
 	messageRawData, err := createRequest.MarshalJSON()
@@ -64,27 +79,21 @@ func TestEncodingDecodingUpdateRequests(t *testing.T) {
 	// and recover the information above. To sign an update, we need the rootAddr and the metaHash to construct
 	// proof of ownership
 
-	metaHash := createRequest.metaHash
-	rootAddr := createRequest.rootAddr
-	const expectedSignature = "0x1c2bab66dc4ed63783d62934e3a628e517888d6949aef0349f3bd677121db9aa09bbfb865904e6c50360e209e0fe6fe757f8a2474cf1b34169c99b95e3fd5a5101"
-	const expectedJSON = `{"rootAddr":"0x6e744a730f7ea0881528576f0354b6268b98e35a6981ef703153ff1b8d32bbef","metaHash":"0x0c0d5c18b89da503af92302a1a64fab6acb60f78e288eb9c3d541655cd359b60","version":1,"period":7,"data":"0x5468697320686f75722773207570646174653a20537761726d2039392e3020686173206265656e2072656c656173656421","multiHash":false}`
+	const expectedSignature = "0x32c2d2c7224e24e4d3ae6a10595fc6e945f1b3ecdf548a04d8247c240a50c9240076aa7730abad6c8a46dfea00cfb8f43b6211f02db5c4cc5ed8584cb0212a4d00"
+	const expectedJSON = `{"view":{"topic":"0x6120676f6f64207265736f75726365206e616d65000000000000000000000000","user":"0x876a8936a7cd0b79ef0735ad0896c1afe278781c"},"epoch":{"time":1000,"level":1},"protocolVersion":0,"data":"0x5468697320686f75722773207570646174653a20537761726d2039392e3020686173206265656e2072656c656173656421"}`
 
 	//Put together an unsigned update request that we will serialize to send it to the signer.
 	data := []byte("This hour's update: Swarm 99.0 has been released!")
 	request := &Request{
-		SignedResourceUpdate: SignedResourceUpdate{
-			resourceUpdate: resourceUpdate{
-				updateHeader: updateHeader{
-					UpdateLookup: UpdateLookup{
-						period:   7,
-						version:  1,
-						rootAddr: rootAddr,
-					},
-					multihash: false,
-					metaHash:  metaHash,
+		ResourceUpdate: ResourceUpdate{
+			ID: ID{
+				Epoch: lookup.Epoch{
+					Time:  1000,
+					Level: 1,
 				},
-				data: data,
+				View: createRequest.ResourceUpdate.View,
 			},
+			data: data,
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -110,11 +119,11 @@ func TestEncodingDecodingUpdateRequests(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	//sign the request and see if it matches our predefined signature above.
-	if err := recoveredRequest.Sign(signer); err != nil {
+	if err := recoveredRequest.Sign(charlie); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Error signing request: %s", err)
 	}
 
-	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "signature", recoveredRequest.signature[:], expectedSignature)
+	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "signature", recoveredRequest.Signature[:], expectedSignature)
 
 	// mess with the signature and see what happens. To alter the signature, we briefly decode it as JSON
 	// to alter the signature field.
@@ -129,9 +138,9 @@ func TestEncodingDecodingUpdateRequests(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("Expected DecodeUpdateRequest to fail when trying to interpret a corrupt message with an invalid signature")
 	}
 
-	// Now imagine Evil Bob (why always Bob, poor Bob) attempts to update Charlie's resource,
+	// Now imagine Bob wants to create an update of his own about the same resource,
 	// signing a message with his private key
-	if err := request.Sign(falseSigner); err != nil {
+	if err := request.Sign(bob); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Error signing: %s", err)
 	}
 
@@ -147,29 +156,159 @@ func TestEncodingDecodingUpdateRequests(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("Error decoding message:%s", err)
 	}
 
-	// Before discovering Bob's misdemeanor, let's see what would happen if we mess
+	// Before checking what happened with Bob's update, let's see what would happen if we mess
 	// with the signature big time to see if Verify catches it
-	savedSignature := *recoveredRequest.signature                               // save the signature for later
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(recoveredRequest.signature[5:], 556845463424) // write some random data to break the signature
+	savedSignature := *recoveredRequest.Signature                               // save the signature for later
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(recoveredRequest.Signature[5:], 556845463424) // write some random data to break the signature
 	if err = recoveredRequest.Verify(); err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("Expected Verify to fail on corrupt signature")
 	}
 
-	// restore the Evil Bob's signature from corruption
-	*recoveredRequest.signature = savedSignature
+	// restore the Bob's signature from corruption
+	*recoveredRequest.Signature = savedSignature
 
-	// Now the signature is not corrupt, however Verify should now fail because Bob doesn't own the resource
-	if err = recoveredRequest.Verify(); err == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected Verify to fail because this resource belongs to Charlie, not Bob the attacker:%s", err)
+	// Now the signature is not corrupt
+	if err = recoveredRequest.Verify(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	// Sign with our friend Charlie's private key
-	if err := recoveredRequest.Sign(signer); err != nil {
+	// Reuse object and sign with our friend Charlie's private key
+	if err := recoveredRequest.Sign(charlie); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Error signing with the correct private key: %s", err)
 	}
 
-	// And now, Verify should work since this resource belongs to Charlie
+	// And now, Verify should work since this update now belongs to Charlie
 	if err = recoveredRequest.Verify(); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Error verifying that Charlie, the good guy, can sign his resource:%s", err)
+		t.Fatalf("Error verifying that Charlie, can sign a reused request object:%s", err)
+	}
+
+	// mess with the lookup key to make sure Verify fails:
+	recoveredRequest.Time = 77999 // this will alter the lookup key
+	if err = recoveredRequest.Verify(); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected Verify to fail since the lookup key has been altered")
+	}
+}
+
+func getTestRequest() *Request {
+	return &Request{
+		ResourceUpdate: *getTestResourceUpdate(),
+	}
+}
+
+func TestUpdateChunkSerializationErrorChecking(t *testing.T) {
+
+	// Test that parseUpdate fails if the chunk is too small
+	var r Request
+	if err := r.fromChunk(storage.ZeroAddr, make([]byte, minimumUpdateDataLength-1+signatureLength)); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected request.fromChunk to fail when chunkData contains less than %d bytes", minimumUpdateDataLength)
+	}
+
+	r = *getTestRequest()
+
+	_, err := r.toChunk()
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Expected request.toChunk to fail when there is no data")
+	}
+	r.data = []byte("Al bien hacer jamás le falta premio") // put some arbitrary length data
+	_, err = r.toChunk()
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected request.toChunk to fail when there is no signature")
+	}
+
+	charlie := newCharlieSigner()
+	if err := r.Sign(charlie); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("error signing:%s", err)
+	}
+
+	chunk, err := r.toChunk()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("error creating update chunk:%s", err)
+	}
+
+	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "chunk", chunk.Data(), "0x0000000000000000776f726c64206e657773207265706f72742c20657665727920686f7572000000876a8936a7cd0b79ef0735ad0896c1afe278781ce803000000000019416c206269656e206861636572206a616dc3a173206c652066616c7461207072656d696f5a0ffe0bc27f207cd5b00944c8b9cee93e08b89b5ada777f123ac535189333f174a6a4ca2f43a92c4a477a49d774813c36ce8288552c58e6205b0ac35d0507eb00")
+
+	var recovered Request
+	recovered.fromChunk(chunk.Address(), chunk.Data())
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(recovered, r) {
+		t.Fatal("Expected recovered SignedResource update to equal the original one")
+	}
+}
+
+// check that signature address matches update signer address
+func TestReverse(t *testing.T) {
+
+	epoch := lookup.Epoch{
+		Time:  7888,
+		Level: 6,
+	}
+
+	// make fake timeProvider
+	timeProvider := &fakeTimeProvider{
+		currentTime: startTime.Time,
+	}
+
+	// signer containing private key
+	signer := newAliceSigner()
+
+	// set up rpc and create resourcehandler
+	_, _, teardownTest, err := setupTest(timeProvider, signer)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer teardownTest()
+
+	topic, _ := NewTopic("Cervantes quotes", nil)
+	view := View{
+		Topic: topic,
+		User:  signer.Address(),
+	}
+
+	data := []byte("Donde una puerta se cierra, otra se abre")
+
+	request := new(Request)
+	request.View = view
+	request.Epoch = epoch
+	request.data = data
+
+	// generate a chunk key for this request
+	key := request.Addr()
+
+	if err = request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	chunk, err := request.toChunk()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// check that we can recover the owner account from the update chunk's signature
+	var checkUpdate Request
+	if err := checkUpdate.fromChunk(chunk.Address(), chunk.Data()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	checkdigest, err := checkUpdate.GetDigest()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	recoveredaddress, err := getUserAddr(checkdigest, *checkUpdate.Signature)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Retrieve address from signature fail: %v", err)
+	}
+	originaladdress := crypto.PubkeyToAddress(signer.PrivKey.PublicKey)
+
+	// check that the metadata retrieved from the chunk matches what we gave it
+	if recoveredaddress != originaladdress {
+		t.Fatalf("addresses dont match: %x != %x", originaladdress, recoveredaddress)
+	}
+
+	if !bytes.Equal(key[:], chunk.Address()[:]) {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected chunk key '%x', was '%x'", key, chunk.Address())
+	}
+	if epoch != checkUpdate.Epoch {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected epoch to be '%s', was '%s'", epoch.String(), checkUpdate.Epoch.String())
+	}
+	if !bytes.Equal(data, checkUpdate.data) {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected data '%x', was '%x'", data, checkUpdate.data)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/resource.go b/swarm/storage/mru/resource.go
deleted file mode 100644
index aa83ff62a..000000000
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/resource.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,76 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
-// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
-// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-// (at your option) any later version.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
-// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
-//
-// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
-// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-package mru
-
-import (
-	"bytes"
-	"context"
-	"time"
-
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
-)
-
-const (
-	defaultStoreTimeout    = 4000 * time.Millisecond
-	hasherCount            = 8
-	resourceHashAlgorithm  = storage.SHA3Hash
-	defaultRetrieveTimeout = 100 * time.Millisecond
-)
-
-// resource caches resource data and the metadata of its root chunk.
-type resource struct {
-	resourceUpdate
-	ResourceMetadata
-	*bytes.Reader
-	lastKey storage.Address
-	updated time.Time
-}
-
-func (r *resource) Context() context.Context {
-	return context.TODO()
-}
-
-// TODO Expire content after a defined period (to force resync)
-func (r *resource) isSynced() bool {
-	return !r.updated.IsZero()
-}
-
-// implements storage.LazySectionReader
-func (r *resource) Size(ctx context.Context, _ chan bool) (int64, error) {
-	if !r.isSynced() {
-		return 0, NewError(ErrNotSynced, "Not synced")
-	}
-	return int64(len(r.resourceUpdate.data)), nil
-}
-
-//returns the resource's human-readable name
-func (r *resource) Name() string {
-	return r.ResourceMetadata.Name
-}
-
-// Helper function to calculate the next update period number from the current time, start time and frequency
-func getNextPeriod(start uint64, current uint64, frequency uint64) (uint32, error) {
-	if current < start {
-		return 0, NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "given current time value %d < start time %d", current, start)
-	}
-	if frequency == 0 {
-		return 0, NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "frequency is 0")
-	}
-	timeDiff := current - start
-	period := timeDiff / frequency
-	return uint32(period + 1), nil
-}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/resource_sign.go b/swarm/storage/mru/resource_sign.go
index a9f7cb629..58196f10e 100644
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/resource_sign.go
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/resource_sign.go
@@ -60,7 +60,16 @@ func (s *GenericSigner) Sign(data common.Hash) (signature Signature, err error)
 	return
 }
 
-// PublicKey returns the public key of the signer's private key
+// Address returns the public key of the signer's private key
 func (s *GenericSigner) Address() common.Address {
 	return s.address
 }
+
+// getUserAddr extracts the address of the resource update signer
+func getUserAddr(digest common.Hash, signature Signature) (common.Address, error) {
+	pub, err := crypto.SigToPub(digest.Bytes(), signature[:])
+	if err != nil {
+		return common.Address{}, err
+	}
+	return crypto.PubkeyToAddress(*pub), nil
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/resource_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/resource_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 0fb465bb0..000000000
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/resource_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,902 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
-// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
-// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-// (at your option) any later version.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
-// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
-//
-// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
-// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-package mru
-
-import (
-	"bytes"
-	"context"
-	"crypto/rand"
-	"encoding/binary"
-	"flag"
-	"io/ioutil"
-	"os"
-	"testing"
-	"time"
-
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/contracts/ens"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/log"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/chunk"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/multihash"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
-)
-
-var (
-	loglevel   = flag.Int("loglevel", 3, "loglevel")
-	testHasher = storage.MakeHashFunc(resourceHashAlgorithm)()
-	startTime  = Timestamp{
-		Time: uint64(4200),
-	}
-	resourceFrequency = uint64(42)
-	cleanF            func()
-	resourceName      = "føø.bar"
-	hashfunc          = storage.MakeHashFunc(storage.DefaultHash)
-)
-
-func init() {
-	flag.Parse()
-	log.Root().SetHandler(log.CallerFileHandler(log.LvlFilterHandler(log.Lvl(*loglevel), log.StreamHandler(os.Stderr, log.TerminalFormat(true)))))
-}
-
-// simulated timeProvider
-type fakeTimeProvider struct {
-	currentTime uint64
-}
-
-func (f *fakeTimeProvider) Tick() {
-	f.currentTime++
-}
-
-func (f *fakeTimeProvider) Now() Timestamp {
-	return Timestamp{
-		Time: f.currentTime,
-	}
-}
-
-func TestUpdateChunkSerializationErrorChecking(t *testing.T) {
-
-	// Test that parseUpdate fails if the chunk is too small
-	var r SignedResourceUpdate
-	if err := r.fromChunk(storage.ZeroAddr, make([]byte, minimumUpdateDataLength-1)); err == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected parseUpdate to fail when chunkData contains less than %d bytes", minimumUpdateDataLength)
-	}
-
-	r = SignedResourceUpdate{}
-	// Test that parseUpdate fails when the length header does not match the data array length
-	fakeChunk := make([]byte, 150)
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(fakeChunk, 44)
-	if err := r.fromChunk(storage.ZeroAddr, fakeChunk); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected parseUpdate to fail when the header length does not match the actual data array passed in")
-	}
-
-	r = SignedResourceUpdate{
-		resourceUpdate: resourceUpdate{
-			updateHeader: updateHeader{
-				UpdateLookup: UpdateLookup{
-					rootAddr: make([]byte, 79), // put the wrong length, should be storage.AddressLength
-				},
-				metaHash:  nil,
-				multihash: false,
-			},
-		},
-	}
-	_, err := r.toChunk()
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected newUpdateChunk to fail when rootAddr or metaHash have the wrong length")
-	}
-	r.rootAddr = make([]byte, storage.AddressLength)
-	r.metaHash = make([]byte, storage.AddressLength)
-	_, err = r.toChunk()
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected newUpdateChunk to fail when there is no data")
-	}
-	r.data = make([]byte, 79) // put some arbitrary length data
-	_, err = r.toChunk()
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("expected newUpdateChunk to fail when there is no signature", err)
-	}
-
-	alice := newAliceSigner()
-	if err := r.Sign(alice); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("error signing:%s", err)
-
-	}
-	_, err = r.toChunk()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("error creating update chunk:%s", err)
-	}
-
-	r.multihash = true
-	r.data[1] = 79 // mess with the multihash, corrupting one byte of it.
-	if err := r.Sign(alice); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("expected Sign() to fail when an invalid multihash is in data and multihash=true", err)
-	}
-}
-
-// check that signature address matches update signer address
-func TestReverse(t *testing.T) {
-
-	period := uint32(4)
-	version := uint32(2)
-
-	// make fake timeProvider
-	timeProvider := &fakeTimeProvider{
-		currentTime: startTime.Time,
-	}
-
-	// signer containing private key
-	signer := newAliceSigner()
-
-	// set up rpc and create resourcehandler
-	_, _, teardownTest, err := setupTest(timeProvider, signer)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer teardownTest()
-
-	metadata := ResourceMetadata{
-		Name:      resourceName,
-		StartTime: startTime,
-		Frequency: resourceFrequency,
-		Owner:     signer.Address(),
-	}
-
-	rootAddr, metaHash, _, err := metadata.serializeAndHash()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// generate some bogus data for the chunk and sign it
-	data := make([]byte, 8)
-	_, err = rand.Read(data)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	testHasher.Reset()
-	testHasher.Write(data)
-
-	update := &SignedResourceUpdate{
-		resourceUpdate: resourceUpdate{
-			updateHeader: updateHeader{
-				UpdateLookup: UpdateLookup{
-					period:   period,
-					version:  version,
-					rootAddr: rootAddr,
-				},
-				metaHash: metaHash,
-			},
-			data: data,
-		},
-	}
-	// generate a hash for t=4200 version 1
-	key := update.UpdateAddr()
-
-	if err = update.Sign(signer); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	chunk, err := update.toChunk()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// check that we can recover the owner account from the update chunk's signature
-	var checkUpdate SignedResourceUpdate
-	if err := checkUpdate.fromChunk(chunk.Address(), chunk.Data()); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	checkdigest, err := checkUpdate.GetDigest()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	recoveredaddress, err := getOwner(checkdigest, *checkUpdate.signature)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Retrieve address from signature fail: %v", err)
-	}
-	originaladdress := crypto.PubkeyToAddress(signer.PrivKey.PublicKey)
-
-	// check that the metadata retrieved from the chunk matches what we gave it
-	if recoveredaddress != originaladdress {
-		t.Fatalf("addresses dont match: %x != %x", originaladdress, recoveredaddress)
-	}
-
-	if !bytes.Equal(key[:], chunk.Address()[:]) {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected chunk key '%x', was '%x'", key, chunk.Address())
-	}
-	if period != checkUpdate.period {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected period '%d', was '%d'", period, checkUpdate.period)
-	}
-	if version != checkUpdate.version {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected version '%d', was '%d'", version, checkUpdate.version)
-	}
-	if !bytes.Equal(data, checkUpdate.data) {
-		t.Fatalf("Expectedn data '%x', was '%x'", data, checkUpdate.data)
-	}
-}
-
-// make updates and retrieve them based on periods and versions
-func TestResourceHandler(t *testing.T) {
-
-	// make fake timeProvider
-	timeProvider := &fakeTimeProvider{
-		currentTime: startTime.Time,
-	}
-
-	// signer containing private key
-	signer := newAliceSigner()
-
-	rh, datadir, teardownTest, err := setupTest(timeProvider, signer)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer teardownTest()
-
-	// create a new resource
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	defer cancel()
-
-	metadata := &ResourceMetadata{
-		Name:      resourceName,
-		Frequency: resourceFrequency,
-		StartTime: Timestamp{Time: timeProvider.Now().Time},
-		Owner:     signer.Address(),
-	}
-
-	request, err := NewCreateUpdateRequest(metadata)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	request.Sign(signer)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	err = rh.New(ctx, request)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	chunk, err := rh.chunkStore.Get(ctx, storage.Address(request.rootAddr))
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	} else if len(chunk.Data()) < 16 {
-		t.Fatalf("chunk data must be minimum 16 bytes, is %d", len(chunk.Data()))
-	}
-
-	var recoveredMetadata ResourceMetadata
-
-	recoveredMetadata.binaryGet(chunk.Data())
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if recoveredMetadata.StartTime.Time != timeProvider.currentTime {
-		t.Fatalf("stored startTime %d does not match provided startTime %d", recoveredMetadata.StartTime.Time, timeProvider.currentTime)
-	}
-	if recoveredMetadata.Frequency != resourceFrequency {
-		t.Fatalf("stored frequency %d does not match provided frequency %d", recoveredMetadata.Frequency, resourceFrequency)
-	}
-
-	// data for updates:
-	updates := []string{
-		"blinky",
-		"pinky",
-		"inky",
-		"clyde",
-	}
-
-	// update halfway to first period. period=1, version=1
-	resourcekey := make(map[string]storage.Address)
-	fwdClock(int(resourceFrequency/2), timeProvider)
-	data := []byte(updates[0])
-	request.SetData(data, false)
-	if err := request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	resourcekey[updates[0]], err = rh.Update(ctx, &request.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// update on first period with version = 1 to make it fail since there is already one update with version=1
-	request, err = rh.NewUpdateRequest(ctx, request.rootAddr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if request.version != 2 || request.period != 1 {
-		t.Fatal("Suggested period should be 1 and version should be 2")
-	}
-
-	request.version = 1 // force version 1 instead of 2 to make it fail
-	data = []byte(updates[1])
-	request.SetData(data, false)
-	if err := request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	resourcekey[updates[1]], err = rh.Update(ctx, &request.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected update to fail since this version already exists")
-	}
-
-	// update on second period with version = 1, correct. period=2, version=1
-	fwdClock(int(resourceFrequency/2), timeProvider)
-	request, err = rh.NewUpdateRequest(ctx, request.rootAddr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	request.SetData(data, false)
-	if err := request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	resourcekey[updates[1]], err = rh.Update(ctx, &request.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	fwdClock(int(resourceFrequency), timeProvider)
-	// Update on third period, with version = 1
-	request, err = rh.NewUpdateRequest(ctx, request.rootAddr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	data = []byte(updates[2])
-	request.SetData(data, false)
-	if err := request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	resourcekey[updates[2]], err = rh.Update(ctx, &request.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// update just after third period
-	fwdClock(1, timeProvider)
-	request, err = rh.NewUpdateRequest(ctx, request.rootAddr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if request.period != 3 || request.version != 2 {
-		t.Fatal("Suggested period should be 3 and version should be 2")
-	}
-	data = []byte(updates[3])
-	request.SetData(data, false)
-
-	if err := request.Sign(signer); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	resourcekey[updates[3]], err = rh.Update(ctx, &request.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	time.Sleep(time.Second)
-	rh.Close()
-
-	// check we can retrieve the updates after close
-	// it will match on second iteration startTime + (resourceFrequency * 3)
-	fwdClock(int(resourceFrequency*2)-1, timeProvider)
-
-	rhparams := &HandlerParams{}
-
-	rh2, err := NewTestHandler(datadir, rhparams)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	rsrc2, err := rh2.Load(context.TODO(), request.rootAddr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	_, err = rh2.Lookup(ctx, LookupLatest(request.rootAddr))
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// last update should be "clyde", version two, time= startTime + (resourcefrequency * 3)
-	if !bytes.Equal(rsrc2.data, []byte(updates[len(updates)-1])) {
-		t.Fatalf("resource data was %v, expected %v", string(rsrc2.data), updates[len(updates)-1])
-	}
-	if rsrc2.version != 2 {
-		t.Fatalf("resource version was %d, expected 2", rsrc2.version)
-	}
-	if rsrc2.period != 3 {
-		t.Fatalf("resource period was %d, expected 3", rsrc2.period)
-	}
-	log.Debug("Latest lookup", "period", rsrc2.period, "version", rsrc2.version, "data", rsrc2.data)
-
-	// specific period, latest version
-	rsrc, err := rh2.Lookup(ctx, LookupLatestVersionInPeriod(request.rootAddr, 3))
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	// check data
-	if !bytes.Equal(rsrc.data, []byte(updates[len(updates)-1])) {
-		t.Fatalf("resource data (historical) was %v, expected %v", string(rsrc2.data), updates[len(updates)-1])
-	}
-	log.Debug("Historical lookup", "period", rsrc2.period, "version", rsrc2.version, "data", rsrc2.data)
-
-	// specific period, specific version
-	lookupParams := LookupVersion(request.rootAddr, 3, 1)
-	rsrc, err = rh2.Lookup(ctx, lookupParams)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	// check data
-	if !bytes.Equal(rsrc.data, []byte(updates[2])) {
-		t.Fatalf("resource data (historical) was %v, expected %v", string(rsrc2.data), updates[2])
-	}
-	log.Debug("Specific version lookup", "period", rsrc2.period, "version", rsrc2.version, "data", rsrc2.data)
-
-	// we are now at third update
-	// check backwards stepping to the first
-	for i := 1; i >= 0; i-- {
-		rsrc, err := rh2.LookupPrevious(ctx, lookupParams)
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
-		if !bytes.Equal(rsrc.data, []byte(updates[i])) {
-			t.Fatalf("resource data (previous) was %v, expected %v", rsrc.data, updates[i])
-
-		}
-	}
-
-	// beyond the first should yield an error
-	rsrc, err = rh2.LookupPrevious(ctx, lookupParams)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("expected previous to fail, returned period %d version %d data %v", rsrc.period, rsrc.version, rsrc.data)
-	}
-
-}
-
-func TestMultihash(t *testing.T) {
-
-	// make fake timeProvider
-	timeProvider := &fakeTimeProvider{
-		currentTime: startTime.Time,
-	}
-
-	// signer containing private key
-	signer := newAliceSigner()
-
-	// set up rpc and create resourcehandler
-	rh, datadir, teardownTest, err := setupTest(timeProvider, signer)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer teardownTest()
-
-	// create a new resource
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	defer cancel()
-
-	metadata := &ResourceMetadata{
-		Name:      resourceName,
-		Frequency: resourceFrequency,
-		StartTime: Timestamp{Time: timeProvider.Now().Time},
-		Owner:     signer.Address(),
-	}
-
-	mr, err := NewCreateRequest(metadata)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	err = rh.New(ctx, mr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// we're naïvely assuming keccak256 for swarm hashes
-	// if it ever changes this test should also change
-	multihashbytes := ens.EnsNode("foo")
-	multihashmulti := multihash.ToMultihash(multihashbytes.Bytes())
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	mr.SetData(multihashmulti, true)
-	mr.Sign(signer)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	multihashkey, err := rh.Update(ctx, &mr.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	sha1bytes := make([]byte, multihash.MultihashLength)
-	sha1multi := multihash.ToMultihash(sha1bytes)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	mr, err = rh.NewUpdateRequest(ctx, mr.rootAddr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	mr.SetData(sha1multi, true)
-	mr.Sign(signer)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	sha1key, err := rh.Update(ctx, &mr.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// invalid multihashes
-	mr, err = rh.NewUpdateRequest(ctx, mr.rootAddr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	mr.SetData(multihashmulti[1:], true)
-	mr.Sign(signer)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	_, err = rh.Update(ctx, &mr.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected update to fail with first byte skipped")
-	}
-	mr, err = rh.NewUpdateRequest(ctx, mr.rootAddr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	mr.SetData(multihashmulti[:len(multihashmulti)-2], true)
-	mr.Sign(signer)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	_, err = rh.Update(ctx, &mr.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected update to fail with last byte skipped")
-	}
-
-	data, err := getUpdateDirect(rh.Handler, multihashkey)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	multihashdecode, err := multihash.FromMultihash(data)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if !bytes.Equal(multihashdecode, multihashbytes.Bytes()) {
-		t.Fatalf("Decoded hash '%x' does not match original hash '%x'", multihashdecode, multihashbytes.Bytes())
-	}
-	data, err = getUpdateDirect(rh.Handler, sha1key)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	shadecode, err := multihash.FromMultihash(data)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if !bytes.Equal(shadecode, sha1bytes) {
-		t.Fatalf("Decoded hash '%x' does not match original hash '%x'", shadecode, sha1bytes)
-	}
-	rh.Close()
-
-	rhparams := &HandlerParams{}
-	// test with signed data
-	rh2, err := NewTestHandler(datadir, rhparams)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	mr, err = NewCreateRequest(metadata)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	err = rh2.New(ctx, mr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	mr.SetData(multihashmulti, true)
-	mr.Sign(signer)
-
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	multihashsignedkey, err := rh2.Update(ctx, &mr.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	mr, err = rh2.NewUpdateRequest(ctx, mr.rootAddr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	mr.SetData(sha1multi, true)
-	mr.Sign(signer)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	sha1signedkey, err := rh2.Update(ctx, &mr.SignedResourceUpdate)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	data, err = getUpdateDirect(rh2.Handler, multihashsignedkey)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	multihashdecode, err = multihash.FromMultihash(data)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if !bytes.Equal(multihashdecode, multihashbytes.Bytes()) {
-		t.Fatalf("Decoded hash '%x' does not match original hash '%x'", multihashdecode, multihashbytes.Bytes())
-	}
-	data, err = getUpdateDirect(rh2.Handler, sha1signedkey)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	shadecode, err = multihash.FromMultihash(data)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if !bytes.Equal(shadecode, sha1bytes) {
-		t.Fatalf("Decoded hash '%x' does not match original hash '%x'", shadecode, sha1bytes)
-	}
-}
-
-// \TODO verify testing of signature validation and enforcement
-func TestValidator(t *testing.T) {
-
-	// make fake timeProvider
-	timeProvider := &fakeTimeProvider{
-		currentTime: startTime.Time,
-	}
-
-	// signer containing private key. Alice will be the good girl
-	signer := newAliceSigner()
-
-	// fake signer for false results. Bob will play the bad guy today.
-	falseSigner := newBobSigner()
-
-	// set up  sim timeProvider
-	rh, _, teardownTest, err := setupTest(timeProvider, signer)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer teardownTest()
-
-	// create new resource
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	defer cancel()
-	metadata := &ResourceMetadata{
-		Name:      resourceName,
-		Frequency: resourceFrequency,
-		StartTime: Timestamp{Time: timeProvider.Now().Time},
-		Owner:     signer.Address(),
-	}
-	mr, err := NewCreateRequest(metadata)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	mr.Sign(signer)
-
-	err = rh.New(ctx, mr)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Create resource fail: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	// chunk with address
-	data := []byte("foo")
-	mr.SetData(data, false)
-	if err := mr.Sign(signer); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("sign fail: %v", err)
-	}
-	chunk, err := mr.SignedResourceUpdate.toChunk()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if !rh.Validate(chunk.Address(), chunk.Data()) {
-		t.Fatal("Chunk validator fail on update chunk")
-	}
-
-	// chunk with address made from different publickey
-	if err := mr.Sign(falseSigner); err == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected Sign to fail since we are using a different OwnerAddr: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	// chunk with address made from different publickey
-	mr.metadata.Owner = zeroAddr // set to zero to bypass .Sign() check
-	if err := mr.Sign(falseSigner); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("sign fail: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	chunk, err = mr.SignedResourceUpdate.toChunk()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if rh.Validate(chunk.Address(), chunk.Data()) {
-		t.Fatal("Chunk validator did not fail on update chunk with false address")
-	}
-
-	ctx, cancel = context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Second)
-	defer cancel()
-
-	metadata = &ResourceMetadata{
-		Name:      resourceName,
-		StartTime: TimestampProvider.Now(),
-		Frequency: resourceFrequency,
-		Owner:     signer.Address(),
-	}
-	chunk, _, err = metadata.newChunk()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if !rh.Validate(chunk.Address(), chunk.Data()) {
-		t.Fatal("Chunk validator fail on metadata chunk")
-	}
-}
-
-// tests that the content address validator correctly checks the data
-// tests that resource update chunks are passed through content address validator
-// there is some redundancy in this test as it also tests content addressed chunks,
-// which should be evaluated as invalid chunks by this validator
-func TestValidatorInStore(t *testing.T) {
-
-	// make fake timeProvider
-	TimestampProvider = &fakeTimeProvider{
-		currentTime: startTime.Time,
-	}
-
-	// signer containing private key
-	signer := newAliceSigner()
-
-	// set up localstore
-	datadir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "storage-testresourcevalidator")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer os.RemoveAll(datadir)
-
-	params := storage.NewDefaultLocalStoreParams()
-	params.Init(datadir)
-	store, err := storage.NewLocalStore(params, nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// set up resource handler and add is as a validator to the localstore
-	rhParams := &HandlerParams{}
-	rh := NewHandler(rhParams)
-	store.Validators = append(store.Validators, rh)
-
-	// create content addressed chunks, one good, one faulty
-	chunks := storage.GenerateRandomChunks(chunk.DefaultSize, 2)
-	goodChunk := chunks[0]
-	badChunk := storage.NewChunk(chunks[1].Address(), goodChunk.Data())
-
-	metadata := &ResourceMetadata{
-		StartTime: startTime,
-		Name:      "xyzzy",
-		Frequency: resourceFrequency,
-		Owner:     signer.Address(),
-	}
-
-	rootChunk, metaHash, err := metadata.newChunk()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	// create a resource update chunk with correct publickey
-	updateLookup := UpdateLookup{
-		period:   42,
-		version:  1,
-		rootAddr: rootChunk.Address(),
-	}
-
-	updateAddr := updateLookup.UpdateAddr()
-	data := []byte("bar")
-
-	r := SignedResourceUpdate{
-		updateAddr: updateAddr,
-		resourceUpdate: resourceUpdate{
-			updateHeader: updateHeader{
-				UpdateLookup: updateLookup,
-				metaHash:     metaHash,
-			},
-			data: data,
-		},
-	}
-
-	r.Sign(signer)
-
-	uglyChunk, err := r.toChunk()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	// put the chunks in the store and check their error status
-	err = store.Put(context.Background(), goodChunk)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("expected error on good content address chunk with resource validator only, but got nil")
-	}
-	err = store.Put(context.Background(), badChunk)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("expected error on bad content address chunk with resource validator only, but got nil")
-	}
-	err = store.Put(context.Background(), uglyChunk)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("expected no error on resource update chunk with resource validator only, but got: %s", err)
-	}
-}
-
-// fast-forward clock
-func fwdClock(count int, timeProvider *fakeTimeProvider) {
-	for i := 0; i < count; i++ {
-		timeProvider.Tick()
-	}
-}
-
-// create rpc and resourcehandler
-func setupTest(timeProvider timestampProvider, signer Signer) (rh *TestHandler, datadir string, teardown func(), err error) {
-
-	var fsClean func()
-	var rpcClean func()
-	cleanF = func() {
-		if fsClean != nil {
-			fsClean()
-		}
-		if rpcClean != nil {
-			rpcClean()
-		}
-	}
-
-	// temp datadir
-	datadir, err = ioutil.TempDir("", "rh")
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, "", nil, err
-	}
-	fsClean = func() {
-		os.RemoveAll(datadir)
-	}
-
-	TimestampProvider = timeProvider
-	rhparams := &HandlerParams{}
-	rh, err = NewTestHandler(datadir, rhparams)
-	return rh, datadir, cleanF, err
-}
-
-func newAliceSigner() *GenericSigner {
-	privKey, _ := crypto.HexToECDSA("deadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeefdeadbeef")
-	return NewGenericSigner(privKey)
-}
-
-func newBobSigner() *GenericSigner {
-	privKey, _ := crypto.HexToECDSA("accedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedeaccedecaca")
-	return NewGenericSigner(privKey)
-}
-
-func newCharlieSigner() *GenericSigner {
-	privKey, _ := crypto.HexToECDSA("facadefacadefacadefacadefacadefacadefacadefacadefacadefacadefaca")
-	return NewGenericSigner(privKey)
-}
-
-func getUpdateDirect(rh *Handler, addr storage.Address) ([]byte, error) {
-	chunk, err := rh.chunkStore.Get(context.TODO(), addr)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	var r SignedResourceUpdate
-	if err := r.fromChunk(addr, chunk.Data()); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return r.data, nil
-}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/signedupdate.go b/swarm/storage/mru/signedupdate.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 41a5a5e63..000000000
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/signedupdate.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,181 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
-// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
-// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-// (at your option) any later version.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
-// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
-//
-// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
-// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-package mru
-
-import (
-	"bytes"
-	"hash"
-
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
-)
-
-// SignedResourceUpdate represents a resource update with all the necessary information to prove ownership of the resource
-type SignedResourceUpdate struct {
-	resourceUpdate // actual content that will be put on the chunk, less signature
-	signature      *Signature
-	updateAddr     storage.Address // resulting chunk address for the update (not serialized, for internal use)
-	binaryData     []byte          // resulting serialized data (not serialized, for efficiency/internal use)
-}
-
-// Verify checks that signatures are valid and that the signer owns the resource to be updated
-func (r *SignedResourceUpdate) Verify() (err error) {
-	if len(r.data) == 0 {
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "Update does not contain data")
-	}
-	if r.signature == nil {
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Missing signature field")
-	}
-
-	digest, err := r.GetDigest()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// get the address of the signer (which also checks that it's a valid signature)
-	ownerAddr, err := getOwner(digest, *r.signature)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	if !bytes.Equal(r.updateAddr, r.UpdateAddr()) {
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Signature address does not match with ownerAddr")
-	}
-
-	// Check if who signed the resource update really owns the resource
-	if !verifyOwner(ownerAddr, r.metaHash, r.rootAddr) {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrUnauthorized, "signature is valid but signer does not own the resource: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
-
-// Sign executes the signature to validate the resource
-func (r *SignedResourceUpdate) Sign(signer Signer) error {
-
-	r.binaryData = nil           //invalidate serialized data
-	digest, err := r.GetDigest() // computes digest and serializes into .binaryData
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	signature, err := signer.Sign(digest)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// Although the Signer interface returns the public address of the signer,
-	// recover it from the signature to see if they match
-	ownerAddress, err := getOwner(digest, signature)
-	if err != nil {
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Error verifying signature")
-	}
-
-	if ownerAddress != signer.Address() { // sanity check to make sure the Signer is declaring the same address used to sign!
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "Signer address does not match ownerAddr")
-	}
-
-	r.signature = &signature
-	r.updateAddr = r.UpdateAddr()
-	return nil
-}
-
-// create an update chunk.
-func (r *SignedResourceUpdate) toChunk() (storage.Chunk, error) {
-
-	// Check that the update is signed and serialized
-	// For efficiency, data is serialized during signature and cached in
-	// the binaryData field when computing the signature digest in .getDigest()
-	if r.signature == nil || r.binaryData == nil {
-		return nil, NewError(ErrInvalidSignature, "newUpdateChunk called without a valid signature or payload data. Call .Sign() first.")
-	}
-
-	resourceUpdateLength := r.resourceUpdate.binaryLength()
-	// signature is the last item in the chunk data
-	copy(r.binaryData[resourceUpdateLength:], r.signature[:])
-
-	chunk := storage.NewChunk(r.updateAddr, r.binaryData)
-	return chunk, nil
-}
-
-// fromChunk populates this structure from chunk data. It does not verify the signature is valid.
-func (r *SignedResourceUpdate) fromChunk(updateAddr storage.Address, chunkdata []byte) error {
-	// for update chunk layout see SignedResourceUpdate definition
-
-	//deserialize the resource update portion
-	if err := r.resourceUpdate.binaryGet(chunkdata); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// Extract the signature
-	var signature *Signature
-	cursor := r.resourceUpdate.binaryLength()
-	sigdata := chunkdata[cursor : cursor+signatureLength]
-	if len(sigdata) > 0 {
-		signature = &Signature{}
-		copy(signature[:], sigdata)
-	}
-
-	r.signature = signature
-	r.updateAddr = updateAddr
-	r.binaryData = chunkdata
-
-	return nil
-
-}
-
-// GetDigest creates the resource update digest used in signatures (formerly known as keyDataHash)
-// the serialized payload is cached in .binaryData
-func (r *SignedResourceUpdate) GetDigest() (result common.Hash, err error) {
-	hasher := hashPool.Get().(hash.Hash)
-	defer hashPool.Put(hasher)
-	hasher.Reset()
-	dataLength := r.resourceUpdate.binaryLength()
-	if r.binaryData == nil {
-		r.binaryData = make([]byte, dataLength+signatureLength)
-		if err := r.resourceUpdate.binaryPut(r.binaryData[:dataLength]); err != nil {
-			return result, err
-		}
-	}
-	hasher.Write(r.binaryData[:dataLength]) //everything except the signature.
-
-	return common.BytesToHash(hasher.Sum(nil)), nil
-}
-
-// getOwner extracts the address of the resource update signer
-func getOwner(digest common.Hash, signature Signature) (common.Address, error) {
-	pub, err := crypto.SigToPub(digest.Bytes(), signature[:])
-	if err != nil {
-		return common.Address{}, err
-	}
-	return crypto.PubkeyToAddress(*pub), nil
-}
-
-// verifyResourceOwnerhsip checks that the signer of the update actually owns the resource
-// H(ownerAddr, metaHash) is computed. If it matches the rootAddr the update chunk is claiming
-// to update, it is proven that signer of the resource update owns the resource.
-// See metadataHash in metadata.go for a more detailed explanation
-func verifyOwner(ownerAddr common.Address, metaHash []byte, rootAddr storage.Address) bool {
-	hasher := hashPool.Get().(hash.Hash)
-	defer hashPool.Put(hasher)
-	hasher.Reset()
-	hasher.Write(metaHash)
-	hasher.Write(ownerAddr.Bytes())
-	rootAddr2 := hasher.Sum(nil)
-	return bytes.Equal(rootAddr2, rootAddr)
-}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/timestampprovider.go b/swarm/storage/mru/timestampprovider.go
index f483491aa..6ac153213 100644
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/timestampprovider.go
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/timestampprovider.go
@@ -18,15 +18,16 @@ package mru
 
 import (
 	"encoding/binary"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"time"
 )
 
 // TimestampProvider sets the time source of the mru package
 var TimestampProvider timestampProvider = NewDefaultTimestampProvider()
 
-// Encodes a point in time as a Unix epoch
+// Timestamp encodes a point in time as a Unix epoch
 type Timestamp struct {
-	Time uint64 // Unix epoch timestamp, in seconds
+	Time uint64 `json:"time"` // Unix epoch timestamp, in seconds
 }
 
 // 8 bytes uint64 Time
@@ -55,6 +56,18 @@ func (t *Timestamp) binaryPut(data []byte) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// UnmarshalJSON implements the json.Unmarshaller interface
+func (t *Timestamp) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
+	return json.Unmarshal(data, &t.Time)
+}
+
+// MarshalJSON implements the json.Marshaller interface
+func (t *Timestamp) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+	return json.Marshal(t.Time)
+}
+
+// DefaultTimestampProvider is a TimestampProvider that uses system time
+// as time source
 type DefaultTimestampProvider struct {
 }
 
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/topic.go b/swarm/storage/mru/topic.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f318a5593
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/topic.go
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/bitutil"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
+)
+
+// TopicLength establishes the max length of a topic string
+const TopicLength = storage.AddressLength
+
+// Topic represents what a resource talks about
+type Topic [TopicLength]byte
+
+// ErrTopicTooLong is returned when creating a topic with a name/related content too long
+var ErrTopicTooLong = fmt.Errorf("Topic is too long. Max length is %d", TopicLength)
+
+// NewTopic creates a new topic from a provided name and "related content" byte array,
+// merging the two together.
+// If relatedContent or name are longer than TopicLength, they will be truncated and an error returned
+// name can be an empty string
+// relatedContent can be nil
+func NewTopic(name string, relatedContent []byte) (topic Topic, err error) {
+	if relatedContent != nil {
+		contentLength := len(relatedContent)
+		if contentLength > TopicLength {
+			contentLength = TopicLength
+			err = ErrTopicTooLong
+		}
+		copy(topic[:], relatedContent[:contentLength])
+	}
+	nameBytes := []byte(name)
+	nameLength := len(nameBytes)
+	if nameLength > TopicLength {
+		nameLength = TopicLength
+		err = ErrTopicTooLong
+	}
+	bitutil.XORBytes(topic[:], topic[:], nameBytes[:nameLength])
+	return topic, err
+}
+
+// Hex will return the topic encoded as an hex string
+func (t *Topic) Hex() string {
+	return hexutil.Encode(t[:])
+}
+
+// FromHex will parse a hex string into this Topic instance
+func (t *Topic) FromHex(hex string) error {
+	bytes, err := hexutil.Decode(hex)
+	if err != nil || len(bytes) != len(t) {
+		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Cannot decode topic")
+	}
+	copy(t[:], bytes)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Name will try to extract the resource name out of the topic
+func (t *Topic) Name(relatedContent []byte) string {
+	nameBytes := *t
+	if relatedContent != nil {
+		contentLength := len(relatedContent)
+		if contentLength > TopicLength {
+			contentLength = TopicLength
+		}
+		bitutil.XORBytes(nameBytes[:], t[:], relatedContent[:contentLength])
+	}
+	z := bytes.IndexByte(nameBytes[:], 0)
+	if z < 0 {
+		z = TopicLength
+	}
+	return string(nameBytes[:z])
+
+}
+
+// UnmarshalJSON implements the json.Unmarshaller interface
+func (t *Topic) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
+	var hex string
+	json.Unmarshal(data, &hex)
+	return t.FromHex(hex)
+}
+
+// MarshalJSON implements the json.Marshaller interface
+func (t *Topic) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+	return json.Marshal(t.Hex())
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/topic_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/topic_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dad7c7ddc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/topic_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
+)
+
+func TestTopic(t *testing.T) {
+	related, _ := hexutil.Decode("0xabcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789")
+	topicName := "test-topic"
+	topic, _ := NewTopic(topicName, related)
+	hex := topic.Hex()
+	expectedHex := "0xdfa89c750e3108f9c2aeef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789"
+	if hex != expectedHex {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected %s, got %s", expectedHex, hex)
+	}
+
+	var topic2 Topic
+	topic2.FromHex(hex)
+	if topic2 != topic {
+		t.Fatal("Expected recovered topic to be equal to original one")
+	}
+
+	if topic2.Name(related) != topicName {
+		t.Fatal("Retrieved name does not match")
+	}
+
+	bytes, err := topic2.MarshalJSON()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	expectedJSON := `"0xdfa89c750e3108f9c2aeef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789"`
+	equal, err := areEqualJSON(expectedJSON, string(bytes))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !equal {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected JSON to be %s, got %s", expectedJSON, string(bytes))
+	}
+
+	err = topic2.UnmarshalJSON(bytes)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if topic2 != topic {
+		t.Fatal("Expected recovered topic to be equal to original one")
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/update.go b/swarm/storage/mru/update.go
index d1bd37ddf..6aa57fce1 100644
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/update.go
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/update.go
@@ -17,36 +17,35 @@
 package mru
 
 import (
-	"encoding/binary"
-	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/chunk"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/log"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/multihash"
 )
 
-// resourceUpdate encapsulates the information sent as part of a resource update
-type resourceUpdate struct {
-	updateHeader        // metainformationa about this resource update
-	data         []byte // actual data payload
+// ProtocolVersion defines the current version of the protocol that will be included in each update message
+const ProtocolVersion uint8 = 0
+
+const headerLength = 8
+
+// Header defines a update message header including a protocol version byte
+type Header struct {
+	Version uint8                   // Protocol version
+	Padding [headerLength - 1]uint8 // reserved for future use
 }
 
-// Update chunk layout
-// Prefix:
-// 2 bytes updateHeaderLength
-// 2 bytes data length
-const chunkPrefixLength = 2 + 2
+// ResourceUpdate encapsulates the information sent as part of a resource update
+type ResourceUpdate struct {
+	Header Header //
+	ID            // Resource update identifying information
+	data   []byte // actual data payload
+}
 
-// Header: (see updateHeader)
-// Data:
-// data (datalength bytes)
-//
-// Minimum size is Header + 1 (minimum data length, enforced)
-const minimumUpdateDataLength = updateHeaderLength + 1
-const maxUpdateDataLength = chunk.DefaultSize - signatureLength - updateHeaderLength - chunkPrefixLength
+const minimumUpdateDataLength = idLength + headerLength + 1
+const maxUpdateDataLength = chunk.DefaultSize - signatureLength - idLength - headerLength
 
 // binaryPut serializes the resource update information into the given slice
-func (r *resourceUpdate) binaryPut(serializedData []byte) error {
+func (r *ResourceUpdate) binaryPut(serializedData []byte) error {
 	datalength := len(r.data)
 	if datalength == 0 {
 		return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "cannot update a resource with no data")
@@ -60,26 +59,17 @@ func (r *resourceUpdate) binaryPut(serializedData []byte) error {
 		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "slice passed to putBinary must be of exact size. Expected %d bytes", r.binaryLength())
 	}
 
-	if r.multihash {
-		if _, _, err := multihash.GetMultihashLength(r.data); err != nil {
-			return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "Invalid multihash")
-		}
-	}
-
-	// Add prefix: updateHeaderLength and actual data length
-	cursor := 0
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(serializedData[cursor:], uint16(updateHeaderLength))
-	cursor += 2
+	var cursor int
+	// serialize Header
+	serializedData[cursor] = r.Header.Version
+	copy(serializedData[cursor+1:headerLength], r.Header.Padding[:headerLength-1])
+	cursor += headerLength
 
-	// data length
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(serializedData[cursor:], uint16(datalength))
-	cursor += 2
-
-	// serialize header (see updateHeader)
-	if err := r.updateHeader.binaryPut(serializedData[cursor : cursor+updateHeaderLength]); err != nil {
+	// serialize ID
+	if err := r.ID.binaryPut(serializedData[cursor : cursor+idLength]); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	cursor += updateHeaderLength
+	cursor += idLength
 
 	// add the data
 	copy(serializedData[cursor:], r.data)
@@ -89,60 +79,54 @@ func (r *resourceUpdate) binaryPut(serializedData []byte) error {
 }
 
 // binaryLength returns the expected number of bytes this structure will take to encode
-func (r *resourceUpdate) binaryLength() int {
-	return chunkPrefixLength + updateHeaderLength + len(r.data)
+func (r *ResourceUpdate) binaryLength() int {
+	return idLength + headerLength + len(r.data)
 }
 
 // binaryGet populates this instance from the information contained in the passed byte slice
-func (r *resourceUpdate) binaryGet(serializedData []byte) error {
+func (r *ResourceUpdate) binaryGet(serializedData []byte) error {
 	if len(serializedData) < minimumUpdateDataLength {
 		return NewErrorf(ErrNothingToReturn, "chunk less than %d bytes cannot be a resource update chunk", minimumUpdateDataLength)
 	}
-	cursor := 0
-	declaredHeaderlength := binary.LittleEndian.Uint16(serializedData[cursor : cursor+2])
-	if declaredHeaderlength != updateHeaderLength {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrCorruptData, "Invalid header length. Expected %d, got %d", updateHeaderLength, declaredHeaderlength)
-	}
+	dataLength := len(serializedData) - idLength - headerLength
+	// at this point we can be satisfied that we have the correct data length to read
 
-	cursor += 2
-	datalength := int(binary.LittleEndian.Uint16(serializedData[cursor : cursor+2]))
-	cursor += 2
+	var cursor int
 
-	if chunkPrefixLength+updateHeaderLength+datalength+signatureLength != len(serializedData) {
-		return NewError(ErrNothingToReturn, "length specified in header is different than actual chunk size")
-	}
+	// deserialize Header
+	r.Header.Version = serializedData[cursor]                                      // extract the protocol version
+	copy(r.Header.Padding[:headerLength-1], serializedData[cursor+1:headerLength]) // extract the padding
+	cursor += headerLength
 
-	// at this point we can be satisfied that we have the correct data length to read
-	if err := r.updateHeader.binaryGet(serializedData[cursor : cursor+updateHeaderLength]); err != nil {
+	if err := r.ID.binaryGet(serializedData[cursor : cursor+idLength]); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	cursor += updateHeaderLength
-
-	data := serializedData[cursor : cursor+datalength]
-	cursor += datalength
+	cursor += idLength
 
-	// if multihash content is indicated we check the validity of the multihash
-	if r.updateHeader.multihash {
-		mhLength, mhHeaderLength, err := multihash.GetMultihashLength(data)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Error("multihash parse error", "err", err)
-			return err
-		}
-		if datalength != mhLength+mhHeaderLength {
-			log.Debug("multihash error", "datalength", datalength, "mhLength", mhLength, "mhHeaderLength", mhHeaderLength)
-			return errors.New("Corrupt multihash data")
-		}
-	}
+	data := serializedData[cursor : cursor+dataLength]
+	cursor += dataLength
 
 	// now that all checks have passed, copy data into structure
-	r.data = make([]byte, datalength)
+	r.data = make([]byte, dataLength)
 	copy(r.data, data)
 
 	return nil
 
 }
 
-// Multihash specifies whether the resource data should be interpreted as multihash
-func (r *resourceUpdate) Multihash() bool {
-	return r.multihash
+// FromValues deserializes this instance from a string key-value store
+// useful to parse query strings
+func (r *ResourceUpdate) FromValues(values Values, data []byte) error {
+	r.data = data
+	version, _ := strconv.ParseUint(values.Get("protocolVersion"), 10, 32)
+	r.Header.Version = uint8(version)
+	return r.ID.FromValues(values)
+}
+
+// AppendValues serializes this structure into the provided string key-value store
+// useful to build query strings
+func (r *ResourceUpdate) AppendValues(values Values) []byte {
+	r.ID.AppendValues(values)
+	values.Set("protocolVersion", fmt.Sprintf("%d", r.Header.Version))
+	return r.data
 }
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/update_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/update_test.go
index 51e9d2fcc..bd706d83a 100644
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/update_test.go
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/update_test.go
@@ -1,72 +1,50 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
 package mru
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"testing"
 )
 
-const serializedUpdateHex = "0x490034004f000000da070000fb0ed7efa696bdb0b54cd75554cc3117ffc891454317df7dd6fefad978e2f2fbf74a10ce8f26ffc8bfaa07c3031a34b2c61f517955e7deb1592daccf96c69cf000456c20717565206c6565206d7563686f207920616e6461206d7563686f2c207665206d7563686f20792073616265206d7563686f"
-const serializedUpdateMultihashHex = "0x490022004f000000da070000fb0ed7efa696bdb0b54cd75554cc3117ffc891454317df7dd6fefad978e2f2fbf74a10ce8f26ffc8bfaa07c3031a34b2c61f517955e7deb1592daccf96c69cf0011b200102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f101112131415161718191a1b1c1c1e1f20"
-
-func getTestResourceUpdate() *resourceUpdate {
-	return &resourceUpdate{
-		updateHeader: *getTestUpdateHeader(false),
-		data:         []byte("El que lee mucho y anda mucho, ve mucho y sabe mucho"),
-	}
-}
-
-func getTestResourceUpdateMultihash() *resourceUpdate {
-	return &resourceUpdate{
-		updateHeader: *getTestUpdateHeader(true),
-		data:         []byte{0x1b, 0x20, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 28, 30, 31, 32},
+func getTestResourceUpdate() *ResourceUpdate {
+	return &ResourceUpdate{
+		ID:   *getTestID(),
+		data: []byte("El que lee mucho y anda mucho, ve mucho y sabe mucho"),
 	}
 }
 
-func compareResourceUpdate(a, b *resourceUpdate) bool {
-	return compareUpdateHeader(&a.updateHeader, &b.updateHeader) &&
-		bytes.Equal(a.data, b.data)
-}
-
 func TestResourceUpdateSerializer(t *testing.T) {
-	var serializedUpdateLength = len(serializedUpdateHex)/2 - 1 // hack to calculate the byte length out of the hex representation
-	update := getTestResourceUpdate()
-	serializedUpdate := make([]byte, serializedUpdateLength)
-	if err := update.binaryPut(serializedUpdate); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "serializedUpdate", serializedUpdate, serializedUpdateHex)
-
-	// Test fail if update does not contain data
-	update.data = nil
-	if err := update.binaryPut(serializedUpdate); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected resourceUpdate.binaryPut to fail since update does not contain data")
-	}
+	testBinarySerializerRecovery(t, getTestResourceUpdate(), "0x0000000000000000776f726c64206e657773207265706f72742c20657665727920686f7572000000876a8936a7cd0b79ef0735ad0896c1afe278781ce803000000000019456c20717565206c6565206d7563686f207920616e6461206d7563686f2c207665206d7563686f20792073616265206d7563686f")
+}
 
+func TestResourceUpdateLengthCheck(t *testing.T) {
+	testBinarySerializerLengthCheck(t, getTestResourceUpdate())
 	// Test fail if update is too big
-	update.data = make([]byte, 10000)
-	if err := update.binaryPut(serializedUpdate); err == nil {
+	update := getTestResourceUpdate()
+	update.data = make([]byte, maxUpdateDataLength+100)
+	serialized := make([]byte, update.binaryLength())
+	if err := update.binaryPut(serialized); err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("Expected resourceUpdate.binaryPut to fail since update is too big")
 	}
 
-	// Test fail if passed slice is not of the exact size required for this update
-	update.data = make([]byte, 1)
-	if err := update.binaryPut(serializedUpdate); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected resourceUpdate.binaryPut to fail since passed slice is not of the appropriate size")
-	}
-
-	// Test serializing a multihash update
-	var serializedUpdateMultihashLength = len(serializedUpdateMultihashHex)/2 - 1 // hack to calculate the byte length out of the hex representation
-	update = getTestResourceUpdateMultihash()
-	serializedUpdate = make([]byte, serializedUpdateMultihashLength)
-	if err := update.binaryPut(serializedUpdate); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "serializedUpdate", serializedUpdate, serializedUpdateMultihashHex)
-
-	// mess with the multihash to test it fails with a wrong multihash error
-	update.data[1] = 79
-	if err := update.binaryPut(serializedUpdate); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected resourceUpdate.binaryPut to fail since data contains an invalid multihash")
+	// test fail if data is empty or nil
+	update.data = nil
+	serialized = make([]byte, update.binaryLength())
+	if err := update.binaryPut(serialized); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Expected resourceUpdate.binaryPut to fail since data is empty")
 	}
-
 }
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/updateheader.go b/swarm/storage/mru/updateheader.go
deleted file mode 100644
index f0039eaf6..000000000
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/updateheader.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,88 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
-// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
-// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-// (at your option) any later version.
-//
-// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
-// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
-//
-// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
-// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-package mru
-
-import (
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
-)
-
-// updateHeader models the non-payload components of a Resource Update
-type updateHeader struct {
-	UpdateLookup        // UpdateLookup contains the information required to locate this resource (components of the search key used to find it)
-	multihash    bool   // Whether the data in this Resource Update should be interpreted as multihash
-	metaHash     []byte // SHA3 hash of the metadata chunk (less ownerAddr). Used to prove ownerhsip of the resource.
-}
-
-const metaHashLength = storage.AddressLength
-
-// updateLookupLength bytes
-// 1 byte flags (multihash bool for now)
-// 32 bytes metaHash
-const updateHeaderLength = updateLookupLength + 1 + metaHashLength
-
-// binaryPut serializes the resource header information into the given slice
-func (h *updateHeader) binaryPut(serializedData []byte) error {
-	if len(serializedData) != updateHeaderLength {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Incorrect slice size to serialize updateHeaderLength. Expected %d, got %d", updateHeaderLength, len(serializedData))
-	}
-	if len(h.metaHash) != metaHashLength {
-		return NewError(ErrInvalidValue, "updateHeader.binaryPut called without metaHash set")
-	}
-	if err := h.UpdateLookup.binaryPut(serializedData[:updateLookupLength]); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	cursor := updateLookupLength
-	copy(serializedData[cursor:], h.metaHash[:metaHashLength])
-	cursor += metaHashLength
-
-	var flags byte
-	if h.multihash {
-		flags |= 0x01
-	}
-
-	serializedData[cursor] = flags
-	cursor++
-
-	return nil
-}
-
-// binaryLength returns the expected size of this structure when serialized
-func (h *updateHeader) binaryLength() int {
-	return updateHeaderLength
-}
-
-// binaryGet restores the current updateHeader instance from the information contained in the passed slice
-func (h *updateHeader) binaryGet(serializedData []byte) error {
-	if len(serializedData) != updateHeaderLength {
-		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Incorrect slice size to read updateHeaderLength. Expected %d, got %d", updateHeaderLength, len(serializedData))
-	}
-
-	if err := h.UpdateLookup.binaryGet(serializedData[:updateLookupLength]); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	cursor := updateLookupLength
-	h.metaHash = make([]byte, metaHashLength)
-	copy(h.metaHash[:storage.AddressLength], serializedData[cursor:cursor+storage.AddressLength])
-	cursor += metaHashLength
-
-	flags := serializedData[cursor]
-	cursor++
-
-	h.multihash = flags&0x01 != 0
-
-	return nil
-}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/updateheader_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/updateheader_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index b1f505989..000000000
--- a/swarm/storage/mru/updateheader_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,64 +0,0 @@
-package mru
-
-import (
-	"bytes"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
-)
-
-const serializedUpdateHeaderMultihashHex = "0x4f000000da070000fb0ed7efa696bdb0b54cd75554cc3117ffc891454317df7dd6fefad978e2f2fbf74a10ce8f26ffc8bfaa07c3031a34b2c61f517955e7deb1592daccf96c69cf001"
-
-func getTestUpdateHeader(multihash bool) (header *updateHeader) {
-	_, metaHash, _, _ := getTestMetadata().serializeAndHash()
-	return &updateHeader{
-		UpdateLookup: *getTestUpdateLookup(),
-		multihash:    multihash,
-		metaHash:     metaHash,
-	}
-}
-
-func compareUpdateHeader(a, b *updateHeader) bool {
-	return compareUpdateLookup(&a.UpdateLookup, &b.UpdateLookup) &&
-		a.multihash == b.multihash &&
-		bytes.Equal(a.metaHash, b.metaHash)
-}
-
-func TestUpdateHeaderSerializer(t *testing.T) {
-	header := getTestUpdateHeader(true)
-	serializedHeader := make([]byte, updateHeaderLength)
-	if err := header.binaryPut(serializedHeader); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	compareByteSliceToExpectedHex(t, "serializedHeader", serializedHeader, serializedUpdateHeaderMultihashHex)
-
-	// trigger incorrect slice length error passing a slice that is 1 byte too big
-	if err := header.binaryPut(make([]byte, updateHeaderLength+1)); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected updateHeader.binaryPut to fail since supplied slice is of incorrect length")
-	}
-
-	// trigger invalid metaHash error
-	header.metaHash = nil
-	if err := header.binaryPut(serializedHeader); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected updateHeader.binaryPut to fail metaHash is of incorrect length")
-	}
-}
-
-func TestUpdateHeaderDeserializer(t *testing.T) {
-	originalUpdate := getTestUpdateHeader(true)
-	serializedData, _ := hexutil.Decode(serializedUpdateHeaderMultihashHex)
-	var retrievedUpdate updateHeader
-	if err := retrievedUpdate.binaryGet(serializedData); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if !compareUpdateHeader(originalUpdate, &retrievedUpdate) {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected deserialized structure to equal the original")
-	}
-
-	// mess with source slice to test length checks
-	serializedData = []byte{1, 2, 3}
-	if err := retrievedUpdate.binaryGet(serializedData); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Expected retrievedUpdate.binaryGet, since passed slice is too small")
-	}
-
-}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/view.go b/swarm/storage/mru/view.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2e4ce4a0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/view.go
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"hash"
+	"unsafe"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common/hexutil"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/storage"
+)
+
+// View represents a particular user's view of a resource
+type View struct {
+	Topic Topic          `json:"topic"`
+	User  common.Address `json:"user"`
+}
+
+// View layout:
+// TopicLength bytes
+// userAddr common.AddressLength bytes
+const viewLength = TopicLength + common.AddressLength
+
+// mapKey calculates a unique id for this view for the cache map in `Handler`
+func (u *View) mapKey() uint64 {
+	serializedData := make([]byte, viewLength)
+	u.binaryPut(serializedData)
+	hasher := hashPool.Get().(hash.Hash)
+	defer hashPool.Put(hasher)
+	hasher.Reset()
+	hasher.Write(serializedData)
+	hash := hasher.Sum(nil)
+	return *(*uint64)(unsafe.Pointer(&hash[0]))
+}
+
+// binaryPut serializes this View instance into the provided slice
+func (u *View) binaryPut(serializedData []byte) error {
+	if len(serializedData) != viewLength {
+		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Incorrect slice size to serialize View. Expected %d, got %d", viewLength, len(serializedData))
+	}
+	var cursor int
+	copy(serializedData[cursor:cursor+TopicLength], u.Topic[:TopicLength])
+	cursor += TopicLength
+
+	copy(serializedData[cursor:cursor+common.AddressLength], u.User[:])
+	cursor += common.AddressLength
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// binaryLength returns the expected size of this structure when serialized
+func (u *View) binaryLength() int {
+	return viewLength
+}
+
+// binaryGet restores the current instance from the information contained in the passed slice
+func (u *View) binaryGet(serializedData []byte) error {
+	if len(serializedData) != viewLength {
+		return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "Incorrect slice size to read View. Expected %d, got %d", viewLength, len(serializedData))
+	}
+
+	var cursor int
+	copy(u.Topic[:], serializedData[cursor:cursor+TopicLength])
+	cursor += TopicLength
+
+	copy(u.User[:], serializedData[cursor:cursor+common.AddressLength])
+	cursor += common.AddressLength
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Hex serializes the View to a hex string
+func (u *View) Hex() string {
+	serializedData := make([]byte, viewLength)
+	u.binaryPut(serializedData)
+	return hexutil.Encode(serializedData)
+}
+
+// FromValues deserializes this instance from a string key-value store
+// useful to parse query strings
+func (u *View) FromValues(values Values) (err error) {
+	topic := values.Get("topic")
+	if topic != "" {
+		if err := u.Topic.FromHex(values.Get("topic")); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	} else { // see if the user set name and relatedcontent
+		name := values.Get("name")
+		relatedContent, _ := hexutil.Decode(values.Get("relatedcontent"))
+		if len(relatedContent) > 0 {
+			if len(relatedContent) < storage.AddressLength {
+				return NewErrorf(ErrInvalidValue, "relatedcontent field must be a hex-encoded byte array exactly %d bytes long", storage.AddressLength)
+			}
+			relatedContent = relatedContent[:storage.AddressLength]
+		}
+		u.Topic, err = NewTopic(name, relatedContent)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	u.User = common.HexToAddress(values.Get("user"))
+	return nil
+}
+
+// AppendValues serializes this structure into the provided string key-value store
+// useful to build query strings
+func (u *View) AppendValues(values Values) {
+	values.Set("topic", u.Topic.Hex())
+	values.Set("user", u.User.Hex())
+}
diff --git a/swarm/storage/mru/view_test.go b/swarm/storage/mru/view_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..45720ba79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm/storage/mru/view_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of the go-ethereum library.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// The go-ethereum library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with the go-ethereum library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+package mru
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func getTestView() *View {
+	topic, _ := NewTopic("world news report, every hour", nil)
+	return &View{
+		Topic: topic,
+		User:  newCharlieSigner().Address(),
+	}
+}
+
+func TestViewSerializerDeserializer(t *testing.T) {
+	testBinarySerializerRecovery(t, getTestView(), "0x776f726c64206e657773207265706f72742c20657665727920686f7572000000876a8936a7cd0b79ef0735ad0896c1afe278781c")
+}
+
+func TestMetadataSerializerLengthCheck(t *testing.T) {
+	testBinarySerializerLengthCheck(t, getTestView())
+}