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Consensus in Blockchain Systems with Low Network Throughput: A Systematic Mapping Study

Abstract

Blockchain technologies originate from cryptocurrencies. Thus, most blockchain technologies assume an environment with a fast and stable network. However, in some blockchain-based systems, e.g., supply chain management (SCM) systems, some Internet of Things (IoT) nodes can only rely on the low-quality network sometimes to achieve consensus. Thus, it is critical to understand the applicability of existing consensus algorithms in such environments. We performed a systematic mapping study to evaluate and compare existing consensus mechanisms’ capability to provide integrity and security with varying network properties. Our study identified 25 state-of-the-art consensus algorithms from published and preprint literature. We categorized and compared the consensus algorithms qualitatively based on established performance and integrity metrics and well-known blockchain security issues. Results show that consensus algorithms that rely on synchronous network for correctness cannot provide the expected integrity. Such consensus algorithms may also be vulnerable to distributed-denial-of-service (DDOS) and routing attacks, given limited network throughput. Conversely, asynchronous consensus algorithms, e.g., Honey-BadgerBFT, are deemed more robust against many of these attacks and may provide high integrity in asynchronous events.

Category

Academic chapter

Language

English

Author(s)

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Group Head Office
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Year

2021

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

Book

Proceedings of the 3rd Blockchain and Internet of Things Conference (BIOTC 2021)

ISBN

9781450389518

Page(s)

20 - 29

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository