Pub Date : 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100196
The interest in Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) in research, industry, and governments is rapidly increasing. SSI is a paradigm where users hold their identity and credentials issued by authorized entities. SSI is revolutionizing the concept of digital identity and enabling the definition of a trust framework wherein a service provider (verifier) validates the claims presented by a user (holder) for accessing services. However, current SSI solutions primarily focus on the presentation and verification of claims, overlooking a dual aspect: ensuring that the verifier is authorized to access the holder's claims. Addressing this gap, this paper introduces an innovative SSI-based solution that integrates decentralized wallets with Ciphertext-Policy Attribute-Based Proxy Re-Encryption (CP-ABPRE). This combination effectively addresses the challenge of verifier authorization. Our solution, implemented on the Ethereum platform, enhances accountability by notarizing key operations through a smart contract. This paper also offers a prototype demonstrating the practicality of the proposed approach. Furthermore, it provides an extensive evaluation of the solution's performance, emphasizing its feasibility and efficiency in real-world applications.
{"title":"How can the holder trust the verifier? A CP-ABPRE-based solution to control the access to claims in a Self-Sovereign-Identity scenario","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100196","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100196","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The interest in Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) in research, industry, and governments is rapidly increasing. SSI is a paradigm where users hold their identity and credentials issued by authorized entities. SSI is revolutionizing the concept of digital identity and enabling the definition of a trust framework wherein a service provider (verifier) validates the claims presented by a user (holder) for accessing services. However, current SSI solutions primarily focus on the presentation and verification of claims, overlooking a dual aspect: ensuring that the verifier is authorized to access the holder's claims. Addressing this gap, this paper introduces an innovative SSI-based solution that integrates decentralized wallets with Ciphertext-Policy Attribute-Based Proxy Re-Encryption (CP-ABPRE). This combination effectively addresses the challenge of verifier authorization. Our solution, implemented on the Ethereum platform, enhances accountability by notarizing key operations through a smart contract. This paper also offers a prototype demonstrating the practicality of the proposed approach. Furthermore, it provides an extensive evaluation of the solution's performance, emphasizing its feasibility and efficiency in real-world applications.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100196"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096720924000095/pdfft?md5=670501a0e4d21da648399fb2a95be292&pid=1-s2.0-S2096720924000095-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140763959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100211
This study addresses integrating blockchain technology into lightweight devices, specifically clustered Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Integrating blockchain into the WSNs solves the problems of heterogeneity, data integrity, and data confidentiality. However, no blockchain integration considers network lifetime in WSNs. This research focuses on developing a permissioned blockchain system that incorporates a consensus mechanism known as Proof-of-Authority (PoA) within clustered WSNs with two main features. The first feature is to enhance the network lifetime by introducing a rotational selection of block proposers using an Energy-Aware PoA (EA-PoA) weighting mechanism. Known as the Multi-Level Blockchain Model (MLBM), the subsequent feature is to create a hierarchical network model within a blockchain network. The MLBM network comprises both local and master blockchains. Each cluster inside a WSN possesses its local blockchain network. In the MLBM, the local blockchain creates a block on the main blockchain by proposing the headers of every 10 blocks to improve data integrity. Each local blockchain has its leader, which can increase block production. The results show that the proposed solution can overcome traditional PoA performance and is suitable for clustered WSNs. In terms of lifetime, the EA-PoA selection method can extend the network lifetime by up to 10%. In addition, the MLBM can increase block production by up to twice each additional cluster compared to a single blockchain network used in traditional PoA.
{"title":"Energy-aware proof-of-authority: Blockchain consensus for clustered wireless sensor network","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100211","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100211","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study addresses integrating blockchain technology into lightweight devices, specifically clustered Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Integrating blockchain into the WSNs solves the problems of heterogeneity, data integrity, and data confidentiality. However, no blockchain integration considers network lifetime in WSNs. This research focuses on developing a permissioned blockchain system that incorporates a consensus mechanism known as Proof-of-Authority (PoA) within clustered WSNs with two main features. The first feature is to enhance the network lifetime by introducing a rotational selection of block proposers using an Energy-Aware PoA (EA-PoA) weighting mechanism. Known as the Multi-Level Blockchain Model (MLBM), the subsequent feature is to create a hierarchical network model within a blockchain network. The MLBM network comprises both local and master blockchains. Each cluster inside a WSN possesses its local blockchain network. In the MLBM, the local blockchain creates a block on the main blockchain by proposing the headers of every 10 blocks to improve data integrity. Each local blockchain has its leader, which can increase block production. The results show that the proposed solution can overcome traditional PoA performance and is suitable for clustered WSNs. In terms of lifetime, the EA-PoA selection method can extend the network lifetime by up to 10%. In addition, the MLBM can increase block production by up to twice each additional cluster compared to a single blockchain network used in traditional PoA.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100211"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141397258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100203
Matthias Gottlieb , Christina Deutsch , Felix Hoops , Hans Pongratz , Helmut Krcmar
In the education sector, blockchain is currently at the end of the peak of inflated expectations in Gartner’s Hype Cycle. Thus, it is crucial to understand whether this technology meets the expectations of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). We go on an expedition to identify blockchain application scenarios and its potential for HEI administration—the universities are digitalized to just 23.3%.
Current information systems research addresses classifications of blockchain-based projects (application level) rather than their technical realization (protocol level). Thus, when evaluating blockchain application scenarios in HEI administration, we intensively consider the technical side of blockchain-based projects. We perform a three-step approach: (1) systematic literature review, (2) qualitative exploratory semi-structured interviews to supplement information on market-ready solutions, and (3) an evaluation of the potential of the blockchain-based projects identified, based on HEI administration requirements.
We find that the leading blockchain application scenarios are credential verification and record-sharing. At the protocol level, we obtain equivocal results regarding the technical realization of projects, e.g., their underlying blockchain types and storage models. At the application level, when discussing the potential of different projects, we find that most of them address adaptability, complexity decomposition, and cost reduction requirements between HEIs; interest diversity and stakeholder collaboration between HEIs and business actors; privacy and trust between HEIs and students.
{"title":"Expedition to the blockchain application potential for higher education institutions","authors":"Matthias Gottlieb , Christina Deutsch , Felix Hoops , Hans Pongratz , Helmut Krcmar","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100203","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100203","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the education sector, blockchain is currently at the end of the peak of inflated expectations in Gartner’s Hype Cycle. Thus, it is crucial to understand whether this technology meets the expectations of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). We go on an expedition to identify blockchain application scenarios and its potential for HEI administration—the universities are digitalized to just 23.3%.</div><div>Current information systems research addresses classifications of blockchain-based projects (application level) rather than their technical realization (protocol level). Thus, when evaluating blockchain application scenarios in HEI administration, we intensively consider the technical side of blockchain-based projects. We perform a three-step approach: (1) systematic literature review, (2) qualitative exploratory semi-structured interviews to supplement information on market-ready solutions, and (3) an evaluation of the potential of the blockchain-based projects identified, based on HEI administration requirements.</div><div>We find that the leading blockchain application scenarios are credential verification and record-sharing. At the protocol level, we obtain equivocal results regarding the technical realization of projects, e.g., their underlying blockchain types and storage models. At the application level, when discussing the potential of different projects, we find that most of them address adaptability, complexity decomposition, and cost reduction requirements between HEIs; interest diversity and stakeholder collaboration between HEIs and business actors; privacy and trust between HEIs and students.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100203"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096720924000162/pdfft?md5=8e0b84cecf19054cf2bb2d432145337e&pid=1-s2.0-S2096720924000162-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142316282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100194
Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology that consists of a growing list of records, called blocks, that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each blockchain-based solution deploys a specific consensus algorithm that guarantees the consistency of the ledger over time. The most famous, and yet claimed to be the most secure, is the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm. In this paper, we revisit the fundamental calculations and assumptions of this algorithm, originally presented in the Bitcoin white paper. We break down its claimed calculations in order to better understand the underlying assumptions of the proposal. We also propose a novel formalization model of the PoW mining problem using the Birthday paradox. We utilize this model to formalize and analyze partial pre-image attacks on PoW-based blockchains, with formal analysis that confirms the experimental results and the previously proposed implications. We build on those analyses and propose new concepts for benchmarking the security of PoW-based systems, including Critical Difficulty and Critical Difficulty per given portion. Our calculations result in several important findings, including the profitability of launching partial pre-image attacks on PoW-based blockchains, once the mining puzzle difficulty reaches a given threshold. Specifically, for any compromised portion of the network (; honest majority assumption still holds), the attack is formally proven profitable once the PoW mining puzzle difficulty reaches 56 leading zeros.
{"title":"Partial pre-image attack on Proof-of-Work based blockchains","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100194","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100194","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology that consists of a growing list of records, called blocks, that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each blockchain-based solution deploys a specific consensus algorithm that guarantees the consistency of the ledger over time. The most famous, and yet claimed to be the most secure, is the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm. In this paper, we revisit the fundamental calculations and assumptions of this algorithm, originally presented in the Bitcoin white paper. We break down its claimed calculations in order to better understand the underlying assumptions of the proposal. We also propose a novel formalization model of the PoW mining problem using the Birthday paradox. We utilize this model to formalize and analyze partial pre-image attacks on PoW-based blockchains, with formal analysis that confirms the experimental results and the previously proposed implications. We build on those analyses and propose new concepts for benchmarking the security of PoW-based systems, including Critical Difficulty and Critical Difficulty per given portion. Our calculations result in several important findings, including the profitability of launching partial pre-image attacks on PoW-based blockchains, once the mining puzzle difficulty reaches a given threshold. Specifically, for any compromised portion of the network (<span><math><mi>q</mi><mo><</mo><mn>0.5</mn></math></span>; honest majority assumption still holds), the attack is formally proven profitable once the PoW mining puzzle difficulty reaches 56 leading zeros.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100194"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096720924000071/pdfft?md5=f39562da38a21729770c2b928c68923e&pid=1-s2.0-S2096720924000071-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140268941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100208
Robin Fritsch, Marino Müller, Roger Wattenhofer
We empirically study the state of three prominent DAO governance systems on the Ethereum blockchain: Compound, Uniswap and Ethereum name service (ENS). In particular, we examine how the voting power is distributed in these systems. Using a comprehensive dataset of all governance token holders, delegates, proposals, and votes, we analyze who holds the voting power and how this power is being used to influence governance decisions. While we reveal that the majority of voting power is concentrated in the hands of a small number of addresses, we rarely observe these powerful entities overturning a vote by choosing a different outcome than that of the overall community and less influential voters.
我们对以太坊区块链上三个著名 DAO 治理系统的状态进行了实证研究:Compound、Uniswap 和以太坊名称服务 (ENS)。特别是,我们研究了投票权在这些系统中是如何分配的。利用所有治理代币持有者、代表、提案和投票的综合数据集,我们分析了谁拥有投票权,以及如何利用这种权力来影响治理决策。虽然我们发现大部分投票权集中在少数地址手中,但我们很少观察到这些强大的实体通过选择与整个社区和影响力较小的投票者不同的结果来推翻投票。
{"title":"Analyzing voting power in decentralized governance: Who controls DAOs?","authors":"Robin Fritsch, Marino Müller, Roger Wattenhofer","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100208","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100208","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We empirically study the state of three prominent DAO governance systems on the Ethereum blockchain: Compound, Uniswap and Ethereum name service (ENS). In particular, we examine how the voting power is distributed in these systems. Using a comprehensive dataset of all governance token holders, delegates, proposals, and votes, we analyze who holds the voting power and how this power is being used to influence governance decisions. While we reveal that the majority of voting power is concentrated in the hands of a small number of addresses, we rarely observe these powerful entities overturning a vote by choosing a different outcome than that of the overall community and less influential voters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100208"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142320258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100205
This paper presents a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) based Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled Prism blockchain. The recent advancements in the field of IoT motivate the development of a secure infrastructure for storing and sharing vast amounts of data. Blockchain, a distributed and immutable ledger, is best known as a potential solution to data security and privacy for the IoT. The scalability of blockchain, which should optimize the throughput and handle the dynamics of the IoT environment, becomes a challenge due to the enormous amount of IoT data. The critical challenge in scaling blockchain is to guarantee decentralization, latency, and security of the system while optimizing the transaction throughput. This paper presents a DRL-based performance optimization for blockchain-enabled IoT. We consider one of the recent promising blockchains, Prism, as the underlying blockchain system because of its good performance guarantees. We integrate the IoT data into Prism blockchain and optimize the performance of the system by leveraging the Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) method. The DRL method helps to optimize the blockchain parameters like mining rate and mined blocks to adapt to the environment dynamics of the IoT system. Our results show that the proposed method can improve the throughput of Prism blockchain-based IoT systems while preserving Prism performance guarantees. Our scheme can achieve 1.5 times more system rewards than IoT-integrated Prism. In our experimental setup, the proposed scheme could improve the average throughput of the system by about 6,000 transactions per second compared to Prism.
{"title":"Prism blockchain enabled Internet of Things with deep reinforcement learning","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100205","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100205","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) based Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled Prism blockchain. The recent advancements in the field of IoT motivate the development of a secure infrastructure for storing and sharing vast amounts of data. Blockchain, a distributed and immutable ledger, is best known as a potential solution to data security and privacy for the IoT. The scalability of blockchain, which should optimize the throughput and handle the dynamics of the IoT environment, becomes a challenge due to the enormous amount of IoT data. The critical challenge in scaling blockchain is to guarantee decentralization, latency, and security of the system while optimizing the transaction throughput. This paper presents a DRL-based performance optimization for blockchain-enabled IoT. We consider one of the recent promising blockchains, Prism, as the underlying blockchain system because of its good performance guarantees. We integrate the IoT data into Prism blockchain and optimize the performance of the system by leveraging the Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) method. The DRL method helps to optimize the blockchain parameters like mining rate and mined blocks to adapt to the environment dynamics of the IoT system. Our results show that the proposed method can improve the throughput of Prism blockchain-based IoT systems while preserving Prism performance guarantees. Our scheme can achieve 1.5 times more system rewards than IoT-integrated Prism. In our experimental setup, the proposed scheme could improve the average throughput of the system by about 6,000 transactions per second compared to Prism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100205"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096720924000186/pdfft?md5=9d5944398ef57f0ec758734d7337bddd&pid=1-s2.0-S2096720924000186-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141050211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100204
The sharing of pathological data is highly important in various applications, such as remote diagnosis, graded diagnosis, illness treatment, and specialist system development. However, ensuring reliable, secure, privacy-preserving, and efficient sharing of pathological data poses significant challenges. This paper presents a novel solution that leverages blockchain technology to ensure reliability in pathological data sharing. Additionally, it employs conditional proxy re-encryption (C-PRE) and public key encryption with equality test technology to control the scope and preserve the privacy of shared data. To assess the practicality of our solution, we implemented a prototype system using Hyperledger Fabric and conducted evaluations with various metrics. We also compared the solution with relevant schemes. The results demonstrate that the proposed solution effectively meets the requirements for pathological data sharing and is practical in production scenarios.
{"title":"Privacy-preserving pathological data sharing among multiple remote parties","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100204","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100204","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The sharing of pathological data is highly important in various applications, such as remote diagnosis, graded diagnosis, illness treatment, and specialist system development. However, ensuring reliable, secure, privacy-preserving, and efficient sharing of pathological data poses significant challenges. This paper presents a novel solution that leverages blockchain technology to ensure reliability in pathological data sharing. Additionally, it employs conditional proxy re-encryption (C-PRE) and public key encryption with equality test technology to control the scope and preserve the privacy of shared data. To assess the practicality of our solution, we implemented a prototype system using Hyperledger Fabric and conducted evaluations with various metrics. We also compared the solution with relevant schemes. The results demonstrate that the proposed solution effectively meets the requirements for pathological data sharing and is practical in production scenarios.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100204"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096720924000174/pdfft?md5=2f0d8f88a5acc867cc2092153e8fba03&pid=1-s2.0-S2096720924000174-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141045558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100212
Diego Pennino , Maurizio Pizzonia
Blockchain, like any other complex technology, needs a strong testing methodology to support its evolution in both research and development contexts. Setting up meaningful tests for permissionless blockchain technology is a notoriously complex task for several reasons: software is complex, a large number of nodes are involved, the network is non-ideal, etc. Developers usually adopt small virtual laboratories or costly real devnets based on real software. Researchers usually prefer simulations of a large number of nodes based on simplified models.
In this paper, we aim to obtain the advantages of both approaches, i.e., performing large, realistic, inexpensive, and flexible experiments, using real blockchain software within a virtual environment. To do that, we address the challenge of running large blockchain networks in a single physical machine, leveraging Linux and Docker. We analyze a number of problems that arise when large blockchain networks are emulated, and we provide technical solutions for all of them. Finally, we describe two experiences of emulating fairly large blockchain networks on a single machine: adopting both research-oriented and production-oriented software and involving more than 3000 containers.
区块链与其他复杂技术一样,需要强有力的测试方法来支持其在研究和开发方面的发展。为无权限区块链技术建立有意义的测试是一项众所周知的复杂任务,原因有以下几点:软件复杂、涉及大量节点、网络不理想等。开发人员通常采用小型虚拟实验室或基于真实软件的昂贵真实开发网。在本文中,我们的目标是获得这两种方法的优势,即在虚拟环境中使用真实的区块链软件进行大型、真实、廉价和灵活的实验。为此,我们利用 Linux 和 Docker 解决了在单个物理机中运行大型区块链网络的难题。我们分析了模拟大型区块链网络时出现的一系列问题,并提供了所有问题的技术解决方案。最后,我们介绍了在单台机器上模拟相当大的区块链网络的两种经验:同时采用研究型和生产型软件,并涉及 3000 多个容器。
{"title":"Toward scalable docker-based emulations of blockchain networks for research and development","authors":"Diego Pennino , Maurizio Pizzonia","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100212","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100212","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Blockchain, like any other complex technology, needs a strong testing methodology to support its evolution in both research and development contexts. Setting up meaningful tests for permissionless blockchain technology is a notoriously complex task for several reasons: software is complex, a large number of nodes are involved, the network is non-ideal, etc. Developers usually adopt small virtual laboratories or costly real devnets based on real software. Researchers usually prefer simulations of a large number of nodes based on simplified models.</div><div>In this paper, we aim to obtain the advantages of both approaches, i.e., performing large, realistic, inexpensive, and flexible experiments, using real blockchain software within a virtual environment. To do that, we address the challenge of running large blockchain networks in a single physical machine, leveraging Linux and Docker. We analyze a number of problems that arise when large blockchain networks are emulated, and we provide technical solutions for all of them. Finally, we describe two experiences of emulating fairly large blockchain networks on a single machine: adopting both research-oriented and production-oriented software and involving more than 3000 containers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100212"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142423221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100206
Finance, supply chains, healthcare, and energy have an increasing demand for secure transactions and data exchange. Permissioned blockchains fulfilled this need thanks to the consensus protocol that ensures that participants agree on a common value. One of the most widely used protocols in private blockchains is the Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT), which tolerates up to one-third of Byzantine nodes, performs within partially synchronous systems, and has superior throughput compared to other protocols. It has, however, an important bandwidth consumption: messages are exchanged in a system composed of N nodes to validate only one block.
It is possible to reduce the number of consensus participants by restricting the validation process to nodes that have demonstrated high levels of security, rapidity, and availability. In this paper, we propose the first database that traces the behavior of nodes within a system that performs PBFT consensus. It reflects their level of security, rapidity, and availability throughout the consensus. We first investigate different Single-Task Learning (STL) techniques to classify the nodes within our dataset. Then, using Multi-Task Learning (MTL) techniques, the results are much more interesting, with classification accuracies over 98%. Integrating node classification as a preliminary step to the PBFT protocol optimizes the consensus. In the best cases, it is able to reduce the latency by up to 94% and the communication traffic by up to 99%.
{"title":"Multi-task learning for PBFT optimisation in permissioned blockchains","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100206","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100206","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Finance, supply chains, healthcare, and energy have an increasing demand for secure transactions and data exchange. Permissioned blockchains fulfilled this need thanks to the consensus protocol that ensures that participants agree on a common value. One of the most widely used protocols in private blockchains is the Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT), which tolerates up to one-third of Byzantine nodes, performs within partially synchronous systems, and has superior throughput compared to other protocols. It has, however, an important bandwidth consumption: <span><math><mn>2</mn><mi>N</mi><mo>(</mo><mi>N</mi><mo>−</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>)</mo></math></span> messages are exchanged in a system composed of <em>N</em> nodes to validate only one block.</div><div>It is possible to reduce the number of consensus participants by restricting the validation process to nodes that have demonstrated high levels of security, rapidity, and availability. In this paper, we propose the first database that traces the behavior of nodes within a system that performs PBFT consensus. It reflects their level of security, rapidity, and availability throughout the consensus. We first investigate different Single-Task Learning (STL) techniques to classify the nodes within our dataset. Then, using Multi-Task Learning (MTL) techniques, the results are much more interesting, with classification accuracies over 98%. Integrating node classification as a preliminary step to the PBFT protocol optimizes the consensus. In the best cases, it is able to reduce the latency by up to 94% and the communication traffic by up to 99%.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100206"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096720924000198/pdfft?md5=e11c2d536c1985f173948098606e4b4b&pid=1-s2.0-S2096720924000198-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141051117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100210
Ruicheng Yang , Guofang Dong , Zhengnan Xu , Juangui Ning , Jianming Du
In the realm of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), data aggregation plays a pivotal role in bringing together data from multiple vehicles for further processing and sharing. Erroneous data feedback can significantly impact vehicle operations, control, and overall safety, necessitating the assurance of security in vehicular data aggregation. Addressing the security risks and challenges inherent in data aggregation within VANETs, this paper introduces a blockchain-based scheme for secure and anonymous data aggregation. The proposed scheme integrates cloud computing with blockchain technology, presenting a novel blockchain-based data aggregation system that robustly supports efficient and secure data collection in VANETs. Leveraging key escrow resilience mechanisms, the solution ensures the security of system keys, preventing the security problems caused by keys generated by third parties alone in the past. Furthermore, through secondary data aggregation, fine-grained data aggregation is achieved, providing effective support for cloud services in VANETs. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is confirmed through security analysis and performance evaluations, demonstrating superior computational and communication efficiency compared existing alternatives.
{"title":"A privacy-preserving data aggregation system based on blockchain in VANET","authors":"Ruicheng Yang , Guofang Dong , Zhengnan Xu , Juangui Ning , Jianming Du","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100210","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100210","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the realm of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), data aggregation plays a pivotal role in bringing together data from multiple vehicles for further processing and sharing. Erroneous data feedback can significantly impact vehicle operations, control, and overall safety, necessitating the assurance of security in vehicular data aggregation. Addressing the security risks and challenges inherent in data aggregation within VANETs, this paper introduces a blockchain-based scheme for secure and anonymous data aggregation. The proposed scheme integrates cloud computing with blockchain technology, presenting a novel blockchain-based data aggregation system that robustly supports efficient and secure data collection in VANETs. Leveraging key escrow resilience mechanisms, the solution ensures the security of system keys, preventing the security problems caused by keys generated by third parties alone in the past. Furthermore, through secondary data aggregation, fine-grained data aggregation is achieved, providing effective support for cloud services in VANETs. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is confirmed through security analysis and performance evaluations, demonstrating superior computational and communication efficiency compared existing alternatives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100210"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141711744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}