Abstract
Blockchain technology and other distributed ledger systems fill an important role in resilient data storage and publication. However, their normally-decentralized methods also bring unique challenges distinct from more traditional approaches. One lies in the replication of data between participating nodes; since no individual node is more trusted than any other, each node maintains its own copy of the entire ledger for the purposes of validating new transactions. Improving how this information is stored and more importantly, how it propagates across the network, are open research questions. In this work, we propose Velocity, a novel block propagation approach based on fountain codes, allowing for better decentralized delivery of blocks and reduced network bottlenecks without sacrificing the security guarantees of the blockchain ledger itself. We also provide an assessment of economic incentives and their impact on participant behavior, showing that the proposed approach is financially beneficial to rational actors. We conclude by showing experimentally that this approach permits for the mining of even larger blocks, thereby increasing transaction throughput of the system compared to existing state of the art methods.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | ICBC 2019 - IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency |
| Publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. |
| Pages | 447-454 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781728113289 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2019 |
| Event | 1st IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, ICBC 2019 - Seoul, Korea, Republic of Duration: May 14 2019 → May 17 2019 |
Publication series
| Name | ICBC 2019 - IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency |
|---|
Conference
| Conference | 1st IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, ICBC 2019 |
|---|---|
| Country | Korea, Republic of |
| City | Seoul |
| Period | 5/14/19 → 5/17/19 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- cryptography
- data transfer
- online banking
- protocols
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business, Management and Accounting (miscellaneous)
- Management of Technology and Innovation
- Computer Networks and Communications
- Information Systems and Management
- Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
Cite this
Velocity : Scalability Improvements in Block Propagation Through Rateless Erasure Coding. / Chawla, Nakul; Behrens, Hans Walter; Tapp, Darren; Boscovic, Dragan; Candan, Kasim.
ICBC 2019 - IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2019. p. 447-454 8751427 (ICBC 2019 - IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
}
TY - GEN
T1 - Velocity
T2 - Scalability Improvements in Block Propagation Through Rateless Erasure Coding
AU - Chawla, Nakul
AU - Behrens, Hans Walter
AU - Tapp, Darren
AU - Boscovic, Dragan
AU - Candan, Kasim
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - Blockchain technology and other distributed ledger systems fill an important role in resilient data storage and publication. However, their normally-decentralized methods also bring unique challenges distinct from more traditional approaches. One lies in the replication of data between participating nodes; since no individual node is more trusted than any other, each node maintains its own copy of the entire ledger for the purposes of validating new transactions. Improving how this information is stored and more importantly, how it propagates across the network, are open research questions. In this work, we propose Velocity, a novel block propagation approach based on fountain codes, allowing for better decentralized delivery of blocks and reduced network bottlenecks without sacrificing the security guarantees of the blockchain ledger itself. We also provide an assessment of economic incentives and their impact on participant behavior, showing that the proposed approach is financially beneficial to rational actors. We conclude by showing experimentally that this approach permits for the mining of even larger blocks, thereby increasing transaction throughput of the system compared to existing state of the art methods.
AB - Blockchain technology and other distributed ledger systems fill an important role in resilient data storage and publication. However, their normally-decentralized methods also bring unique challenges distinct from more traditional approaches. One lies in the replication of data between participating nodes; since no individual node is more trusted than any other, each node maintains its own copy of the entire ledger for the purposes of validating new transactions. Improving how this information is stored and more importantly, how it propagates across the network, are open research questions. In this work, we propose Velocity, a novel block propagation approach based on fountain codes, allowing for better decentralized delivery of blocks and reduced network bottlenecks without sacrificing the security guarantees of the blockchain ledger itself. We also provide an assessment of economic incentives and their impact on participant behavior, showing that the proposed approach is financially beneficial to rational actors. We conclude by showing experimentally that this approach permits for the mining of even larger blocks, thereby increasing transaction throughput of the system compared to existing state of the art methods.
KW - cryptography
KW - data transfer
KW - online banking
KW - protocols
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85069201161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85069201161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/BLOC.2019.8751427
DO - 10.1109/BLOC.2019.8751427
M3 - Conference contribution
T3 - ICBC 2019 - IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
SP - 447
EP - 454
BT - ICBC 2019 - IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ER -