Article A Review of Blockchain Architecture and Consensus Protocols: Use Cases, Challenges, and Solutions (original) (raw)
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A Review of Blockchain Architecture and Consensus Protocols: Use Cases, Challenges, and Solutions
ver the last decade the blockchain technology has emerged to provide solutions to the complexity, performance and privacy challenges of using distributed databases. Over this time, the concept of blockchain has shifted greatly due to the rapidly evolving distributed applications in a collaborative ecosystem such as smart cities, social networking, governance, and smart healthcare, and the ultimate need for green computing, cost reduction for customers, and business growth for enterprises. Consequently, blockchain architecture has misaligned with the goals for a green collaborative digital ecosystem. Therefore, it becomes critical to address this vent and to build new frameworks to align blockchain with those goals. In this paper, we discuss the evolution of blockchain architecture and its consensus protocols, bringing a retrospective analysis and discussing the rationale of the evolution of the various architectures and protocols, as well as capturing the assumptions conducting to t...
IEEE Access
Recently, Blockchain-based applications have become immensely popular because of limited reliance on a single entity, unlike a centralized system. However, reaching a consensus among blockchain networks is a challenging and vital aspect of blockchain-based applications. There are various types of blockchain networks for different kinds of application scenarios. Among all of them, the consensus algorithm is the most crucial part of reaching an agreement in the complex blockchain network. Over the years, researchers have focused on dealing with the challenges like distributed computing, storage, transaction speed, security, validity, interoperability, and many more. However, only some of them are appropriate for all domains. Therefore, this paper presents an extensive study of different types of consensus protocols used in existing blockchain solutions with the strength and limitations of each algorithm. We also provide an inherent comparison among different algorithms to understand consensus protocol selection better. Moreover, we investigate operational and interoperability issues in existing blockchain-based applications to understand challenges and provide recommendations for future developers. INDEX TERMS Blockchain, consensus algorithm, interoperability, cross-chain transactions, architecture, operational issues, applications, research directions. I. INTRODUCTION T HE blockchain concept was first introduced by Haber and Stornetta [1], which is considered one of the technologies with the most potential. After that the introduction of Bitcoin by Nakamoto [2], it has attracted intense attention from all over the world. In Blockchain systems, different cryptographic protocols, like hash functions, digital signatures, etc., are used to maintain the authenticity and security of the data. Blockchain is a distributed ledger system that keeps data secure from unauthorized access. Blockchain technology allows users to add, view, and validate transactions to the distributed ledger. These transactions often take place with the consent of all involved users. Blockchain uses a consensus mechanism to ensure that all transactions are accurate. In a trustless environment, blockchain provides users with desirable qualities like decentralization, autonomy, integrity, immutability, verification, fault-tolerance, anonymity, auditability, and transparency, which have received significant academic and industrial attention recently years [3]-[6]. However, the blockchain system is trustless and ensures blockchain-enabled trust through other cryptographic peerto-peer communication in the decentralized network. Further verification and validation mechanisms are employed
A Survey of Blockchain From the Perspectives of Architecture and Applications
International Journal of Engineering Research & Advanced Technology (IJERAT), 2022
The increasing need for organizations to keep a high level of synchronization around the world and the coming of new advancements are pushing increasingly more to move decision-making and operational power from the focus of associations to their edges. The blockchain could be the critical innovation to roll out this improvement conceivable. A blockchain is essentially a distributed database of records or public ledger of all transactions or digital events that have been executed and shared among participating parties. Blockchain is pleased with the fact that it provides high satisfaction and a trust bond to its users. Data immutability, decentralization, anonymity, auditability, and transparency are the main features that make blockchain an attractive technology. This paper presents a study of blockchain technology to provide a comprehensive analysis that includes types, architecture, components, characteristics, and applications of blockchain.
A Comparative Analysis of Blockchain Architecture and Its Applications: Problems and Recommendations
IEEE Access , 2019
In the past few years, the implementation of blockchain technology for various applications has been widely discussed in the research community and the industry. There are sufficient number of articles that discuss the possibility of applying blockchain technology in various areas, such as, healthcare, IoT, and business. However, in this article, we present a comparative analysis of core blockchain architecture, its fundamental concepts, and its applications in three major areas: the Internet-of-Things (IoT), healthcare, business and vehicular industry. For each area, we discuss in detail, challenges and solutions that have been proposed from the research community and industry. This research studies also presented the complete ecosystem of blockchain of all the papers we reviewed and summarized. Moreover, analysis is performed of various blockchain platforms, their consensus models, and applications. Finally, we discuss key aspects that are required for the widespread future adoption of blockchain technology in these major areas.
Comprehensive Study of Blockchain Technology - Architecture, Consensus and Future Trends
International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science, Engineering and Information Technology, 2020
Blockchain is considered to be a disruptive core technology. Although many researchers have realized the importance of blockchain, but the research of it is still emerging. It is the record-keeping technology behind bitcoin and is one of the hottest and fastest growing skills in the IT sector today. It serves as an immutable ledger which allows transactions to take place in a decentralized man Blockchain-based applications are rising up, covering numerous fields including finance, healthcare, product management, Internet of Things (IoT), and many more. However, there are still some challenges of blockchain technology such as scalability and security problems which need to be overcome. This paper comprises of a comprehensive study of Blockchain technology. We have included here a deep dive into how blockchains work, its architecture, consensus and various applications. Furthermore, technical challenges are briefly listed.
A Survey on Blockchain Technology: Evolution, Architecture and Security
IEEE Access
Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that is making a great impact on modern society due to its transparency, decentralization, and security properties. Blockchain gained considerable attention due to its very first application of Cryptocurrencies e.g., Bitcoin. In the near future, Blockchain technology is determined to transform the way we live, interact, and perform businesses. Recently, academics, industrialists, and researchers are aggressively investigating different aspects of Blockchain as an emerging technology. Unlike other Blockchain surveys focusing on either its applications, challenges, characteristics, or security, we present a comprehensive survey of Blockchain technology's evolution, architecture, development frameworks, and security issues. We also present a comparative analysis of frameworks, classification of consensus algorithms, and analysis of security risks & cryptographic primitives that have been used in the Blockchain so far. Finally, this paper elaborates on key future directions, novel use cases and open research challenges, which could be explored by researchers to make further advances in this field. INDEX TERMS Evolution of blockchain, blockchain architecture, smart contracts, blockchain applications, development frameworks, blockchain security.
A Comprehensive Study of Blockchain Technology based Decentralised Ledger Implementations
Information management and decentralized, secure transactions are made possible by the groundbreaking idea of blockchain technology. Blockchain has attracted considerable attention from a wide range of businesses as a result of the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The primary goal of this paper is to present a thorough examination of decentralized ledger systems based on blockchain technology. It examines at the basic ideas, underpinnings, and real-world uses of blockchain in many industries. The ability to scale, effectiveness, privacy, security, seamless integration, governing scenarios, and consumption of energy are just a few of the technical factors that are looked at in relation to the deployment of blockchain technology. In this research paper we also pinpoint forthcoming developments and future prospects for the blockchain industry like Solutions for scalability at the subsequent layer, protocols for seamless integration, integration with the Internet of Things (IoT), apps for decentralized finance (DeFi), and digital currencies that are issued by central banks (CBDCs) are a few examples.
Future Internet
The real-world use cases of blockchain technology, such as faster cross-border payments, identity management, smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, and supply chain–blockchain technology are here to stay and have become the next innovation, just like the Internet. There have been attempts to formulate digital money, but they have not been successful due to security and trust issues. However, blockchain needs no central authority, and its operations are controlled by the people who use it. Furthermore, it cannot be altered or forged, resulting in massive market hype and demand. Blockchain has moved past cryptocurrency and discovered implementations in other real-life applications; this is where we can expect blockchain technology to be simplified and not remain a complex concept. Blockchain technology’s desirable characteristics are decentralization, integrity, immutability, verification, fault tolerance, anonymity, audibility, and transparency. We first conduct a thorough analysis of b...
A comparative study on consensus mechanism with security threats and future scopes: Blockchain
Recently, blockchain has emerged as a peer-to-peer (P2P) immutable distributed ledger technology-based network, and its consensus mechanism is playing an important role in managing decentralized data. The use of the consensus process for open blockchains, on the other hand, has revitalized the industry and spurred new architectures. As part of this research, we have analyzed and categorized a wide range of consensus mechanisms in order to contribute to the process of developing blockchain applications and determining the extent of their influence. Critical technical considerations regarding performance, scalability, and other quality aspects that a blockchain-based system must possess may be assisted by this scientific categorization and comprehensive comparison of consensus algorithms. In this paper, we have mainly depicted: (i) proof-of-work (PoW) along with its enhancement rules like greedy heaviest-observed sub-tree (GHOST) and Bitcoin NG (next generation); (ii) proof-of-Stake (PoS) along with chain-based PoS, committee-based PoS, byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) based extended proof-of-stake (EPoS), and delegated proof of stake (DPoS), i.e. energy-efficient alternative to PoW; (iii) BFT consensus to handle crash fault and Byzantine fault; and (iv) hybrid protocols, which are a combination of the best features of PoW, PoS, and BFT consensus mechanism. To evaluate the performance, scalability, security, and design properties of the system, we have considered five components of consensus algorithms.
Blockchain technology’s overview: Consensus, architecture and future trends
INSTRUMENTATION ENGINEERING, ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS – 2021 (IEET-2021): Proceedings of the VII International Forum
Blockchain has been recently widely used as the foundation of Bitcoin. Blockchain is an immutable ledger that allows for a decentralized transaction. There are emergent Blockchain apps covering numerous areas including financial services, reputation system and the Internet of Things (IoT), etc. Nonetheless, blockchain knowledge problems as security and scalability issues are still to come addressed. Bitcoin is limited to a maximum of 7 transactions per second that cannot accommodate high frequency trading. Nonetheless, bigger blocks mean greater space for storage and less network transmission. This will eventually contribute to centralization because fewer people want to hold such a massive blockchain. A full overview of blockchain technology is presented here. Researcher gives first of all an outline of blockchain design and compared several widely used consensus algorithms in various blockchains. Furthermore, there is a short list of technical challenges and recent developments. They also identify potential blockchain future trends.