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A high performance two-layer consensus architecture for blockchain-based IoT systems

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Abstract

We describe a two-layer architecture suitable for wide area IoT systems that use blockchain technology. The lower layer is comprised of several clusters in which nodes are interconnected with a number of virtual overlays which allow multiple consensus rounds that validate incoming data blocks to proceed concurrently and without contention. Validated data blocks are then ordered by the upper layer cluster, a virtual cluster formed by nodes from lower layer clusters (one from each cluster), and linked in the replicated blockchain ledger. In each cluster, a modified Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) protocol is used to achieve consensus. The use of layered architecture, virtual overlays, and multiple-leader capability lead to increased resiliency to consensus leader misbehavior as well as performance improvement over traditional PBFT, which are confirmed through a discrete time Markov chain (DTMC) model linked to an M/G/1 queuing model in a wide range of parameter values.

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Acknowledgements

The work of J. Mišić, and V. B. Mišić was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through their respective Discovery Grants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St., Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada

    Haytham Qushtom, Jelena Mišić & Vojislav B. Mišić

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Security and Privacy in Intelligent Transportation, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China

    Xiaolin Chang

Authors
  1. Haytham Qushtom
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  2. Jelena Mišić
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  3. Vojislav B. Mišić
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  4. Xiaolin Chang
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Correspondence to Vojislav B. Mišić.

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Qushtom, H., Mišić, J., Mišić, V.B. et al. A high performance two-layer consensus architecture for blockchain-based IoT systems. Peer-to-Peer Netw. Appl. 15, 2444–2456 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12083-022-01363-y

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