[论文解读] A Survey on Consensus Mechanisms and Mining Management in Blockchain Networks

Wenbo Wang, Dinh Thai Hoang+5 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|May 7, 2018

Blockchain Technology Applications and Security参考文献 142被引用 100

一句话总结

本综述对区块链网络中的去中心化共识机制与挖矿管理进行了全面分析，融合了分布式系统设计与激励机制视角。研究探讨了共识协议如何实现去中心化、不可篡改性与自我组织，重点关注博弈论策略及其对新兴区块链应用的影响。

ABSTRACT

The past decade has witnessed the rapid evolution in blockchain technologies, which has attracted tremendous interests from both the research communities and the industry. The blockchain network was originated in the Internet finical sector as a decentralized, immutable ledger system for transactional data ordering. Nowadays, it is envisioned as a powerful backbone/framework for decentralized data processing and data-driven self-organization in flat, open-access networks. In particular, the plausible characteristics of decentralization, immutability and self-organization are primarily owing to the unique decentralized consensus mechanisms introduced by blockchain networks. This survey is motivated by the lack of a comprehensive literature review on the development of decentralized consensus mechanisms in blockchain networks. In this survey, we provide a systematic vision of the organization of blockchain networks. By emphasizing the unique characteristics of incentivized consensus in blockchain networks, our in-depth review of the state-of-the-art consensus protocols is focused on both the perspective of distributed consensus system design and the perspective of incentive mechanism design. From a game-theoretic point of view, we also provide a thorough review on the strategy adoption for self-organization by the individual nodes in the blockchain backbone networks. Consequently, we provide a comprehensive survey on the emerging applications of the blockchain networks in a wide range of areas. We highlight our special interest in how the consensus mechanisms impact these applications. Finally, we discuss several open issues in the protocol design for blockchain consensus and the related potential research directions.

研究动机与目标

• 为解决区块链网络中去中心化共识机制缺乏全面文献综述的问题。
• 从分布式共识系统设计与激励机制设计两个视角分析共识协议。
• 利用博弈论框架研究区块链网络中节点策略的采纳行为。
• 考察共识机制对新兴区块链应用的影响。
• 识别区块链共识协议设计中的开放性问题与未来研究方向。

提出的方法

• 对区块链网络中前沿共识协议进行系统性综述。
• 将区块链应用中的分布式共识系统设计与激励机制设计相融合。
• 对去中心化区块链网络中节点行为与策略采纳进行博弈论建模。
• 基于其设计原则与运行模式对共识机制进行分类。
• 分析工作量证明与替代共识模型中的挖矿管理策略。
• 将共识机制映射到现实世界的区块链应用及其性能影响。

实验结果

研究问题

• RQ1 去中心化共识机制如何在区块链网络中实现不可篡改性与自我组织？
• RQ2 从系统与激励两个视角看，共识协议的关键设计权衡是什么？
• RQ3 在不同共识机制下，单个节点在区块链网络中如何进行策略性行为？
• RQ4 共识机制对区块链应用可扩展性与安全性有何影响？
• RQ5 区块链共识协议设计中的开放性挑战与未来研究方向是什么？

主要发现

• 本综述指出，共识机制是实现区块链系统去中心化、不可篡改性与自我组织的基础。
• 激励型共识机制在协调节点行为与网络安全性、一致性目标方面发挥着关键作用。
• 博弈论分析表明，策略性节点行为显著影响共识稳定性与网络韧性。
• 不同共识协议在性能、安全性和去中心化之间表现出不同的权衡。
• 本综述强调，共识机制直接影响各类应用场景下区块链应用的可行性与效率。
• 共识设计中的开放性问题包括可扩展性、能效与长期经济可持续性，尤其在权益证明与混合模型中更为突出。