Grouped Multilayer Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance Algorithm: A Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance Consensus Algorithm Optimized for Digital Asset Trading Scenarios

Sensors (Basel). 2023 Nov 1;23(21):8903. doi: 10.3390/s23218903.

Abstract

Based on the practical Byzantine fault tolerance algorithm (PBFT), a grouped multilayer PBFT consensus algorithm (GM-PBFT) is proposed to be applied to digital asset transactions in view of the problems with excessive communication complexity and low consensus efficiency found in the current consensus mechanism for digital asset transactions. Firstly, the transaction nodes are grouped by type, and each group can handle different types of consensus requests at the same time, which improves the consensus efficiency as well as the accuracy of digital asset transactions. Second, the group develops techniques like validation, auditing, and re-election to enhance Byzantine fault tolerance by thwarting malicious node attacks. This supervisory mechanism is implemented through the Raft consensus algorithm. Finally, the consensus is stratified for the nodes in the group, and the consensus nodes in the upper layer recursively send consensus requests to the lower layer until the consensus request reaches the end layer to ensure the consistency of the block ledger in the group. Based on the results of the experiment, the approach may significantly outperform the PBFT consensus algorithm when it comes to accuracy, efficiency, and preserving the security and reliability of transactions in large-scale network node digital transaction situations.

Keywords: PBFT; Raft; blockchain; digital asset; packet consensus.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Major Science and Technology Program Project of Haikou City under Grant 2020-009 and the Key R&D Project of Hainan province under Grant ZDYF2021SHFZ243.