Authors: Javier Ron, César Soto-Valero, Long Zhang, Benoit Baudry, Martin Monperrus

Published on: March 25, 2023

Impact Score: 8.15

Arxiv code: Arxiv:2303.14438

Summary

• What is new: Introduction of N-version Blockchain nodes, a concept that enhances availability by running different implementations of the same blockchain protocol simultaneously.
• Why this is important: Blockchain nodes are vulnerable to faults in their execution stack, leading to downtime.
• What the research proposes: N-ETH, a prototype for N-version blockchain nodes in Ethereum, that improves availability even under fault conditions.
• Results: N-ETH effectively mitigates execution environment instability, enhancing node availability. It showed diverse Ethereum node implementations react differently to the same faults, which N-ETH leverages for improved performance.

Technical Details

Technological frameworks used: N-version programming

Models used: Ethereum blockchain nodes

Data used: Fault injection at the system-call level

Potential Impact

Blockchain operational services, benefiting companies like Google and ConsenSys

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