A Secure and Scalable IoT Consensus Protocol

Abstract

Several consensus algorithms have been proposed as a way of resolving the Byzantine General problem with respect to blockchain consensus process. However, when these consensus algorithms are applied to a distributed, asynchronous network some suffer with security and/or scalability issues, while others suffer with liveness and/or safety issues. This is because the majority of research have not considered the importance of liveness and safety, with respect to the integrity of the consensus decision. In this paper a novel solution to this challenge is presented. A solution that protects blockchain transactions from fraudulent or erroneous mis-spends. This consensus protocol uses a combination of probabilistic randomness, an isomorphic balance authentication, error detection and synchronised time restrictions, when assessing the authenticity and validity of IoT request. Designed to operate in a distributed asynchronous network, this approach increases scalability while maintaining a high transactional throughput, even when faced with Byzantine failure.