From 0369076313d1d9191377b8f513962b107cc30787 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: James Ray Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2017 16:48:44 +1100 Subject: [PATCH] Traditional consensus protocol research FLP citation, typo --- papers/CasperTFG/CasperTFG.tex | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/papers/CasperTFG/CasperTFG.tex b/papers/CasperTFG/CasperTFG.tex index 8e4b2df..a45f5d1 100644 --- a/papers/CasperTFG/CasperTFG.tex +++ b/papers/CasperTFG/CasperTFG.tex @@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ In the context of state machine replication, traditional protocols decide (with Blockchain consensus protocols like Bitcoin do not finalize/decide on one block at a time. In fact, the Bitcoin blockchain in particular does not make ``finalized decisions'' at all; blocks are ``orphaned'' if/when they are not in the highest total difficulty chain. However, if the miners are able to mine on the same blockchain, then the blocks that get deep enough into the blockchain won't be reverted (``orphaned''). A block's depth in the blockchain therefore serves as a proxy for finalization. In the average case for blockchain consensus protocols, each node only requires approximately one message, $\mathcal{O}(1)$, for every block. -Traditional consensus protocol research has focused on producing protocols that are asynchronously safe (i.e.\ blocks won't be reverted due to arbitrary timing of future events) and live in asynchrony (or partial synchrony) (i.e.\ nodes eventually decide on new blocks). On the other hand, the Bitcoin blockchain is not safe in an asynchonous network but is safe and live (for unknown block-depth or ``confirmation count'') in a ``partially synchronous network.'' +Traditional consensus protocol research has focused on producing protocols that are asynchronously safe (i.e.\ blocks won't be reverted due to arbitrary timing of future events) and live in asynchrony (or partial synchrony) (i.e.\ nodes eventually decide on new blocks) \cite{Fischer_Lynch_Paterson_FLP_Impossibility_1985}. On the other hand, the Bitcoin blockchain is not safe in an asynchonous network but is safe and live (for unknown block-depth or ``confirmation count'') in a ``partially synchronous network''. Traditional Byzantine fault tolerant consensus protocols have precisely stated Byzantine fault tolerance numbers (often can tolerate less than a third Byzantine faults, or up to $t$ faults when there are $3t + 1$ nodes)[CITE]. On the other hand, it is less clear exactly how many faults (measured as a proportion of hashrate) the Bitcoin blockchain protocol can tolerate.