Lightweight blockchain consensus mechanism and storage optimization for resource-constrained IoT devices

Abstract

Blockchain is a distributed digital ledger with features such as tamper-proof and privacy protection, which can provide reliable security solutions for the Internet of Things, smart home, and other scenarios. However, most of the devices in these scenarios only have limited computing, storage, bandwidth, and other resources, which makes it difficult to bear the burden of the blockchain consensus process and subsequent storage of the blockchain ledger. Therefore, a lightweight blockchain needs to be designed to suit for resource-constrained device scenarios. In order to achieve lightweight blockchain, an improved PBFT blockchain consensus mechanism based on reward and punishment strategy is proposed in this paper. Moreover, to reduce the storage overhead on the premise of ensuring the recoverability of blockchain, a blockchain storage optimization scheme based on RS erasure code is proposed in this paper. Experimental results show that the strategies proposed in this paper can reduce the delay of the consensus, the communication resources required by the consensus, and the cost of blockchain storage.