Byzantine Fault Prevention Through Proxy Voting in Mesh Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
In mesh networks, particularly those involving IoT devices, consensus-based decisions become unwieldy or unreliable when more than a third of the node devices fail or are unreliable, especially in non-hierarchical configurations like blockchain operations, due to transient power states and frequent offline status.
Innovation Solution
Introduce proxy node devices managed by an administration device to participate in consensus operations on behalf of offline nodes, maintaining network resilience and resource efficiency by generating pseudo nodes that mimic the behavior of offline devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If consensus operations are performed among all node devices in a mesh network, then network decentralization and resilience are improved, but reliability deteriorates when more than a third of nodes fail or are unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an administration device as an intermediary that manages and coordinates consensus operations. This administrator device receives consensus requests, identifies available node devices, and orchestrates the voting process, thereby maintaining consensus reliability even when some nodes are unavailable or unreliable, while preserving the decentralized nature of the mesh network.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates proxy node devices that replicate the functionality and voting behavior of original node devices. When a node is unavailable or unreliable, its proxy continues to participate in consensus operations, ensuring that the network maintains sufficient voting power and reliability without requiring all original nodes to be present.
2Reliability
If proxy node devices are introduced to maintain consensus reliability, then consensus stability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The administration device serves as a central coordinator that manages proxy node creation and deployment without requiring complex peer-to-peer coordination among all nodes. This intermediary approach simplifies the overall system architecture by centralizing the complexity of proxy management while maintaining decentralized consensus execution.
Solution Approach 2:
Proxy nodes are created as simplified replicas of original nodes, inheriting their identity and voting behavior without requiring complex synchronization mechanisms. This copying approach maintains consensus reliability while minimizing added complexity, as proxies essentially mirror their parent nodes' functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method of Byzantine fault prevention in mesh networks. The method includes detecting a consensus operation among a plurality of node devices of a network for a blockchain operation of a blockchain within the network, wherein each consensus operation includes a vote transmission associated with the blockchain within the network, wherein detecting the consensus operation includes examining an approval status of a particular vote transmission associated with a particular consensus operation. The method includes controlling, by a processing device responsive to detecting the consensus operation, content of a proxy vote transmission provided by a proxy device corresponding to at least one node device of the plurality of node devices by setting the content of the proxy vote transmission based on the approval status of the particular vote transmission. The method includes causing the proxy device to transmit the proxy vote transmission.