Paper 2023/463
Simplex Consensus: A Simple and Fast Consensus Protocol
, Cornell UniversityAbstract
We present a theoretical framework for analyzing the efficiency of consensus protocols, and apply it to analyze the optimistic and pessimistic confirmation times of state-of-the-art partially-synchronous protocols in the so-called "rotating leader/random leader" model of consensus (recently popularized in the blockchain setting). We next present a new and simple consensus protocol in the partially synchronous setting, tolerating $f < n/3$ byzantine faults; in our eyes, this protocol is essentially as simple to describe as the simplest known protocols, but it also enjoys an even simpler security proof, while matching and, even improving, the efficiency of the state-of-the-art (according to our theoretical framework). As with the state-of-the-art protocols, our protocol assumes a (bare) PKI, a digital signature scheme, collision-resistant hash functions, and a random leader election oracle, which may be instantiated with a random oracle (or a CRS).
Metadata
- Available format(s)
-
PDF
- Category
- Cryptographic protocols
- Publication info
- Preprint.
- Keywords
- consensusbyzantine agreementblockchain
- Contact author(s)
-
byc @ cs cornell edu
rafaelp @ tau ac il - History
- 2023-06-02: last of 3 revisions
- 2023-03-30: received
- See all versions
- Short URL
- https://ia.cr/2023/463
- License
-
CC BY
BibTeX
@misc{cryptoeprint:2023/463,
author = {Benjamin Y Chan and Rafael Pass},
title = {Simplex Consensus: A Simple and Fast Consensus Protocol},
howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2023/463},
year = {2023},
url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/463}
}
