Abstract
Nakamoto's consensus protocol works in a permissionless model, where nodes can join and leave without notice.
However, it guarantees agreement only probabilistically.
Is this weaker guarantee a necessary concession to the severe demands of supporting a permissionless model?
This paper shows that, at least in a benign failure model, it is not. It presents Sandglass, the first permissionless consensus algorithm that guarantees deterministic agreement and termination with probability 1 under general omission failures.
Like Nakamoto, Sandglass adopts a hybrid synchronous communication model, where, at all times, a majority of nodes (though their number is unknown) are correct and synchronously connected, and allows nodes to join and leave at any time.
However, it guarantees agreement only probabilistically.
Is this weaker guarantee a necessary concession to the severe demands of supporting a permissionless model?
This paper shows that, at least in a benign failure model, it is not. It presents Sandglass, the first permissionless consensus algorithm that guarantees deterministic agreement and termination with probability 1 under general omission failures.
Like Nakamoto, Sandglass adopts a hybrid synchronous communication model, where, at all times, a majority of nodes (though their number is unknown) are correct and synchronously connected, and allows nodes to join and leave at any time.
Original language | English |
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State | Published - 2022 |