Understanding blockchain: definitions, architecture, design, and system
comparison
(2022)cite arxiv:2207.02264Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures, 8 tables.Abstract
The explosive advent of the blockchain technology has led to hundreds of
blockchain systems in the industry, thousands of academic papers published over
the last few years, and an even larger number of new initiatives and projects.
Despite the emerging consolidation efforts, the area remains highly turbulent
without systematization, educational materials, or cross-system comparative
analysis.
In this paper, we provide a systematic and comprehensive study of four
popular yet widely different blockchain systems: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperledger
Fabric, and IOTA. The study is presented as a cross-system comparison, which is
organized by clearly identified aspects: definitions, node roles, entities, and
the characteristics and design of each of the commonly used layers in the
cross-system blockchain architecture. Our exploration goes deeper compared to
what is currently available in academic surveys and tutorials. For example, we
provide the first extensive coverage of the storage layer in Ethereum and the
most comprehensive explanation of the consensus protocol in IOTA. The
exposition is due to the consolidation of fragmented information gathered from
white and yellow papers, academic publications, blogs, developer documentation,
communication with the developers, as well as additional analysis gleaned from
the source code. We hope that this survey will help the readers gain in-depth
understanding of the design principles behind blockchain systems and contribute
towards systematization of the area.
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