Research on the optimization of lightweight nodes in blockchain by selective compression algorithm

Abstract:

Lightweight nodes in blockchain have the limitation that they cannot participate in the blockchain verification process because they cannot store a complete copy of the blockchain, which weakens the distributed characteristics of the blockchain. The verification ability can be enhanced by compressing the copy of the blockchain stored in the lightweight node to reduce storage overhead. The Blockchain Selective Compression (BSC) algorithm, which is based on the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain architecture, is proposed. In the proposed BSC algorithm, the check chain is first generated by the blockchain main chain, the two chains are linked through the hash pointers, and the hash root path is used to verify the integrity of the main chain blocks which stores in the check chain; secondly, the checkpoints in the check chain is merged and updated to reduce the storage overhead of the check chain; finally, the blocks in the main chain are selectively retained and the hash pathes are calculated for verifying the integrity of the main chain, which reduce the storage overhead of the main chain. The simulation results show that, comparing with the EPBC algorithm and the Snapshot algorithm, the BSC algorithm has a better performance in storage overhead and verification capabilities.