A Simulation Approach for Studying Behavior and Quality of Blockchain Networks

摘要

Blockchain, as the fundamental technology of Bitcoin, tends to be an-other technology revaluation of the Internet, due to its unique security, trustworthiness and reliability. However, due to the massive deployment and high running cost, it is hard for researchers to study the dynamic behavior of a large and alive Blockchain network, e.g., Bitcoin. In this paper, a proposal on a simulation approach to study Blockchain protocols in sizable Blockchain networks is made. First, several key requirements for software tools to simulate Blockchain are identified. Secondly, the focus is on the selection and definition of key performance metrics to quantify Quality of Blockchain (QoB). We aim to demonstrate the proposed idea by using an existing simulation tool to duplicate a simplified Blockchain Proof of Work (PoW) protocol with different parameters and observations. Our case study shows that it is possible and practical to use a simulation approach to study Blockchain networks with different network sizes and protocols.