Research on Blockchain Data Sharing

Glossary

Blockchain: A decentralized or partially decentralized data structure that stores transactions in an immutable manner.

Block: A single record in a blockchain that contains transactions and other data.

Consensus Node: A node that participates in reaching consensus and validating transactions in a blockchain network.

Historical State Trie: A tree-like data structure that stores historical state information associated with each block in a blockchain.

Current State Trie: A tree-like data structure that stores state information associated with the current block of a blockchain network.

Merkle Tree: A tree-like data structure used to efficiently verify the integrity of data in large datasets.

FDMT (Fixed Depth Merkle Tree): A Merkle Tree variant used to store state data in blockchains.

Key Value Pair (KVP): An associative data structure used to store data, where each key is associated with a value.

POA (Proof of Authority): A consensus mechanism in a blockchain network where trusted nodes are responsible for validating transactions.

Byzantine Fault Tolerance: The property of a system that continues to operate even if some nodes fail or behave abnormally.

Quiz

Explain the concept of "immutability" in blockchain.

How are blocks in a blockchain linked together?

What is the purpose of a Merkle tree?

What is the meaning of "consensus" in a blockchain network?

Briefly describe the PBFT consensus protocol.

What is the difference between symmetric and asymmetric encryption?

Explain the purpose of digital signatures in a blockchain network.

What is historical state data? Why is it shared?

How does FDMT differ from MPT?

What role does POA play in a blockchain network?

Answer key

Immutability means that data stored on a blockchain cannot be changed. Each block is linked to the previous block, and any changes create a new blockchain, which makes tampering very difficult.

Blocks are linked together using a cryptographic hash of the previous block. This hash chain creates an immutable record of transactions.

Merkle trees are used to efficiently verify the integrity of data in large datasets. It allows nodes to verify that a transaction exists in a block without downloading the entire blockchain.

In a blockchain network, consensus is when all nodes reach an agreement on the validity and status of a transaction.

PBFT is a fault-tolerant consensus protocol that uses message passing rounds to ensure that nodes can reach an agreement on the state of the blockchain even if some nodes fail or behave abnormally.

Symmetric encryption uses the same key for encryption and decryption, while asymmetric encryption uses different keys for encryption and decryption.

Digital signatures are used to verify the authenticity and integrity of transactions. They also help prevent data from being tampered with during transmission.

Historical state data refers to state information associated with all previous blocks in the blockchain. Sharing historical state data can save storage resources because not all nodes need to store the complete state history.

FDMT is a fixed-depth Merkle tree, while MPT is a Merkle Patricia tree. FDMT is used to store state data in the blockchain and is more efficient than MPT.

POA is a consensus mechanism in which trusted nodes are responsible for validating transactions. This mechanism is used in permissioned blockchain networks that require a higher degree of trust.