6533b81ffe1ef96bd127861b
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Nonlinear Feedback Control and Stability Analysis of a Proof-of-Work Blockchain
Jan KuceraGeir Hovlandsubject
blockchain0209 industrial biotechnologyBlockchainComputer scienceFeedback control020208 electrical & electronic engineeringStability (learning theory)feedbackNonlinear02 engineering and technologystabilitylcsh:QA75.5-76.95Computer Science ApplicationsNonlinear system020901 industrial engineering & automationdisturbance rejectionControl and Systems EngineeringControl theoryModeling and SimulationProof-of-work system0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineeringlcsh:Electronic computers. Computer sciencecontrol systemSoftwaredescription
In this paper a novel feedback controller and stability analysis of a blockchain implementation is developed by using a control engineering perspective. The controller output equals the difficulty adjustment in the mining process while the feedback variable is the average block time over a certain time period. The computational power (hash rate) of the miners is considered a disturbance in the model. The developed controller is tested against a simulation model with constant disturbance, step and ramp responses as well as with a high-frequency sinusoidal disturbance. Stability and a fast response is demonstrated in all these cases with a controller which adjusts it's output at every new block. Finally the performance of the controller is implemented and demonstrated on a testnet with a constant hash rate as well as on the mainnet of a public open source blockchain project.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-10-01 | Modeling, Identification and Control: A Norwegian Research Bulletin |