D-CAST: Distributed Consensus Switch in Wireless Trustworthy Autonomous System

TL;DR

This paper tackles reliability in wireless TAS where dynamic topology and stochastic channels can trigger both crash and Byzantine faults. It introduces D-CAST, an autonomous switchable consensus framework that toggles between CFT and BFT protocols—such as Raft and Hotstuff—based on observed network conditions, including latency and bandwidth. It analyzes timing for switching, leader-change dynamics, and state consistency during transitions, and discusses defenses against fraud-switching attacks and the implications of bandwidth constraints on protocol selection. By balancing latency, fault tolerance, and communication overhead, D-CAST aims to enhance the resilience and efficiency of mission-critical wireless TAS in fluctuating network environments, with Hotstuff offering $O(N)$ per-phase communication compared to $O(N^2)$ in some BFT schemes.

Abstract

The protocols of distributed consensus normally aim to tolerate different types of faults including crash faults and byzantine faults that occur in the distributed systems. However, the dynamic network topology and stochastic wireless channels may cause the same trustworthy system to suffer both crash fault and byzantine fault. This article proposes the concept of a distributed consensus autonomous switch mechanism in trustworthy autonomous systems (D-CAST) to reach the different fault tolerance requirements of the dynamic nodes and discusses the challenges of D-CAST while it is implemented in the wireless trustworthy system.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: Different communication topology of distributed consensus
• Figure 2: The procedures of two leader-based consensus protocols