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ExClique: An Express Consensus Algorithm for High-Speed Transaction Process in Blockchains

Chonghe Zhao, Yipeng Zhou, Shengli Zhang, Quan Z. Sheng, Yang Zhang, Shiting Wen

TL;DR

ExClique tackles the TPS bottleneck of Clique, caused by long block broadcasts and no-turn forks, by introducing a proactive compact block protocol, a tighter no-turn delay, and a differential in-turn ordering with a fair reward contract. The approach combines a Counting Bloom Filter-based PCB to shrink broadcast traffic, dynamic delay management to curb forks, and a ripple-suppressing node ordering to eliminate the no-turn ripple effect, validated on a containerized, permissioned Ethereum-like network. Empirical results show ExClique delivering substantial TPS improvements (2.25× at 21 nodes and up to 7.01× at 101 nodes) over Clique, alongside reduced fork rates and balanced block rewards. This work broadens the practical applicability of PoA-based blockchains for high-throughput applications and large-scale deployments, while remaining compatible with existing Clique implementations.

Abstract

Proof of Authority (PoA) plays a pivotal role in blockchains for reaching consensus. Clique, which selects consensus nodes to generate blocks with a pre-determined order, is the most popular implementation of PoA due to its low communication overhead and energy consumption. However, our study unveils that the speed to process transactions by Clique is severely restricted by 1) the long communication delay of full blocks (each containing a certain number of transactions) between consensus nodes; and 2) occurrences of no-turn blocks, generated by no-turn nodes if an in-turn block generation fails. Consequently, Clique struggles to support distributed applications requiring a high transaction processing speed, e.g., online gaming. To overcome this deficiency, we propose an Express Clique (ExClique) algorithm by improving Clique from two perspectives: compacting blocks for broadcasting to shorten communication delay and prohibiting the occurrences of no-turn blocks. For performance evaluation, we implement ExClique by modifying Geth of Ethereum, the software implementing Clique, and deploy a permissioned blockchain network by using container technology. The experimental results show that ExClique achieves a substantial enhancement in transactions per second (TPS). Specifically, it boosts TPS by 2.25X in a typical network with 21 consensus nodes and an impressive 7.01X in a large-scale network with 101 consensus nodes when compared to Clique.

ExClique: An Express Consensus Algorithm for High-Speed Transaction Process in Blockchains

TL;DR

ExClique tackles the TPS bottleneck of Clique, caused by long block broadcasts and no-turn forks, by introducing a proactive compact block protocol, a tighter no-turn delay, and a differential in-turn ordering with a fair reward contract. The approach combines a Counting Bloom Filter-based PCB to shrink broadcast traffic, dynamic delay management to curb forks, and a ripple-suppressing node ordering to eliminate the no-turn ripple effect, validated on a containerized, permissioned Ethereum-like network. Empirical results show ExClique delivering substantial TPS improvements (2.25× at 21 nodes and up to 7.01× at 101 nodes) over Clique, alongside reduced fork rates and balanced block rewards. This work broadens the practical applicability of PoA-based blockchains for high-throughput applications and large-scale deployments, while remaining compatible with existing Clique implementations.

Abstract

Proof of Authority (PoA) plays a pivotal role in blockchains for reaching consensus. Clique, which selects consensus nodes to generate blocks with a pre-determined order, is the most popular implementation of PoA due to its low communication overhead and energy consumption. However, our study unveils that the speed to process transactions by Clique is severely restricted by 1) the long communication delay of full blocks (each containing a certain number of transactions) between consensus nodes; and 2) occurrences of no-turn blocks, generated by no-turn nodes if an in-turn block generation fails. Consequently, Clique struggles to support distributed applications requiring a high transaction processing speed, e.g., online gaming. To overcome this deficiency, we propose an Express Clique (ExClique) algorithm by improving Clique from two perspectives: compacting blocks for broadcasting to shorten communication delay and prohibiting the occurrences of no-turn blocks. For performance evaluation, we implement ExClique by modifying Geth of Ethereum, the software implementing Clique, and deploy a permissioned blockchain network by using container technology. The experimental results show that ExClique achieves a substantial enhancement in transactions per second (TPS). Specifically, it boosts TPS by 2.25X in a typical network with 21 consensus nodes and an impressive 7.01X in a large-scale network with 101 consensus nodes when compared to Clique.
Paper Structure (19 sections, 10 equations, 9 figures, 1 table, 1 algorithm)

This paper contains 19 sections, 10 equations, 9 figures, 1 table, 1 algorithm.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Background of Clique
  4. Consensus Nodes
  5. Block Generation
  6. TPS Analysis in Clique
  7. TPS Formulation
  8. Problem Statement
  9. Optimizing TPS in ExClique
  10. Maximizing $\Lambda_0$
  11. Minimizing $p_1$ and $p_2$
  12. Minimizing $p_3$
  13. Performance Evaluation
  14. Experimental Settings
  15. System Settings
  16. ...and 4 more sections

Figures (9)

  • Figure 1: Specific Design of Clique: (a) Workflow in different consensus nodes; (2) An example to generate blocks.
  • Figure 2: Four cases at a single step to affect the TPS performance in Clique.
  • Figure 3: Investigation Results on Clique: (a) Processing time required for each task; (b) Rate of different exceptional cases and fork.
  • Figure 4: Detailed Design of PCB: (a) structure; (b) workflow.
  • Figure 5: Different cases at multiple steps caused by different orders of in-turn nodes when a no-turn block is committed.
  • ...and 4 more figures