Estimation of power consumption of proof of work consensus based distributed systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021312303-A1
Application number	US-202016840807-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 6, 2020
Priority date	Apr 6, 2020
Publication date	Oct 7, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and method for providing power consumption data for a distributed system in blockchains in a computer environment are presented. Energy consumption of one or more blockchain nodes in a blockchain network that achieves a consensus by a proof of work on a plurality of transactions upon executing a cryptographic operation may be determined.

First claim

1 . A method for providing power consumption data for a distributed system in blockchains by a processor, comprising:
estimating energy consumption of one or more blockchain nodes in a blockchain network that achieves a consensus by a proof of work on a plurality of transactions upon executing a cryptographic operation.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further including estimating entropy of each of the one or more blockchain nodes according to a degree of difficulty for the proof of work.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further including estimating a number of the plurality of transactions of the one or more blockchain nodes for both a total hashing power and a local hashing power.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further including determining an entropy lower bound for an increase in entropy using an irreversible bit operation.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further including:
applying the entropy lower bound to the plurality of transaction on each of the one or more blockchain nodes; and estimating the increase in the entropy for the one or more blockchain nodes.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further including:
determining an entropy per node using a Landauer limit that establishes an entropy lower bound for an increase in the entropy by an irreversible bit operation; and determining an average energy consumption for each of the one or more blockchain nodes using the entropy lower bound on the proof of work in the blockchain network.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further including solving a cryptographic puzzle to achieve the proof of work consensus for executing the cryptographic operation.

8 . A system for providing power consumption data for a distributed system in blockchains in a computing environment, comprising:
one or more computers with executable instructions that when executed cause the system to:
estimate energy consumption of one or more blockchain nodes in a blockchain network that achieves a consensus by a proof of work on a plurality of transactions upon executing a cryptographic operation.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the executable instructions that when executed cause the system to estimate entropy of each of the one or more blockchain nodes according to a degree of difficulty for the proof of work.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the executable instructions that when executed cause the system to estimate a number of the plurality of transactions of the one or more blockchain nodes for both a total hashing power and a local hashing power.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the executable instructions that when executed cause the system to determine an entropy lower bound for an increase in entropy using an irreversible bit operation.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the executable instructions that when executed cause the system to:
apply the entropy lower bound to the plurality of transaction on each of the one or more blockchain nodes; and estimate the entropy increase for the one or more blockchain nodes.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the executable instructions that when executed cause the system to:
determine an entropy per node using a Landauer limit that establishes an entropy lower bound for an increase in the entropy by an irreversible bit operation; and determine an average energy consumption for each of the one or more blockchain nodes using the entropy lower bound on the proof of work in the blockchain network.

14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the executable instructions that when executed cause the system to solve a cryptographic puzzle to achieve the proof of work consensus for executing the cryptographic operation.

15 . A computer program product for providing power consumption data for a distributed system in blockchains by a processor, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:
an executable portion that estimates energy consumption of one or more blockchain nodes in a blockchain network that achieves a consensus by a proof of work on a plurality of transactions upon executing a cryptographic operation.

16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , further including an executable portion that:
estimates entropy of each of the one or more blockchain nodes according to a degree of difficulty for the proof of work; and estimate a number of the plurality of transactions of the one or more blockchain nodes for both a total hashing power and a local hashing power.

17 . The computer program product of claim 15 , further including an executable portion that determines an entropy lower bound for an increase in entropy using an irreversible bit operation.

18 . The computer program product of claim 17 , further including an executable portion that:
applies the entropy lower bound to the plurality of transaction on each of the one or more blockchain nodes; and estimates the entropy increase for the one or more blockchain nodes.

19 . The computer program product of claim 15 , further including an executable portion that:
determines an entropy per node using a Landauer limit that establishes an entropy lower bound for an increase in the entropy by an irreversible bit operation; and determines an average energy consumption for each of the one or more blockchain nodes using the entropy lower bound on the proof of work in the blockchain network.

20 . The computer program product of claim 15 , further including an executable portion that solves a cryptographic puzzle to achieve the proof of work consensus for executing the cryptographic operation.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Ragnoli Emanuele
• Mckenna Sean A

Classifications

• H04L9/50

  using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees · CPC title

• G06F1/28

  Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision · CPC title

• H04L9/3239 Primary

  involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD · CPC title

• H04L9/0643

  Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC · CPC title

• G06F16/27

  Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor · CPC title