Research projects

Eclipse-Resistant Network Overlays for Fast Data Dissemination

Funding:

IOHK

Homepage:

https://mm.aueb.gr/IOHK

This project aims at pushing the Cardano blockchain's solid platform further, by designing an underlying network that satisfies Ouroboros' stringent dissemination requirements while it is by design resistant against Eclipse and DoS attacks.

The project is structured around a three-faceted goal:
(i) Identify the optimal organization of the data dissemination overlay to guarantee block delivery within Ouroboros' slot requirements even at the presence of failures,
(ii) Come up with scalable, robust, self-organizing P2P algorithms that let nodes self-organize into the aforementioned data dissemination overlay structure by means of emergent behavior,
(iii) Design a cross-layer solution (linking the ledger & network layers), that leverages ledger data to enforce that all network activity of nodes is governed by the strict execution of the defined gossiping protocols, rather than arbitrarily. This aims at protecting against network attacks by design.