Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.6109/jkiice.2021.25.11.1676

Blockchain Interoperability Mechanism  

Zhou, Qing (Department of Information & Communication Engineering, Kunsan Natioal University)
Lee, Young-seok (Department of Information & Communication Engineering, Kunsan Natioal University)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering / v.25, no.11, 2021 , pp. 1676-1686 More about this Journal
Abstract
In this paper, we propose a general cross-chain solution based on the idea of modularity, abstraction, and layering, which decoupling the cross-chain function from the consensus algorithm and specific application logic, and utilize a Merkle proof to ensure the validity and legality of cross-chain operations. Since the underlying implementations of homogeneous and heterogeneous blockchains are different, we treat them separately. For homogeneous blockchains, we suggest a TCP-like cross-chain transport protocol (CCTP). While for heterogeneous blockchains, we present a method to construct the relay chain to realize the cross-chain function. The proposed scheme can enable the correct, effective, reliable, orderly, and timely transmission of cross-chain data. However, the essential difference between the operations within a single blockchain and the interoperability between different blockchains is that the trust domain is different. Cross-chain interoperation itself breaks the completeness of the blockchain, therefore, some efficiency and safety must sacrifice to trade-off.
Keywords
Cross-chain; Merkle proof; Light client; Validity proofs;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 S.Thomas and E.Schwartz. (2016). A Protocol for Interledger Payments [Online]. Available: https://interledger.org/interledger.pdf.
2 A. Back, M. Corallo, L. Dashjr, M. Friedenbach, G. Maxwell, A. Miller, A. Poelstra, J. Timon, and P. Wuille. (2014, October). Enabling Blockchain Innovations with Pegged Sidechains [Online]. Available: https://www.blockstream.com/sidechains.pdf.
3 G. wood. Polkadot. : Vision for a heterogeneous multi-chain framework draft 1 [Online]. Available: https://polkadot.network/PolkaDotPaper.pdf.
4 P. Lafourcade and M. LombardPlatet, "About blockchain interoperability," Information Processing Letters, vol. 161, pp. 105976, Sep. 2020.   DOI
5 Consensys. (2016, September). BTC Relay Documentation Release 1.0 [Online]. Available: https://buildmedia.readthedocs.org/media/pdf/btc-relay/latest/btc-relay.pdf.
6 M. Herlihy. (2018, July). Atomic Cross-Chain Swaps [Online]. Available: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3212734.3212736.
7 J. Poon and T. Dryja. (2016, Jan). The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments [Online]. Available https://lightning.network/lightning-networkpaper.pdf.
8 V. Buterin. (2016). Chain interoperability. R3 Research Paper [Online]. Available: https://www.r3.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/chain_ interoperability_r3.pdf.
9 R. Merkle, "A Digital Signature Based on a Conventional Encryption Function," LNCS, vol. 293. pp. 369-378, Aug. 1987.
10 C. Goes and I. GmbH. The Inter-blockchain Communication Protocol: An Overview [Internet]. Available: https://ibcprotocol.org/documentation.