论文标题
ETHNA：分析以太坊区块链的基础对等网络
Ethna: Analyzing the Underlying Peer-to-Peer Network of the Ethereum Blockchain
论文作者
论文摘要
用于运输其交易和区块的区块链网络的点对点（P2P）网络对系统的效率和安全性有很大影响。因此，普遍区块链（例如比特币和以太坊）的P2P网络拓扑值应受到我们的最大关注。当前的以太坊区块链探索者（例如，Etherscan）着重于跟踪块和交易记录，但忽略了基础P2P网络的表征。这项工作介绍了以太坊网络分析仪（ETHNA），该工具可以探测和分析以太坊区块链的P2P网络。与采用非结构化P2P网络的比特币不同，以太坊依靠Kademlia DHT来管理其P2P网络。因此，类似比特币的P2P网络的现有分析方法不适用于以太坊。 EthNA实现了一种精确测量以太坊节点的新方法。此外，它结合了一种算法，该算法得出以太坊P2P网络中消息传播的延迟指标。我们在以太坊主网上掌握了ETHNA，并进行了广泛的实验，以分析其P2P网络的拓扑特征。我们的分析表明，以太坊P2P网络具有小世界网络的一定效果，并且节点的程度遵循表征无规模网络的幂律分布。
The peer-to-peer (P2P) network of blockchain used to transport its transactions and blocks has a high impact on the efficiency and security of the system. The P2P network topologies of popular blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, therefore, deserve our highest attention. The current Ethereum blockchain explorers (e.g., Etherscan) focus on the tracking of block and transaction records but omit the characterization of the underlying P2P network. This work presents the Ethereum Network Analyzer (Ethna), a tool that probes and analyzes the P2P network of the Ethereum blockchain. Unlike Bitcoin that adopts an unstructured P2P network, Ethereum relies on the Kademlia DHT to manage its P2P network. Therefore, the existing analytical methods for Bitcoin-like P2P networks are not applicable to Ethereum. Ethna implements a novel method that accurately measures the degrees of Ethereum nodes. Furthermore, it incorporates an algorithm that derives the latency metrics of message propagation in the Ethereum P2P network. We ran Ethna on the Ethereum Mainnet and conducted extensive experiments to analyze the topological features of its P2P network. Our analysis shows that the Ethereum P2P network possesses a certain effect of small-world networks, and the degrees of nodes follow a power-law distribution that characterizes scale-free networks.
