Abstract
With the distributed and decentralized nature of blockchain, and with its sequential data access, query processing emerges as a challenging issue in the blockchain systems. These features hinder efficient query processing and make it difficult to guarantee the validity and privacy-preserving of query results. Several solutions have been proposed to tackle the efficiency, reliability, and privacy challenges of query processing in blockchain systems. There has been rarely a comprehensive solution addressing all of these issues. In addition, the existing solutions often assume that the blockchain nodes are homogeneous in terms of their capabilities and available resources, while the blockchain nodes can have heterogeneous computational, communication, and storage resources, and can also contribute to the blockchain network in different manners. This work, considering the heterogeneity of network nodes, introduces a multi-level and score-based sharding solution for query processing where the nodes are organized into a hierarchical tree-like structure based on their score and store a proportion of transaction data in a DAG-based data structure resulting in an efficient query time. Additionally, the nodes reach a consensus over the query results from the bottom to the top of the hierarchical structure enabling reliable and fast query processing. The experiments conducted during the evaluation show that the efficiency of the proposed work is near that of relational databases in terms of query response time. It also provides a high validity rate taking advantage of its hierarchical consensus mechanism and preserves the privacy of query results using a delegation-based integration method where the final query result is integrated by the client’s representative.
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
17 April 2024
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-024-06144-3
References
Jia D-Y, Xin J-C, Wang Z-Q, Lei H, Wang G-R (2021) SE-chain: a scalable storage and efficient retrieval model for blockchain. J Comput Sci Technol 36(3):693–706
Qu Q, Nurgaliev I, Muzammal M, Jensen CS, Fan J (2019) On spatio-temporal blockchain query processing. Futur Gener Comput Syst 98:208–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2019.03.038
Muzammal M, Qu Q, Nasrulin B (2019) Renovating blockchain with distributed databases: an open source system. Futur Gener Comput Syst 90:105–117
Xing X, Chen Y, Li T, Xin Y, Sun H (2021) A blockchain index structure based on subchain query. J Cloud Comput 10:1–11
Gürsoy G, Brannon CM, Gerstein M (2020) Using Ethereum blockchain to store and query pharmacogenomics data via smart contracts. BMC Med Genomics 13(1):1–11
Li D, Han D, Crespi N, Minerva R, Li K-C (2023) A blockchain-based secure storage and access control scheme for supply chain finance. J Supercomput 79(1):109–138
Hao K, Xin J, Wang Z, Yao Z, Wang G (2022) On efficient top-k transaction path query processing in blockchain database. Data Knowl Eng 141:102079
Wang H, Xu C, Zhang C, Xu J, Peng Z, Pei J (2022) vchain+: optimizing verifiable blockchain boolean range queries. In: 2022 IEEE 38th International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE). pp 1927–1940
Rahman MS, Khalil I, Moustafa N, Kalapaaking AP, Bouras A (2021) A blockchain-enabled privacy-preserving verifiable query framework for securing cloud-assisted industrial internet of things systems. IEEE Trans Ind Informatics 18(7):5007–5017
Jiang S, Liu J, Chen J, Liu Y, Wang L, Zhou Y (2022) Query integrity meets blockchain: a privacy-preserving verification framework for outsourced encrypted data. IEEE Trans Serv Comput 16(3):2100–2113
Yang W, Sun B, Zhu Y, Wu D (2021) A secure heuristic semantic searching scheme with blockchain-based verification. Inf Process Manag 58(4):102548
Ma X, Wang C, Chen X (2021) Trusted data sharing with flexible access control based on blockchain. Comput Stand Interfaces 78:103543
Zou R, Lv X, Zhao J (2021) SPChain: Blockchain-based medical data sharing and privacy-preserving eHealth system. Inf Process Manag 58(4):102604
Abuhashim A, Tan CC (2020) Smart contract designs on blockchain applications. In: 2020 IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications (ISCC). pp 1–4
Chishti MS, Sufyan F, Banerjee A (2021) Decentralized on-chain data access via smart contracts in ethereum blockchain. IEEE Trans Netw Serv Manag 19(1):174–187
Li Y, Zheng K, Yan Y, Liu Q, Zhou X (2017) EtherQL: a query layer for blockchain system. In: Database Systems for Advanced Applications: 22nd International Conference, DASFAA 2017, Suzhou, China, March 27–30, Proceedings, Part II 22. pp 556–567
Pratama FA, Mutijarsa K, (2018) Query support for data processing and analysis on ethereum blockchain. In: 2018 International Symposium on Electronics and Smart Devices (ISESD). pp 1–5
Wang S, et al. (2018) Forkbase: an efficient storage engine for blockchain and forkable applications. arXiv Prepr. arXiv:1802.04949
Zhang Z, Zhong Y, Yu X (2021) Blockchain storage middleware based on external database. In: 2021 6th International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Signal Processing (ICSP). pp 1301–1304
Zeng L, Qiu W, Wang X, Wang H, Yao Y, Yu Z (2021) Transaction-based static ındexing method to ımprove the efficiency of query on the blockchain. In: 2021 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Applications (ICAICA). pp 780–784
Huang T-L, Huang J, (2020) An efficient data structure for distributed ledger in blockchain systems. In: 2020 International Computer Symposium (ICS). pp 175–178
Ruan P, Anh Dinh TT, Lin Q, Zhang M, Chen G, Chin Ooi B (2020) Revealing every story of data in blockchain systems. ACM Sigmod Rec 49(1):70–77
Xu Y, Zhao S, Kong L, Zheng Y, Zhang S, Li Q (2017) ECBC: a high performance educational certificate blockchain with efficient query. In: Theoretical Aspects of Computing–ICTAC 2017: 14th International Colloquium, Hanoi, Vietnam, October 23–27, Proceedings 14. pp 288–304
Xu C, Zhang C, Xu J (2019) Vchain: enabling verifiable boolean range queries over blockchain databases. In: Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Management of Data. pp 141–158
Zhu Y, Zhang Z, Jin C, Zhou A (2020) Enabling generic verifiable aggregate query on blockchain systems. In: 2020 IEEE 26th International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems (ICPADS). pp 456–465
Loporchio M, Bernasconi A, Maesa DDF, Ricci L (2021) Authenticating spatial queries on blockchain systems. IEEE Access 9:163363–163378
Tian G, Wei J, Kutyłowski M, Susilo W, Huang X, Chen X (2022) VRBC: a verifiable redactable blockchain with efficient query and integrity auditing. IEEE Trans Comput 72(7):1928–1942
Peng Z et al (2021) Vfchain: enabling verifiable and auditable federated learning via blockchain systems. IEEE Trans Netw Sci Eng 9(1):173–186
Shao Q, Pang S, Zhang Z, and Jing C (2020) Authenticated range query using SGX for blockchain light clients. In: Database Systems for Advanced Applications: 25th International Conference, DASFAA 2020, Jeju, South Korea, September 24–27, Proceedings, Part III 25. pp 306–321
Pang S, Shao Q, Zhang Z, Jin C (2020) Authqx: enabling authenticated query over blockchain via intel sgx. In: Database Systems for Advanced Applications: 25th International Conference, DASFAA 2020, Jeju, South Korea, September 24–27, Proceedings, Part III 25. pp 727–731
Niu Y, Zhang C, Wei L, Xie Y, Zhang X, Fang Y (2019) An efficient query scheme for privacy-preserving lightweight bitcoin client with Intel SGX. In: 2019 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM). pp 1–6
Zhou W, Cai Y, Peng Y, Wang S, Ma K, Li F (2021) Veridb: an sgx-based verifiable database. In: Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Management of Data. pp 2182–2194
Wu H, Peng Z, Guo S, Yang Y, Xiao B (2021) VQL: efficient and verifiable cloud query services for blockchain systems. IEEE Trans Parallel Distrib Syst 33(6):1393–1406
Cai C, Weng J, Yuan X, Wang C (2018) Enabling reliable keyword search in encrypted decentralized storage with fairness. IEEE Trans Dependable Secur Comput 18(1):131–144
Tahir S, Rajarajan M (2018) Privacy-preserving searchable encryption framework for permissioned blockchain networks. In: 2018 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings) and IEEE Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart Data (SmartData). pp 1628–1633
Hu S, Cai C, Wang Q, Wang C, Wang Z, Ye D (2019) Augmenting encrypted search: a decentralized service realization with enforced execution. IEEE Trans Dependable Secur Comput 18(6):2569–2581
Chen C-L, Yang J, Tsaur W-J, Weng W, Wu C-M, Wei X (2022) Enterprise data sharing with privacy-preserved based on hyperledger fabric blockchain in IIOT’s application. Sensors 22(3):1146
Chen Y, Bai J, Hao Y, Liao S, Yi Z, Zhang H, (2020) Blockchain-based dynamic group management for multiple keywords searchable encryption technology. In: 2020 International Conference on Cyber-Enabled Distributed Computing and Knowledge Discovery (CyberC). pp 1–6
Linoy S, Mahdikhani H, Ray S, Lu R, Stakhanova N, Ghorbani A (2019) Scalable privacy-preserving query processing over ethereum blockchain. In: Proceedings—2019 2nd IEEE International Conference Blockchain, Blockchain 2019, pp 398–404. https://doi.org/10.1109/Blockchain.2019.00061
Ge L, Jiang T (2021) A privacy protection method of lightweight nodes in blockchain. Secur Commun Networks 2021:1–17
Yang M, Margheri A, Hu R, Sassone V (2018) Differentially private data sharing in a cloud federation with blockchain. IEEE Cloud Comput 5(6):69–79
Zhao Y et al (2021) A blockchain-based approach for saving and tracking differential-privacy cost. IEEE Internet Things J 8(11):8865–8882
Xu L, Bao T, Zhu L (2020) Blockchain empowered differentially private and auditable data publishing in industrial IoT. IEEE Trans Ind Informatics 17(11):7659–7668
Luu L, Narayanan V, Zheng C, Baweja K, Gilbert S, Saxena P (2016) A secure sharding protocol for open blockchains. In: Proceedings of the 2016 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security. pp 17–30
Zamani M, Movahedi M, Raykova M (2018) Rapidchain: Scaling blockchain via full sharding. In: Proceedings of the 2018 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security. pp 931–948
Buterin V (2013) Ethereum whitepaper. https://ethereum.org/en/whitepaper/ Accessed 27 Mar 2021
LeMahieu C (2018) Nano: a feeless distributed cryptocurrency network. Nano https://nano.org/en/whitepaper Accessed 24 March 2018
Liu Y, Liu J, Li D, Yu H, Wu Q (2020) Fleetchain: a secure scalable and responsive blockchain achieving optimal sharding. In: International Conference on Algorithms and Architectures for Parallel Processing. pp 409–425
Wang J, Wang H (2019) Monoxide: scale out blockchains with asynchronous consensus zones. In: 16th {USENIX} Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation ({NSDI} 19). pp 95–112
Hong Z, Guo S, Li P, Chen W (2021) Pyramid: a layered sharding blockchain system. In: IEEE INFOCOM 2021-IEEE Conference on Computer Communications. pp 1–10
Huang C et al (2020) RepChain: a reputation-based secure, fast, and high incentive blockchain system via sharding. IEEE Internet Things J 8(6):4291–4304
Wu Z, Liu H, Xie J, Xu G, Li G, Lu C (2023) An effective method for the protection of user health topic privacy for health information services. World Wide Web 26(6):1–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11280-023-01208-5
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Alemeh Matani was responsible for writing—original draft, investigation, conceptualization, methodology, and validation. Amir Sahafi and Ali Broumandnia took part in review and supervision.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
The original online version of this article was revised.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Matani, A., Sahafi, A. & Broumandnia, A. Improving query processing in blockchain systems by using a multi-level sharding mechanism. J Supercomput 80, 15066–15096 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-024-06037-5
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-024-06037-5