A Novel Enhanced Lightweight Node for Blockchain

Abstract

Blockchain is a single linked list and its data volume grows endlessly. Each node in the Blockchain network keeps the entire data, which not only waste storage, but also requires a vast amount of computation which is wasteful and scales poorly. The SPV (simplified payment verification) node simplifies node storage, but decentralization, the most important feature of Blockchain, is compromised. To address the issue, this paper proposes a novel enhanced lightweight node called ESPV (Enhanced SPV) based on the analysis of the characteristics of Blockchain data. ESPV nodes label blocks as new and old, and keep all the new blocks while storing partial old blocks according their capacity. A hierarchical block partition routing table is established to ensure data availability when ESPV nodes access old blocks they do not have. An ESPV node has all the functions of a full node to ensure the decentralization and stability of a Blockchain system.