consensus mechanism [English]

Syndetic Relationships

InterPARES Definition

No definition in earlier IP projects. ITrust definition not yet developed.

Other Definitions

  • Deloitte Insights 2016 (†801 p.46): Consensus Process. The process a group of peers responsible for maintaining a distributed ledger use to reach consensus on the ledger’s contents.
  • ISO TC307 (Japan). 2017 (†857 s.v. "3.1 Consensus algorithm" ; p.9): method of data synchronization for transaction data processing among participating nodes (3.8). · Note 1 to entry: implementation for this item contains concepts such as “Proof of Work”, “Proof of Stake”, etc.
  • ISO TC307 N38 (United States). 2017. (†834 p.2): Consensus Services - the means by which transactions are validated for inclusion in a distributed ledger. Multiple options should be available.
  • ISO TC307 N55 (France). 2017 (†858 ): Two-fold agreement comprised of 'community consensus' and 'protocol consensus'.
  • Scaling Bitcoin [2017] (†845 s.v. "Consensus"): The consensus rules are the specific set of rules that all Bitcoin full nodes will unfailingly enforce when considering the validity of a block and its transactions. For example, the Bitcoin consensus rules require that blocks only create a certain number of bitcoins.
  • Seibold et al. 2016 (†821 p.1): A method of authenticating and validating a value or transaction on a Blockchain or a distributed ledger without the need to trust or rely on a central authority. Consensus mechanisms are central to the functioning of any blockchain or distributed ledger.

Citations

  • ISO TC307 N38 (United States). 2017. (†834 s.v. "High-level View of a Blockchain Network): a ledger. In most systems, the nodes belong to different organizations. The nodes communicate with each other in order to gain agreement on what should be in the ledger. The process of gaining this agreement is called consensus, and there are a number of different algorithms that have been developed for this purpose. (†2188)
  • ISO TC307 N38 (United States). 2017. (†834 s.v. "Consensus"): Enables a consensus process used by the nodes within the blockchain network to agree on the validity and order of transactions appended to the ledger. The consensus process maintains a consistently replicated ledger within the network. (†2194)
  • Lemieux and Sporny 2017 (†847 ): A consensus event is an assertion that there is agreement on a subset of entries in a ledger. Some ledgers do not require consensus events as each event establishes an acceptable level of consensus. Other ledgers require consensus events after a pre-determined amount of time (e.g. every 1,000 events). (†2354)
  • Wood 2014 (†803 p.1): Technology-rooted movements like Bitcoin have demonstrated, through the power of the default, consensus mechanisms and voluntary respect of the social contract that it is possible to use the internet to make a decentralised value-transfer system, shared across the world and virtually free to use. This system can be said to be a very specialised version of a cryptographically secure, transaction-based state machine. (†2174)