Grouped Byzantine fault tolerant consensus algorithm based on aggregated signatures

Abstract The Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus algorithm faces several challenges in large-scale networks, such as the simplistic primary node selection, high communication overhead, poor scalability, and low costs for malicious behavior. To address these issues, this paper proposes a Grouped Byzantine Fault-Tolerant Consensus Algorithm based on aggregated signatures (GABFT). This algorithm utilizes aggregated signature technology to reduce both communication and storage overhead by combining the signatures of multiple nodes into a single signature. This effectively prevents dishonest behavior by proxy nodes and ensures the security of the consensus. Additionally, we have developed the HonestPeer++ reputation model. It assigns trust values to each node and regulates node behavior through a penalty mechanism. The optimized consensus protocol adopts node grouping and one-to-many communication, achieving linear communication complexity and enhancing system scalability and consensus efficiency. Experimental results show that the GABFT algorithm significantly improves system throughput and scalability while reducing latency and communication overhead, making it wel