ARTICLE IN PRESS

Core components of blockchain☆

Neeraj Kumar and Shubhani Aggarwal
Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala, Punjab, India

Contents
1. Classification of nodes in a blockchain network 2
2. Classification of blockchain system 2
3. Blockchain platforms 4
3.1 Ethereum 4
3.2 Hyperledger Fabric 8
3.3 Hyperledger Sawtooth 8
3.4 Hedera Hashgraph 9
3.5 Ripple 9
3.6 Quorum 10
3.7 Hyperledger Iroha 11
3.8 R3.Corda 11
3.9 EOS 12
3.10 OpenChain 12
3.11 Stellar 13
3.12 Dragonchain 13
3.13 NEO 14
3.14 MultiChain 15
3.15 IOTA 15
References 16
About the authors 17

Abstract
In the blockchain network, there are two types of nodes such as miner nodes and nor-
mal nodes. The miner nodes are used for authentication, auditing, and validating the
transactions and normal nodes are used to verify those transactions. Similarly, based
upon several criteria, blockchain systems are classified as public and private blockchains.
A public blockchain provides an open platform for people from various organizations
and backgrounds to join, transact, and mine whereas private blockchain is used to facil-
itate private sharing and exchange of data among a group of individuals. Along with
this, we have discussed the various blockchain platforms that can be used to execute
and run smart contracts on the blockchain network.

☆
Introduction to blockchain.

Advances in Computers # 2020 Elsevier Inc. 1

ISSN 0065-2458 All rights reserved.
https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.adcom.2020.08.010
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

2 Neeraj Kumar and Shubhani Aggarwal

Chapter points
• In this chapter, we discuss the types of blockchain and classification of
nodes used in the blockchain network.
• Here, we also discuss the blockchain platforms in detail used to execute
the smart contracts.

1. Classification of nodes in a blockchain network

In a blockchain distributed network, there are two type of nodes,
miner nodes and normal nodes which are described as follows.
• Miner nodes: A miner node is a central entity between devices and the
network. It is used for authenticating, authorizing, and auditing all the
transactions in the network. The miner node has its own microstorage
where devices can store their data temporarily. It communicates with
the controller node through remote switching units (RSUs), which are
used to pass all the transactions in the network. The transactional data pas-
sed through the controller node is stored in its local storage and is authen-
ticated by the miner node. Each miner node consists of various blocks and
a ledger. A ledger is used to store the transaction information at any given
instant of time. After the authentication of a transaction, the transactional
data is appended into the blocks.
• Normal nodes: Normal nodes contain the full copy of the complete
blockchain. They are used for verification, coordination, and validation
of the transactions, which is authenticated by the miner nodes. The dis-
tributed blockchain network of nodes is as shown in Fig 1.

2. Classification of blockchain system

Blockchain can facilitate authentication and authorization without
using any trusted authority. Due to its unique advantages and applications,
the blockchain paradigm is on a fast track. The adoption and adaptation are
on the higher side. Enterprises are rolling out newer blockchain use cases in
order to make it more visible and viable. Resultantly there are a few
blockchain types. There are certain use cases mandating for a couple of dif-
ferent types: public/permissionless and private/permissioned.
• Permissionless blockchain: With a public blockchain, anyone can join and
leverage blockchain functionalities whereas private blockchain can be
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

Core components of blockchain 3

Fig. 1 Distributed network of blockchain.

accessed only by authorized users. Within a public blockchain, the

much-required trust is being realized through game-theory and cryptog-
raphy concepts. In the case of a public blockchain, anyone can simply
download the appropriate application and join the decentralized
blockchain to involve in transactions. It is not mandatory to have a pre-
vious relationship with the ledger, and there is no need of approval to
join public blockchain.
• Permissioned blockchain: On the other hand, private/permissioned
blockchain do not require such artificial incentives since all actors in
the network are known to each other. New actors that want to join the
network have to be approved by existing actors in the network. This
enables more flexibility and efficiency of validating transactions.
Private blockchains are typically used by a consortium of organizations
that like to keep a shared ledger for settlement of transactions.
Predominantly, financial services providers such as banks form a kind
of a consortium to securely do transactions. Only, the members of the
organizations of the consortium can see transactions.
The scenario of different types of blockchain is as shown in Fig. 2.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

4 Neeraj Kumar and Shubhani Aggarwal

Fig. 2 Types of blockchain.

3. Blockchain platforms
Here, it is important to mention the various blockchain platforms that
can be used by the enterprises. The detail description of the blockchain plat-
forms is described as under and their difference is described in Tables 1 and 2.

3.1 Ethereum
It is an open-source and distributed blockchain-based platform suggested by
Vitalk Buterin, a Russian–Canadian programmer. This platform is used to
run smart contracts based on the customer’s specifications. Ethereum virtual
Table 1 Blockchain platforms.
Use of
Type of smart
Platforms Focus of industry ledger Consensus algorithm contract Governance

Ethereum Cross-industry Public Proof-of-work Yes Ethereum developers

Hyperledger Fabric Cross-industry Private Pluggable Framework Yes Linux Foundation
Hyperledger Sawtooth Cross-industry Private Pluggable Framework Yes Linux Foundation
Hedera Hashgraph Cross-industry Private Asynchronous Byzantine Yes Hedera Hashgraph Council
Fault Tolerance
Ripple Financial Services Private Probabilistic voting No Ripple Labs

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Quorum Cross-industry Private Majority voting No Ethereum developers and JP Morgan chase
Hyperledger Iroha Cross-industry Private Chain-based Byzantine fault Yes Linux Foundation
tolerance
Corda Cross-industry Private Asynchronous Byzantine Yes Hedera Hashgraph Council
Fault Tolerance
EOS Cross-industry Private Delegated proof-of-stake Yes EOSIO Core Arbitration Forum (ECAF)
OpenChain Digital Asset Management Private Partitioned consensus Yes Linux Foundation
Stellar Financial Services Both public Stellar consensus protocol Yes Stellar Development Foundation
and private
Dragonchain Cross-industry Public, Context-based verification Yes Dragonchain Foundation
private, and with five levels of consensus
hybrid
NEO Smart Economy Private Delegated Byzantine Fault Yes NEO holders and NEO Foundation Support
Tolerance
MultiChain Digital Asset Management Private Probabilistic voting Yes MultiChain Developers
IOTA Digital Asset Management Public Proof-of-work Yes IOTA Foundation
Table 2 Blockchain platforms.
Transaction
cost for
Platforms Programming language Cryptocurrency mining Applications
Ethereum Smart contract code written in In-built (ether) Yes Banking, commodity trade finance,
Solidity supply chain management, insurance,
energy grid, oil and gas, real estate

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Hyperledger Chaincode written in GoLang, Java No in-built (can be No Supply chain for pharmaceuticals, trade
Fabric modeled in financing, smart energy, supply chain
chaincode) management
Hyperledger Python, C++, Go, Java, JavaScript, Supports Ethereum No Smart energy, supply chain
Sawtooth and Rust via “seth” management
Hedera Smart contracts written in the HBAR (in-built) Yes (low) Finance, real estate, gaming, and media
Hashgraph Solidity and entertainment
Ripple C++ XRP (in-built) Yes Intra-bank applications, financial
(very-low) services
Quorum Smart contract written in solidity in-built (JPM Coin) No Banking, financial, insurance services
Hyperledger C++ No in-built No Interbank settlement, central bank
Iroha digital currencies, payment systems,
national IDs, and logistics, among
others
Corda Smart Contract code written in No in-built No Banking, financial services
Kotlin, Java
EOS C++ EOS tokens No Data hosting, usage management, and
communication between the dApps
OpenChain Javascript No in-built No Digital asset management
Stellar C++, Java, Python, GoLang, In-built (lumen) Yes (low) Telecommunication, banking, financial

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Javascript services
Dragonchain C++, Go, JavaScript, Java, Python, ERC-20 token runs Yes Currency agnosticism, and easy
Ruby, Shell, C#, Hy, Rails, PHP on Ethereum integration with business applications
NEO C# NEO & GAS tokens Yes Supply chain’s deployment, hosting,
and maintenance
MultiChain Python, C#, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby No in-built No Financial transactions, e-commerce
IOTA JavaScript mIOTA (in-built) No Internet-of-everything
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

8 Neeraj Kumar and Shubhani Aggarwal

Fig. 3 Ethereum.

machine (EVM) provides a run-time environment to smart contracts in

ethereum. It is used to understand for the public (permissionless) blockchain
platform and based on the PoW consensus mechanism which is slow in
speed. A developer who builds an application using ethereum should pay
charges in Ether, to execute transactions and to run an application on the
network. This platform is launched by ethereum developers and contributed
by ethereum enterprise alliance (EEA) [1]. The icon used to represent the
ethereum is as shown in Fig. 3.

3.2 Hyperledger Fabric

Hyperledger Fabric is one of the projects of hyperledger that is designed for
building blockchain-based applications and solutions. It basically uses as a
modular architecture that allows network designers to alliance their impor-
tant components such as membership services, agreement, and differentiate
it from other blockchain solutions. It is used to understand private
blockchain networks in which only known identities can participate in a sys-
tem. The members of this platform should be authorized to take part in a
blockchain. This project is launched by the Linux Foundation and contrib-
uted by digital assets and IBM [2]. The icon used to represent the hyper-
ledger Fabric is as shown in Fig. 4.

3.3 Hyperledger Sawtooth

Hyperledger Sawtooth is an enterprise-grade used for designing to create,
deploy, and execute the blockchain-based distributed ledgers that maintain
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

Core components of blockchain 9

Fig. 4 Hyperledger Fabric.

Fig. 5 Hyperledger Sawtooth.

the digital records. It is used to understand private blockchain networks and

based on the proof-of-elapsed time (PoET) consensus mechanism to inte-
grate hardware security solutions. It is hyperledger’s second open-source
platform that gives a sense of confidence to blockchain companies. This pro-
ject is launched by the Linux Foundation and contributed by digital assets
and IBM [3]. The icon used to represent the Hyperledger Sawtooth is as
shown in Fig. 5.

3.4 Hedera Hashgraph

Hedera Hashgraph is a new type of light, secure, fast, and fair platform that
does not need the high computing power of the PoW consensus algorithm.
The Hedera Hashgraph council is the governing body and the terms made in
this platform ensures no single member or no small groups can have control
and influence over the entire project. It is used to understand asynchronous
byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) and has a strong level of security. It has the
capability to handle thousands of transactions per second and authenticate
one million signatures per second. It provides binding arbitration in which
smart contracts use a list of public-key arbitrators which can be edited to cor-
rect the errors or to add new features [4]. The icon used to represent the
Hedera Hashgraph is as shown in Fig. 6.

3.5 Ripple
Ripple was discovered in 2012 and is aimed at connecting financial services
like digital assets exchanges, banks through the blockchain network called
RippleNet. It also allows global payments like Ether or Bitcoin via a digital
asset called ripple. It uses probabilistic voting to reach an agreement between
the nodes. It is more scalable and faster than any other blockchain platforms.
To test the potential of the ripple platform, some big brands like SBI
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

10 Neeraj Kumar and Shubhani Aggarwal

Fig. 6 Hedera Hashgraph.

Fig. 7 Ripple.

holdings, Deloitte, American Express, which integrates with this platform to

make their payment system more fast, accurate and secure [5]. The icon used
to represent the ripple is as shown in Fig. 7.

3.6 Quorum
The quorum platform was founded by J.P. Morgan. As similar to ethereum,
it is an open-source and free to use in endurance. It is used for private
blockchain networks and would not be open for everyone. It uses a vote-
based consensus mechanism that enables to handle hundreds of transactions
per second. It can handle the application requiring high throughput and high
speed of the transaction. It also resolves the issue of confidentiality of records
that other blockchain platforms are failed to solve this issue [6]. The icon
used to represent the quorum is as shown in Fig. 8.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

Core components of blockchain 11

Fig. 8 Quorum.

Fig. 9 Hyperledger Iroha.

3.7 Hyperledger Iroha

Hyperledger Iroha is hosted by Linux Foundation and is used to build
secure, fast, and trusted decentralized applications. This project is developed
by the simultaneously working of both companies such as National Bank of
Cambodia and Soramistu Cooperation Limited. It creates a healthy balance
using transparency in the development process and attaining milestones. It is
portable and supportive for mac operating system and Linux environment,
which is used for supply chain and IoT use cases [7]. The icon used to rep-
resent the Hyperledger Iroha is as shown in Fig. 9.

3.8 R3.Corda
R3.Corda is an open-source platform developed in 2015. It is a cutting edge
blockchain platform that enables financial institutions to transact with a
smart contract directly. It does not have any cryptocurrency and is used
for private blockchain networks that allows only authorized participants
to access data. It increases privacy and provides access-control to digital
records. It is used in various use cases like healthcare, supply chain, financial
sectors, and government authorities [8]. The icon used to represent the R3.
Corda is as shown in Fig. 10.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

12 Neeraj Kumar and Shubhani Aggarwal

Fig. 10 R3.Corda.

Fig. 11 EOS.

3.9 EOS
EOS was founded by a private “Block.One” company in June 2018 and is
used as an open-source platform. It was launched for designing and devel-
opment of decentralized applications. The goal of this platform is to provide
decentralized storage, applications, and run smart contracts. It is free for all
users who want to take advantage of decentralized applications. It is a part of
private blockchain based on multithreading as well as proof-of-stake (PoS)
consensus mechanism. The EOS has its own association called the EOS
forum to discuss and to talk with the developers, investors, and their users
based on esteem blockchain [9]. The icon used to represent the EOS is as
shown in Fig. 11.

3.10 OpenChain
OpenChain was developed by Coinprism and is used as an open-source
platform. It is used for those organizations who manages the digital assets
and needs scalability and security. It is based on partitioned consensus
where one instance will have one authority to validate the transaction.
It is free of cost and validated by a service administrator that provides effi-
ciency to the network [10]. The icon used to represent the OpenChain is as
shown in Fig. 12.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

Core components of blockchain 13

Fig. 12 OpenChain.

Fig. 13 Stellar.

3.11 Stellar
Stellar is a distributed ledger technology that deals with exchanges of
cryptocurrencies like Ripple. It is used to build banking tools, smart devices,
and mobile wallets. It is based on stellar consensus protocol used to record
financial transactions. The stellar protocol has better capabilities than PoW
and PoS in terms of entry for a new participant in financial services. Some
private banks and companies like ICICI bank, Ripple Fox are integrating
with this platform to secure the transactions at the network [11]. The icon
used to represent the Stellar is as shown in Fig. 13.

3.12 Dragonchain
Dragonchain used as a service-oriented blockchain platform that provides
important resources to developers and enterprises at the time of application
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

14 Neeraj Kumar and Shubhani Aggarwal

development. It was developed at Walt Disney company in 2014 and used as

an open-source in 2016. It is used for both the blockchain networks such as
public and private. It can support any programming language that offers flex-
ibility in business-services and utilizing interchain capabilities with other
blockchains. With five levels of agreement, it provides a large spectrum
of trust and security [12]. The icon used to represent the dragonchain is
as shown in Fig. 14.

3.13 NEO
NEO platform was founded by Da Hongfei (CEO) and Erik Zhang of
blockchain Research and Development (R&D) company “OnChain” in
Shangai. It was developed to design decentralized applications and generate
GAS tokens using NEO tokens during the payment of transaction fees. It
uses the delegated BFT consensus mechanism that provides better perfor-
mance and scalability in comparison to other protocols. It maintains the
X.509 standard compatible with digital identity to support point-to-point
certificate issuance models with trust and privacy[13]. The icon used to rep-
resent the NEO is as shown in Fig. 15.

Fig. 14 Dragonchain.

Fig. 15 NEO.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

Core components of blockchain 15

Fig. 16 MultiChain.

3.14 MultiChain
MultiChain is a free and open-source platform used to build and deploy
DLT-based applications instantly. It can support any programming language
that provides better performance and scalability in comparison to other pro-
tocols. Therefore, the users do not require to learn a new programming lan-
guage. It is also used for encrypted records with an advanced level of data
sharing and time-stamping [14]. The icon used to represent the
MultiChain is as shown in Fig. 16.

3.15 IOTA
IOTA is an open and scalable distributed ledger that has to be designed
for supporting frictionless data and value transfer. It is the first distributed
ledger built for the “Internet of Everything”—a network for exchanging
value and data between humans and machines with tamper-proof, feeless
microtransactions, and low resource requirements. In IOTA, there are no
blocks and miners but when sending an IOTA transaction then it vali-
dates the previous two transactions. This feature of IOTA allows us to
overcome the cost and scalability limitations of blockchain. So, this plat-
form acts to play a central role in the next industrial revolution, enabling
economic relationships between machines and bridging the human and
machine economies [15]. The icon used to represent the IOTA is as
shown in Fig. 17.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

16 Neeraj Kumar and Shubhani Aggarwal

Fig. 17 IOTA.

References
[1] Ethereum, Available: https://ethereum.org/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[2] Hyperledger Fabric, Available: https://www.hyperledger.org/use/fabric (accessed
11 May 2020).
[3] Hyperledger Sawtooth, Available: https://www.hyperledger.org/use/sawtooth
(accessed 11 May 2020).
[4] Hedera Hashgraph, Available: https://www.hedera.com/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[5] Ripple, Available: https://ripple.com/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[6] Quorum, Available: https://www.goquorum.com/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[7] Hyperledger Iroha, Available: https://www.hyperledger.org/use/iroha (accessed
11 May 2020).
[8] R3.Corda, Available: https://www.r3.com/corda-platform/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[9] EOS, Available: https://eos.io/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[10] OpenChain, Available: https://www.openchainproject.org/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[11] Stellar, Available: https://www.stellar.org/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[12] Dragonchain. Available: https://dragonchain.com/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[13] NEO, Available: https://neo.org/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[14] Multichain, Available: https://www.multichain.com/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
[15] IOTA, Available: https://www.iota.org/ (accessed 11 May 2020).
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

Core components of blockchain 17

About the authors

Neeraj Kumar received his PhD in CSE
from SMVD University, Katra (Jammu
and Kashmir), India, and was a postdoctoral
research fellow in Coventry University,
Coventry, UK. He is working as an Associate
Professor in the Department of Computer
Science and Engineering, Thapar Institute of
Engineering & Technology, Patiala (Punjab),
India since 2014. Dr. Neeraj is an internationally
renowned researcher in the areas of VANET &
CPS Smart Grid & IoT Mobile Cloud comput-
ing & Big Data and Cryptography. He has
published more than 150 technical research papers in leading journals and con-
ferences from IEEE, Elsevier, Springer, John Wiley, and Taylor & Francis.

Shubhani Aggarwal is pursuing PhD from

Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology
(Deemed to be University), Patiala, Punjab,
India. She received the BTech degree in
Computer Science and Engineering from
Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India,
in 2015, and the ME degree in Computer
Science from Panjab University, Chandigarh,
India, in 2017. She has many research interests
in the area of Blockchain, cryptography,
Internet of Drones, and information security.