# Reputation Consensus Mechanism for Blockchain Based on Information-Centric Networking
## 3 Preliminaries and System Model  
To elaborate on our research scheme, this section outlines the system model explored in this paper, along with its preliminary work. The proposed model is applicable to ICN that is compatible with IP. For ICN that does not support IP, connectivity is achieved through ICN gateway nodes that facilitate IP protocol conversion [34]. As illustrated in Figure 1, the system model incorporates three key components: ICN Blockchain Nodes (IBNs), IP Routers (Rs), and Blockchain Nodes (BNs) within the IP network. The IBNs, deployed within ICN, connect and exchange messages with BNs via P2P networks. These IBNs broadcast blocks and transaction messages using ICN multicast and caching technologies, thereby enhancing the propagation speed of blocks and messages across the network. This model supports public blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as private and consortium blockchains for block storage and message distribution.  
The system model primarily includes two core components: a reputation model and a hybrid consensus mechanism. The reputation model aims to assess the service quality and network performance of IBNs, whereas the hybrid consensus mechanism is utilized for electing proposer nodes to enhance consensus efficiency. As depicted in Figure 2, the reputation model is divided into two parts: reputation management and reputation verification. Reputation management involves the collection, validation, computation, and updating of reputation parameters for IBNs, facilitated by third-party trust entities and edge computing within the network. Reputation verification, on the other hand, entails the validation of IBN consensus nodes' reputation values by blockchain nodes through third-party trust entities, thereby strengthening the system's trustworthiness.  
Figure 1: The system model.  
The hybrid consensus module enhances the Ethereum Casper FFG at the network layer. We have introduced a reputation-based hybrid consensus mechanism, PoR, which can serve as a reputation overlay for existing PoS/PoW consensus mechanisms, providing a tool for finality, as illustrated in the blockchain reference model shown in Figure 3. The yellow highlighted sections, ICN and PoR, represent modules added to the traditional blockchain network layer and consensus layer based on this paper. Under the Casper FFG architecture, our system adopts different consensus strategies for regular blocks and finality blocks. For regular blocks, IBNs and BNs reach consensus based on existing mechanisms (PoW/PoS), whereas for finality blocks, IBNs select ledger nodes with higher reputations from within the reputation model. Blockchain nodes authenticate the identities of IBN ledger nodes through third-party trust organizations and verify the legitimacy of blocks. By selecting ICN consensus nodes with superior network service quality and performance to handle the generation and delivery of finality blocks, the system balances fairness while enhancing the scalability and consensus efficiency of the blockchain network.  
Figure 3: Blockchain reference model.  
Figure 2: The reputation model.  
It is essential to highlight that the core of the system model revolves around the development of a multidimensional reputation assessment model. This model facilitates the design of a reputation-based hybrid consensus algorithm, aimed at selecting ICN consensus nodes with superior network service quality and performance as proposer nodes for checkpoint blocks, thereby enhancing consensus efficiency. Related techniques, such as the specific methods for verifying trust data within the reputation model, can be integrated with existing relevant works. These include verification through trusted hardware, SDN technologies, blockchain smart contracts, and third-party trust entities.  
The subsequent sections will provide a detailed discussion on the design of the reputation model and the reputation-based hybrid consensus mechanism.