Authenticated, Partial Data Structures for Blockchain Scalability, Sustainability and Security

10/15/2019

By Mark Moir, Oracle Labs

Abstract:
Using our Haskell Authenticated Modular Maps (HAMM) framework, we can specify various implementations of authenticated modular maps that enable verifying and using _partial_ map (key-value store) data structures.  I will present an overview of HAMM and results we have achieved with it.  I will also discuss our motivation for building HAMM, which is to enable blockchain participants to quickly receive and verify part of a map representing a blockchain "world state". This is important for addressing several practical concerns related to Blockchain Scalability, Sustainability and Security.

About the Speaker:
Mark Moir received the B.Sc.(Hons.) degree in Computer Science from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 1988, and the Ph.D.  degree in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA in 1996.  From August 1996 until June 2000, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Pittsburgh.  In June 2000, he joined Sun Labs.  After Oracle acquired Sun in 2010, he was the Principal Investigator of the Scalable Synchronization Research Group in Oracle Labs until 2018.  Dr. Moir was named as a Sun Microsystems Distinguished Engineer in 2009 and an Architect at Oracle in 2016. Moir's traditional research interests concern practical and theoretical aspects of concurrent, distributed, and real-time computing.  Since 2015, he has been increasingly interested in disruptive decentralized technologies such as distributed ledgers (blockchains), smart contracts and related technologies.  He is particularly interested in scalability, privacy/confidentiality, and how these technologies interact with the real world, for example legal and regulatory compliance and accountability.
 

LOCATION AND TIME

Address:  University of Minho, Gualtar Campus, Braga, Portugal

Building: Departamento de Informatica, Building 07

Networking Session: 01:45 PM, Auditorium A2, First floor

Talk Session: 02:00 PM, Auditorium A2, First floor
 

PHOTOS