A Novel Lattice-Based Blockchain Infrastructure and Its Application on Trusted Data Management
Longbo Han, Gengran Hu, X.M. Li, Feifei Xia, Shengbao Wang, Lin Xuan You · IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering · 2025
As a part of blockchain's infrastructure, the construction of Merkle trees typically relies on secure hash functions, such as SHA256. However, traditional blockchain systems face dual threats: quantum vulnerabilities in hash functions (e.g., Grover's algorithm reduces collision resistance) and inefficiencies in large-scale data verification. To address these challenges, we propose a parameter-hopping Merkle tree framework integrating a pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) with lattice-based cryptography. Our design ensures adaptive security through dynamic basis vector generation. This lattice-based structure offers flexibility in accommodating messages of varying sizes, supports distributed data storage, and enables efficient verification and querying of large-scale information streams. Key contributions include: a). A provably secure hash chain constructed via a family of extended-message-domain lattice-based hash functions (LBHFs), supporting arbitrary-length inputs. b). A variable-parameter Merkle tree protocol enabling efficient distributed data storage and query verification, with proof sizes optimized for P2P networks. c) A trusted data management prototype validated in a cloud storage scenario. Experimental results indicate that our blockchain infrastructure achieves enhanced security while maintaining high efficiency.