BlockASP: A Framework for AOP-Based Model Checking Blockchain System
Anas Alsobeh, Aws A. Magableh
Abstract
Blockchain systems are lauded for their security and reliability. Security is a cornerstone, as they employ cryptographic techniques to ensure the immutability of data, making it extremely resistant to tampering. With decentralized networks, they also reduce the risk of a single point of failure, enhancing reliability. Model checking plays a vital role in ensuring the security and reliability of blockchain systems. However, traditional model-checking approaches face challenges in handling the inherent dynamism exhibited in blockchain systems. To overcome this challenge, Aspect-Oriented programming (AOP) offers capabilities to enhance blockchain model checking through the modularization of cross-cutting concerns, enabling traceability and monitoring, facilitating dynamic instrumentation, and supporting fine-grained property specifications. The aim of this research is to enable more effective and efficient verification of dynamic behaviors in blockchain systems compared to conventional model-checking techniques using AOP. As a result, this research introduces <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">BlockASP</i> , a novel blockchain model verification method that leverages AOP to analyze and monitor dynamic behavior of the blockchain system. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">BlockASP</i> integrates the benefits of aspect-orientation and model checking into the blockchain architecture to strengthen security and reliability. This research has examined prior arts that are related to blockchain modeling using Object-oriented (OO) and those that are using AOP. Our research has proposed and discussed the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">BlockASP</i> technique, the research provided a case study to demonstrate the validity and superiority in facilitating the monitoring of dynamic blockchain behavior using AOP compared to traditional approaches such as Model-Driven Architecture (MDA).