Communication Protocol Impact on Energy Efficiency of Blockchain Application
Analysis of Energy Efficiency of Android Blockchain Application Using UDP or QUIC
T. Puczel (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
Johan Pouwelse – Mentor (TU Delft - Data-Intensive Systems)
B. Nasrulin – Mentor (TU Delft - Data-Intensive Systems)
K.G. Langendoen – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Embedded Systems)
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Abstract
Blockchain is already a widely adopted solution which can achieve decentralized storage in trustless settings. However, it is infamous for its high energy demands, making it difficult to operate on mobile phones with limited battery life. Among many design decisions in a blockchain implementation, is the choice of the communication protocol used for messaging between the participants. This work systematically evaluates the energy efficiency of custom blockchain implementations: over UDP and over QUIC with Iroh Rust crate for Android devices. The results demonstrate a higher energy demand by the QUIC-based implementation, with up to 34\% faster battery discharge on average compared to the UDP approach. Investigations show different energy usage per CPU and Wi-Fi components, and network traffic profile during the application's operation. These findings highlight the trade-offs related to energy efficiency in designing a blockchain-based system.