IEEE Virtual Distinguished Lecture (VDL) by Prof. Lara Dolecek

On behalf of the IEEE joint VT/COM/IT Sweden Chapter Board, we are delighted to invite you to an IEEE Information Theory Society Virtual Distinguished Lecture (VDL) by Prof. Lara Dolecek, UCLA, USA.

Title: Overcoming Data Availability Attacks in Blockchain Systems: A Graph-Coding Perspective

Time and date: December 14, 2021, 17:00-18:00 CET

Registration: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/293670

Abstract: Blockchain systems are already gaining popularity in a variety of applications due to their decentralized design that is favorable in many settings. To overcome excessive storage and latency burden, light nodes and side blockchains have been proposed to, respectively, enhance the basic blockchain architecture. However, both light nodes and side chains are vulnerable to data availability (DA) attacks by malicious nodes.  Recently, a technique based on erasure codes called Coded Merkle Tree (CMT) was proposed by Yu et al. that enables light nodes to detect a DA attack with high probability. CMT method relies on the use of random LDPC codes. We build on the previous work and demonstrate that graph codes specifically designed for the target applications in blockchain systems perform better than randomly constructed codes; intriguingly, the new finite-length code optimization framework unveils code properties beyond the established metrics.

Biography: Lara Dolecek is a Full Professor with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and Mathematics Department (courtesy) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She holds a B.S. (with honors), M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, as well as an M.A. degree in Statistics, all from the University of California, Berkeley.She received several awards for her research and teaching including the David J. Sakrison Memorial Prize from UC Berkeley, NSF CAREER Award, IBM Faculty Award, Okawa Research Grant and the Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award from UCLA. With her research group and collaborators, she received numerous best paper awards. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Information Theory and as the Secretary of the IEEE Information Theory Society. Prof. Dolecek is a 2021-2022 Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Information Theory Society. Prof. Dolecek has served as a consultant for a number of companies specializing in data communications and storage. In her current research, she is especially excited to explore the role of channel coding methods in blockchain systems, quantum information systems, and distributed storage and computing.