Undergraduate Course: Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers (INFR11144)
Course Outline
| School | School of Informatics |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Blockchain technology and distributed ledgers have been hailed as a turning point in scaling information technology services at a global level. Although the digital currency Bitcoin is the best-known Blockchain application today, the technology is set to play a much broader role in cyber security innovation. This course is an introduction to the design and analysis of blockchain systems and distributed ledgers and is meant to be taught in parallel to the Introduction to Modern Cryptography course of the same level (INFR11131) every other year (with the latter course as a prerequisite or co-requisite). |
| Course description |
The concept of blockchain will be covered in detail together with the supporting cryptographic technology. Questions that will be covered is why it works and what problems can it solve.
Syllabus:
1. Introduction to blockchain. What is a distributed ledger. Transactions. Digital Signatures.
2. The consensus layer. Basic Properties. Proof of Work.
3. Robust Transaction Ledgers. Properties and Objectives. Permissioned, permissionless ledgers.
4. Privacy Issues. Anonymity, Pseudonymity, Unlinkability. Zero-Knowledge Proofs.
5. Scalability Issues. Byzantine agreement protocols.
6. Blockchain as a platform. Smart Contracts.
7. Secure multiparty computation techniques and their application to blockchain protocols.
8. Alternative techniques to proof of work for blockchain protocols, proof of stake/space.
9. Game theoretic analysis of blockchain protocols.
10. Name and object registries. Reputation systems. Policy issues related to blockchain.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
76 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
70 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1. Multiple choice exam. (70%)
2. Assessed coursework (30%)
30% of the assessment will be on an assigned coursework aimed at the course learning objectives.
The coursework that will be graded corresponds to a total of 30 hours of work. A single assignment will be given that will require approximately 30 hours of work. Other exercises will be provided but not counted towards the final grade.
|
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
|
| Academic year 2017/18, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
76 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
70 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1. Multiple choice exam. (70%)
2. Assessed coursework (30%)
30% of the assessment will be on an assigned coursework aimed at the course learning objectives.
The coursework that will be graded corresponds to a total of 30 hours of work. A single assignment will be given that will require approximately 30 hours of work. Other exercises will be provided but not counted towards the final grade.
|
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand what is a blockchain and a distributed ledger
- Develop or extend the ability to think critically about cybersecurity
- Understand the challenges of scaling information technology services across organizational barriers and at a global level.
- Analyse the security of basic cryptographic primitives like hash functions and digital signatures
|
Reading List
Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies by Arvind Narayanan, Joseph Bonneau, Edward Felten, Andrew Miller, Steven Goldfeder.
http://bitcoinbook.cs.princeton.edu
The Bitcoin Backbone Protocol: Analysis and Applications, Juan Garay and Aggelos Kiayias and Nikos Leonardos.
https://eprint.iacr.org/2014/765 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Familiarity with cryptography, cyber security, decentralized systems, databases, open source software.
Characteristic 1, Level 5.
Characteristic 2, Level 10.
Characteristic 3, Level 5.
Characteristic 4, Level 5.
Characteristic 5, Level 5.
|
| Special Arrangements |
Basic understanding of probability.
Discrete mathematics.
Programming.
|
| Keywords | Bitcoin,Distributed Systems,Cryptography |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Aggelos Kiayias
Tel: (031 6)50 5129
Email: akiayias@inf.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Gregor Hall
Tel: (0131 6)50 5194
Email: gregor.hall@ed.ac.uk |
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