2025/02/27 by Suryanarayana Sankagiri, Sankagiri, Suryanarayana, Bruce Hajek +1
Business, Management and Accounting · Computer Science · Decision Sciences · #91A14 #93D99 #Advanced Queuing Theory Analysis #Blockchain Technology Applications and Security #C.2.2 #C.2.4 #FOS: Computer and information sciences #FOS: Electrical engineering #Game Theory and Applications #Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI) #Systems and Control (eess.SY) #electronic engineering #information engineering
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2502.20203
openalex publication_date 2025/02/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A payment channel network is a blockchain-based overlay mechanism that allows parties to transact more efficiently than directly using the blockchain. These networks are composed of payment channels that carry transactions between pairs of users. Due to its design, a payment channel cannot sustain a net flow of money in either direction indefinitely. Therefore, a payment channel network cannot serve transaction requests arbitrarily over a long period of time. We introduce DEBT control, a joint routing and flow-control protocol that guides a payment channel network towards an optimal operating state for any steady-state demand. In this protocol, each channel sets a price for routing transactions through it. Transacting users make flow-control and routing decisions by responding to these prices. A channel updates its price based on the net flow of money through it. The protocol is developed by formulating a network utility maximization problem and solving its dual through gradient descent. We provide convergence guarantees for the protocol and also illustrate its behavior through simulations.