Causal Analysis of GossipSub Mesh Parameters Over the XRP Ledger

Abstract

Several distributed systems based on unstructured p2p networks, such as blockchains, rely on underlying protocols to disseminate messages in a fast and reliable way. As the state-of-the-art for message dissemination in blockchains, GossipSub guarantees delivery and resilience against attacks and byzantine faults by scaling pubsub dissemination without exceeding bandwidth or overloading peers. Although GossipSub relies heavily on the way its mesh is constructed, there is little insight into how different configuration parameters impact the overall performance of the system. This study analyzes the relationships between the configuration and the performance of GossipSub from a causal point of view using the concrete case of the XRPL. By employing graphical causal methods to investigate the strength of those connections, this study goes towards the direction of finding the best configuration for GossipSub for different domains, without the need for excessive empirical tests.