Abstract: The task of selecting optimal blockchain consensus mechanisms in the IoT networks can be considered as a multi-criteria decision-making task. The goal of this paper is to determine the most appropriate method of multi-criteria decision-making for this task. Currently, there are many different methods of multi-criteria analysis. In addition, new methods are emerging, and the existing ones continue to evolve. In such conditions, it seems very important to correctly determine the most appropriate method of multi-criteria decision-making for the task at hand. It is assumed that such a correct choice will provide greater confidence in the objectivity and accuracy of evaluation and decision-making. This is also important given that the task at hand is characterized by a large number of alternatives (many different consensus protocols) and a large number of criteria (e.g., energy consumption, throughput, attack resistance, transaction processing delay, etc.). Currently, there are open source software tools designed to automate the process of selecting the most appropriate methods of multi-criteria decision-making. Such decision support systems help analysts and researchers in various areas of multi-criteria analysis application. This paper presents an approach to selecting optimal methods for multi-criteria decision making based on the use of such specialized software in the case of the problem of selecting the optimal consensus mechanism for IoT. As a result, the well-known TOPSIS, VIKOR methods, as well as their interval and fuzzy modifications, were selected. Additionally, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method was selected for weighting the criteria.

Keywords: distributed ledger technologies, blockchain, consensus protocol, Internet of Things, multi-criteria decision making methods.