**5. Experiment and Evaluation**

In this section, a proof-of-concept prototype implementation and experimental configuration is described. Following that, we evaluate Econledger based on numerical results in terms of network latency, computation overhead, and communication throughput. Then, comparative experiments based on benchmark blockchain platforms are performed to show performance improvement. Finally, we analyze the performance and security properties provided by EconLedger.

### *5.1. Prototype Implementation and Experimental Setup*

To verify the proposed EconLedger, a concept-proof prototype is implemented in Python, which consists of approximately 3100 lines of code. We adopted Flask [41], which is a light micro-framework for Python application, in order to implement networking and web service APIs for EconLedger node. All cryptographic functions are developed on the foundation of standard python lib: cryptography [42], such as using RSA for key generation and digital signature and using SHA-256 for all hash operations. As a lightweight and embedded SQL database engine, SQLite[43] is adopted to manage on-chain storage, such as ledger data and peering nodes information.

Table 2 describes the devices used for the experimental study. The prototype is deployed on a small-scale local area network (LAN) that consists of multiple desktops and IoT devices. The prototype of EconLedger emulates an office building setting: a Dell Optiplex-7010 functions as a monitor server to collect data from scattered IoVT services deployed at different locations of the building, while all Raspberry Pi (RPi) boards play the role of edge devices that process raw video streams from separate cameras. All devices can work as validators and perform the PoENF consensus protocol. Dell Optiplex 760 desktop functions as edge server, and five desktops are configured as sites in our private Swarm network. To initiate comparative evaluation between EconLedger and existing blockchain benchmarks, test cases are also conducted on Ethereum [44] and Tendermint [45] networks. In our private Ethereum network setup, six miners are deployed on six separate desktops. Tendermint runs on a test network with 20 validators, and each validator is hosted on a RPi device.


**Table 2.** Configuration of experimental nodes.
