This thesis seeks to shed further light on how blockchain technology has fostered increases in efficiency at an overall level looking specifically at the Ethereum network, and a continued analysis of its evolving state. A network at the forefront of blockchain technology and smart contract utilization. Firstly, we introduce blockchain technology itself and the various facets of the technology, including consensus protocols, smart contracts and smart contract applications. Subsequently, we further analyse and showcase how blockchain technology has developed in efficiency over its maturation recently. Through the employment of various econometric models and strong discussion promotes insights to the key metrics of the Ethereum network. Finally, we explore whether we are able to note these changes over time and look to the future of blockchain technology. Not only to shed light on how this evolving state will continue to cultivate but also detail the other necessary advances needed to continue this growth.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-31T13:33:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TarcisioSB_DISSERT.pdf: 1571314 bytes, checksum: 86e8646fa8da6455187767e219181490 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-15 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Studies on connections lock in computer networks have been gaining prominence in recent research focused on computational communication and technology. Several researchers have used various methods in order to identify and minimize the blocking rate that prevent a connection is established. This paper presents a blocking rate analysis in connections of shortest paths algorithms. They have on the performance of a transparent optical network. Two algorithms will be used to perform the analysis and simulations, the Genetic Algorithm (AG) and the algorithm Yen (AY). The Genetic Algorithm is based on Computational Intelligence (CI) and the Yen algorithm is based on the principle of finding and identifying the K shortest paths. Numerical simulations performed on different network scenarios show that the greater the number of connections, the higher the blocking rate in the connections. This study will help to identify which algorithm behaves better in the specific cases described in this work / Os estudos sobre bloqueio de conexões em redes de computadores vêm ganhando destaque em recentes pesquisas voltadas à comunicação computacional e tecnologia. Vários pesquisadores têm utilizado diversos métodos buscando identificar e minimizar ao máximo a taxa média de bloqueio que impedem que uma conexão seja estabelecida. Este trabalho apresenta uma análise de taxa média de bloqueio em conexões por algoritmos de caminhos mínimos. Têm sobre o desempenho de uma rede ótica transparente. Serão utilizados dois algoritmos para realizar a análise e as simulações, o Algoritmo Genético (AG) e o Algoritmo de Yen (AY). O Algoritmo Genético fundamentado por Inteligência Computacional (IC) e o Algoritmo de Yen baseado no princípio de encontrar e identificar os K menores caminhos. Simulações numéricas realizadas em diferentes cenários da rede mostram que, quanto maior o número de conexões, maior será a taxa média de bloqueio nas conexões. Através desse estudo será possível identificar qual algoritmo se comporta melhor para os casos específicos descritos nesse trabalho