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CprE 588 Embedded Computer Systems Iowa State University, Spring 2015

#BITCOIN MINING NODE SIMULATION

##Abstract

The recent emergence of cryptocurrency as a viable alternative to nationalized currency is posing interesting challenges to many stakeholders, including nation-states, banks, retailers, and consumers, not to mention the technological challenges surrounding the generation, distribution, storage, exchange, and security of cryptocurrencies. This paper explores some of the technological challenges related to cryptocurrencies, using Electronic System Level (ESL) modeling techniques, focusing on speed and power estimation to assist developers in making decisions regarding component selection. The paper describes the modeling of a complete mining "node", involving multiple processing elements and specialized hardware. Speed and power estimation techniques are employed to compare several devices to host a hashing algorithm, including general purpose processors, FPGAs, and ASICs.