Conflux: A High-Performance Keyword Private Retrieval System for Dynamic Datasets
Homomorphic Encryption (HE)–based Private Information Retrieval (PIR) allows clients to retrieve plaintext records from untrusted servers without revealing query content. While promising in theory, existing solutions fall short in practice due to two fundamental limitations: (1) poor support for dynamic datasets, which limits applicability in real-world, evolving workloads; and (2) excessive I/O overhead from full-database scans. These bottlenecks prevent current designs from bridging the gap between cryptographic privacy and system efficiency.
In this paper, we introduce Conflux, an efficient keyword PIR system for dynamic data environments through a protocol-architecture co-design approach. At the protocol level, Conflux employs a novel two-phase retrieval mechanism, consisting of an oblivious filtering phase followed by a precise retrieval phase. This design natively supports efficient online insertions, deletions, and updates, while maintaining near-optimal computational complexity. At the system level, Conflux adopts a heterogeneous accelerator architecture that tightly couples computational storage devices and incorporates software–hardware co-optimization techniques to mitigate I/O bottlenecks. Experimental results show that Conflux reduces query processing time by up to 2.64$\times$ compared to the state-of-the-art methods, while retaining full support for dynamic datasets.
Tue 3 FebDisplayed time zone: Hobart change
11:30 - 12:50 | Zero-Knowledge and Private Information RetrievalMain Conference at Cronulla Chair(s): Hanjun Kim POSTECH | ||
11:30 20mTalk | zkPHIRE: A Programmable Accelerator for ZKPs over HIgh-degRee, Expressive Gates Main Conference Alhad Daftardar New York University, Jianqiao Cambridge Mo New York University, Joey Ah-kiow New York University, Benedikt Bünz New York University, Siddharth Garg New York University, Brandon Reagen New York University | ||
11:50 20mTalk | Conflux: A High-Performance Keyword Private Retrieval System for Dynamic Datasets Main Conference Zehao Chen Shandong University, Zhaoyan Shen Shandong University, Qian Wei Shandong University, Hang Lu Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lei Ju Shandong University | ||
12:10 20mTalk | An Efficient and Scalable Hardware Architecture for Number Theoretic Transform on FPGA with Design Automation Main Conference Yilan Zhu Ant Group, Geng Yang Ant Group, Xingyu Tian Simon Fraser University, Dilshan Kumarathunga Simon Fraser University, Liang Kong Ant Group, Xianglong Deng UCAS, Shengyu Fan UCAS, Guang Fan Ant Group, Guiming Shi Tsinghua University, Lei Chen University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bo Zhang Ant Group, Yisong Chang Ant Group, Shoumeng Yan Ant Group, Zhenman Fang Simon Fraser University, Mingzhe Zhang Ant Group | ||
12:30 20mTalk | IVE: An Accelerator for Single-Server Private Information Retrieval Using a Versatile Processing Element Main Conference Sangpyo Kim Seoul National University, Hyesung Ji Seoul National University, Jongmin Kim Seoul National University, Jaiyoung Park Seoul National University, Wonseok Choi Seoul National University, Jung Ho Ahn Seoul National University Pre-print | ||