CreChain: a credit-based distributed ledger model for efficient and secure IIoT transactions

Abstract

The integration of blockchain technology with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has engendered transformative prospects for the exchange and dissemination of data within the industrial domain. Nonetheless, conventional blockchain frameworks encounter substantial impediments related to scalability, security, and efficiency in the context of IIoT environments. This scholarly inquiry introduces a novel credit-based distributed ledger paradigm, termed CreChain, to mitigate these challenges. The proposed model facilitates elevated throughput and reduced latency by introducing credit accounts and refining the transaction verification mechanism. Additionally, it ensures the integrity of transactions and the preservation of user privacy through the employment of Mtree and Credit proofs. Moreover, the refinement of credit selection, attestation, and interchange protocols augment the system's performance and scalability. Empirical evaluations demonstrate that CreChain is capable of achieving a throughput of 20000 TPS (transactions per second) and a transaction confirmation latency at sub-second thresholds, surpassing prevalent blockchain scaling solutions in terms of consensus efficacy and storage expenses. This innovation effectively harnesses the potential of blockchain for secure and efficient data exchange, rendering it a promising candidate for IIoT applications.