Smart Contracts in CIoT

Abstract

Smart contracts have been identified as the technological innovation in the Converged Internet of Things (CIoT) with solutions in automation and security improvements. This chapter specifically discusses the incorporation of smart contracts into CIoT and mainly on the ability to automate tasks and increase security. First of all, the concept of smart contracts and CIoT is explained, stressing on the paramount importance of automation and security as the brief interaction is provided. The reader can find here the general information about the smart contracts, their functioning, and principal characteristics. We then look at the architectural model and the deployment scenarios of smart contracts for CIoT systems with real-life examples. The issue solved here is the weakness and massive connectivity of classical IoT systems, for which smart contracts enhance IoT systems by employing automated data processing, self-executing contracts, and inappropriate streams of processes. The objective is to show that smart contracts can be used to bring novelties in the CIoT's automation and security levels. We discuss how they are used for the protection of message transfer, users' authorization and identification, and for threat identification and prevention. Some of the actual uses include smart homes, IIoT, healthcare IoT, and the supplies chain showing that this technology is versatile. This analysis shows that there have been enhancements in the aspect of automation and security but at the same time, there are challenges like scalability, interoperability, and there are legal and regulatory issues. Analyses indicate that the future trends will be associated with the AI, the development of new and superior methods of blockchain technology, and the emergence of decentralized IoT networks that will lead to optimum CIoT systems.