Energy-efficient lightweight blockchain framework for scalable and secure sensor networks

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) integrated with the internet of things (IoT) are hybrid technologies of interconnected systems. The IoT connects various devices, from sensors to smart gadget networks, and leverages a framework to provide secure solutions. This paper presents a lightweight adaptive proof-of-stake (APoS) blockchain framework design specifically for IoT-WSN. It focuses on efficient energy, scalability, and robust security. The proposed model integrates a hybrid APoS-delegated PoS (DPoS) consensus mechanism, trust-based routing, and a random forest (RF)-driven intrusion detection system (IDS). Extensive simulations of 100 to 10,000 nodes display energy usage of 0.018–0.019 mJ/node, breach of privacy rates of 0.02%, and throughput up to 9.92 tx/round for 1,000 nodes and 3.40 tx/round for GreenOrbs validation. The IDS achieves 94.21% accuracy for 1,000 nodes and 88.89% for GreenOrbs against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), Sybil, and Jamming attacks. Validated using the GreenOrbs dataset, the framework ensures real-world applicability in resource-constrained WSNs. Future research has validated and verified the use of APoS and PoS hybrid models for broader decentralised IoT–WSN deployments.