SoK: Blockchain for Industrial Internet of Things

Abstract

The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) technology has significantly contributed to the realization of ubiquitous computing, facilitating widespread Internet connectivity across diverse application domains and thereby bridging billions of devices and individuals for seamless information collection, data processing, and decision-making. Over the past years, IoT technology has witnessed exponential growth in its applications, particularly in various industrial sectors. Despite these advancements, many existing industrial IoT (IIoT) implementations still rely on centralized architectures, which introduce vulnerabilities to single-point-of-failure attacks and necessitate substantial computational resources at the central entity. To address these challenges and enhance the efficiency and security of IIoT platforms, emerging blockchain technology offers promising prospects. As a distributed and decentralized tamper-resistant ledger, blockchain enables data consistency across multiple locations, making it a compelling solution to tackle issues prevailing in traditional IIoT networks, including heterogeneity, interoperability, and security concerns. The integration of blockchain technology into IIoT platforms, however, presents several critical challenges, inherent to both IIoT and blockchain paradigms, such as standardization, scalability, and interoperability. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive review of recent advances in architectural design and technology development that aim to address these challenges. We approach this review from a practical perspective by analyzing existing solutions and avoiding potential pitfalls in design. Moreover, we present a selection of representative industrial use cases that stand to benefit from the incorporation of blockchain technology. Finally, we delve into the current research trends and open issues in the domain of blockchain-enabled IIoT platforms, providing insights into future directions for research and development in this burgeoning field.