Blockchain has the potential to accelerate the deployment of emissions trading systems (ETS) worldwide and improve upon the efficiency of existing systems. In this paper, we present a model for a permissioned blockchain implementation based on the successful European Union (EU) ETS and discuss its potential advantages over existing technology. We propose an ETS model that is both backwards compatible and future-proof, characterised by interconnectedness, transparency, tamper-resistance and high liquidity. Further, we identify key challenges to implementation of a blockchain ETS, as well as areas of future work required to enable a fully-decentralised blockchain ETS.
The increasing electric vehicle (EV) penetration in a distribution network triggers the need for EV charging coordination. This paper firstly proposes a hierarchical EV charging coordination model and an algorithm based on Lagrangian relaxation. A barrier to the implementation of the coordination algorithm is that there usually does not exist a reliable coordinator of charging stations. This paper shows that an unreliable coordinator may collude with some charging stations and behave dishonestly by disobeying the coordination algorithm. Thus, the collusion coalition can gain more profits while lowering the profits of others and the total social welfare. To provide reliable coordination of charging stations, a novel blockchain-based coordination platform via Ethereum is established, including a coordination structure and a smart contract. A mathematical analysis is given to show that the proposed platform can mitigate the collusion behaviors in the coordination. Simulation results show the consequence of collusion and how blockchain can prevent the collusion.
This paper presents a novel blockchain-based energy trading architecture for electric vehicles (EVs) within smart cities. By allowing local renewable energy providers to supply public charging stations, EV drivers can gain access to affordable energy and optimally plan for their charging operations. For this purpose, we present a smart-contract based trading platform that runs on top of a private Ethereum network. Contrary to existing solutions, we rely on the legacy billing and metering of the existing utility company in order to avoid making major changes to the existing infrastructure. The trading logic, including the auction mechanism, used to exchange energy can be defined in a smart-contract and applied within the platform. We conduct extensive experiments to evaluate the performance of some existing auction mechanisms and the underlying private Ethereum network in supporting the corresponding energy trading transaction load. We develop a virtualization-based simulator for Ethereum and measure both the transaction throughput and latency under different network and workload scenarios. The obtained results have shown that the current Ethereum implementation can support charging requests from EVs during peak hours in very crowded cities, such as Singapore.
D.S. Popović, C. Avis, M. Byrne, Chong-Soo Cheung · 10 authors
Abstract Insurance industry practitioners have deep knowledge of their industry, but there is a lack of a simple-to-understand, practical blueprint on applying distributed ledger technology solutions, including blockchain. This paper provides a practical guide for actuaries, risk professionals, insurance companies and their Boards on blockchain, including an education piece to provide an understanding of the technology. Examples of real-world applications and use cases in insurance are provided to illustrate the capability of the technology. The current risks and challenges in adopting the technology are also considered. Finally, a checklist of issues to consider in adopting a blockchain solution for insurance business problems is provided.
Although there are many versions of blockchain technology today, it was first introduced in 2008 as the technology supporting Bitcoin, the first successful virtual currency system. Yet in and of itself, Blockchain technology is much more than the underpinning for Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) and has found many applications beyond its initial purpose. The goal of this advanced primer is to review the current state of this technology and to discuss some of its advantages and drawbacks in settings beyond crypto-currencies.
Jan 1, 2020·Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
H. Schöll, Roman Pomeshchikov, Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar
Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) such as Blockchain have been heralded for their potential to fundamentally disrupt traditional industries and longstanding practices in private and public business-es. In the financial sectors, for example, quite a number of novel financial technology (fintech) services based on DLT/Blockchain have been introduced with cryptocur-rencies representing prominent cases. While the already highly regulated financial sectors have emerged as ear-ly targets for DLT/Blockchain induced disruption, a diverse set of other areas, such as healthcare record keeping, insurance record keeping, industrial and retail supply chain management, property registries, citizen identification systems, and voting systems to name a few, has also come into the focus of DLT/Blockchain innovation. These new types of services might be in need of both complementary and novel regulations for DLT/Blockchain-based services. Interestingly, smaller jurisdictions such as Bermuda, Gibraltar, Malta, and Liechtenstein were among the first to provide advice and regulation for DLT/Blockchain service provisions. The study compares these early regulatory approaches to each other and discusses the prospects of DLT/Blockchain service regulation based on the study’s findings. DLT/Blockchain service regulation appears to incorporate predominantly principle-based rather than rule-based regulations, which makes the regulation en-forcement a uniquely individual case-based task.
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) enables data storage in a decentralized manner among collaborating parties. The software architecture of such solutions encompasses models placed in the relevant architectural views. A lot of research is devoted to smart contracts and consensus algorithms, which are realized by distributed applications and can be positioned within the Logical view. However, we see the need to provide modeling support for the Deployment view of distributed ledger solutions. Especially since the chosen DLT framework has a significant impact on implementation and deployment. Besides, consistency between models and configuration deployment scripts should be ensured. So, we have applied Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) that allows on the transformation of models into more detailed models, source code, or tests. We have proposed Unified Modeling Language (UML) stereotypes and tagged values for distributed ledger deployment modeling and placed them in the UML Profile for Distributed Ledger Deployment. We have also designed the UML2Deployment model-to-code transformation for the R3 Corda DLT framework. A UML Deployment model is the source whereas a Gradle Groovy deployment script is the target of the transformation. We have provided the complete solution by incorporating the transformation into the Visual Paradigm modeling tool. Furthermore, we have designed a dedicated plug-in to validate generated deployment scripts. In the paper, we have shown how to design transformation for generating deployment scripts for the R3 Corda DLT framework with the ability to switch to another one.
Data are becoming the cornerstone of many businesses and entire systems infrastructure. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are no different. The ability of intelligent vehicles and devices to acquire and share environmental measurements in the form of data is leading to the creation of smart services for the benefit of individuals. In this paper, we present a system architecture to promote the development of ITS using distributed ledgers and related technologies. Thanks to these, it becomes possible to create, store and share data generated by users through the sensors on their devices or vehicles, while on the move. We propose an architecture based on Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) to offer features such as immutability, traceability and verifiability of data. IOTA, a promising DLT for IoT, is used together with Decentralized File Storages (DFSes) to store and certify data (and their related metadata) coming from vehicles or by the users' devices themselves (smartphones). Ethereum is then exploited as the smart contract platform that coordinates the data sharing through access control mechanisms. Privacy guarantees are provided by the usage of distributed key management systems and Zero Knowledge Proof. We provide experimental results of a testbed based on real traces, in order to understand if DLT and DFS technologies are ready to support complex services, such as those that pertain to ITS. Results clearly show that, while the viability of the proposal cannot be rejected, further work is needed on the responsiveness of DLT infrastructures.
The electronic tendering process is rapidly growing popularity among private and public sectors for its efficiency and convenience. An end to end fair and transparent tendering process is desirable for all stakeholders and the proper business environment. Researchers and business entities are continuously working to improve its quality. In general, while offering a tender, an enterprise usually maintains the following steps [1].
In this article, we study the pricing and resource management in the Internet of Things (IoT) system with blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) and mobile-edge computing (MEC). The BaaS model includes the cloud-based server to perform blockchain tasks and the set of peers to collect data from local IoT devices. The MEC model consists of the set of terrestrial and aerial base stations (BSs), i.e., unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to forward the tasks of peers to the BaaS server. Each BS is also equipped with an MEC server to run some blockchain tasks. As the BSs can be privately owned or controlled by different operators, there is no information exchange among them. We show that the resource management and pricing in the BaaS-MEC system are modeled as a stochastic Stackelberg game with multiple leaders and incomplete information about actions of leaders/BSs and followers/peers. We formulate a novel hierarchical reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm for the decision makings of BSs and peers. We also develop an unsupervised hierarchical deep learning (HDL) algorithm that combines deep $Q$ -learning (DQL) for BSs with the Bayesian deep learning (BDL) for peers. We prove that the proposed algorithms converge to stable states in which the peers' actions are the best responses to optimal actions of BSs.
Distributed ledger technology and IoT has revolutionized the world by finding its application in all the domains. It promises to transform the digital infrastructure which powers extensive evolutions and impacts a lot of areas. Vehicle parking is a major problem in major cities around the world in both developed and developing countries. The common problems are unavailability or shortage of parking spaces, no information about tariff and no mean of searching availability of parking space online. The struggle doesn't end even if an individual finds a spot, he is required to pay in cash. This traditional and manual process takes a lot of time and causes a lot of hassle. In this paper, we provide a novel solution to the parking problem using IoT and distributed ledger technology. This system is based on pervasive computing and provides auto check-in and check-out. The user can control the system and their profile using the app on their smartphone. The major advantage of the system is an easy and online payment method. Users can pay for their parking tickets using their credit cards from their smartphone app. This decreases their hassle of carrying cash and coins for purchasing parking tickets. Smart Parking will optimize the parking mechanism, save time, reduce traffic and pollution, and provide an enhanced user experience. It is robust, secure, scalable and automated using the combination of cutting-edge technologies.
This paper presents the implementation of a traffic violation management system. A vehicle tracking system uses the GPS, GSM and a microcontroller to detect speed violations on roads. Any violation is sent to a central database.Payments can be performed off-line; without involving a third party during payment, or on-line; contacting an intermediate server for each payment. In this paper, we focus on using online payment without third party by using a new technology called blockchain for the authentication and authorization purposes in case of traffic violations payment. The contribution of this paper is providing a model of electronic payment for traffic violations to enhance two importantfactors; trust and security of the e- payment system. Blockchain as a shared ledger holds a many set of entities thatfaithfully records a series of transactions combined together by using a smart contract platform for embedding scripts that run across the network and enables adding new entries to that ledger. Blockchain technology is used in this paper for securing traffic violations management. Using the Blockchain guarantees highly secured traffic violations payment as no hacker can change the balance in driver's wallet or a vehicle property papers in a network around the world without the requirement for a central management, as all transactions are recorded in all copies distributed among all parties in the network, where each party has the same copy of the ledger. The proposed model should reduce the response times of violation requests and payment at any time and from any place.
This paper introduces a novel digital ticketing platform using blockchain technology. Taking in a number of considerations by observing legacy ticketing systems and existing attempts at digital ticketing, we make use of IBM's Hyperledger Fabric framework to design an architecture that distributes the tickets across all participating organisations. We note the potential benefits this platform has. Governing organisations maintain their right to set the rules of the platform and access the data to generate statistics. Vending organisations share access to the same underlying tickets whilst preserving competition. The platform offers passengers a variety of ways to pay for and access their tickets, using a combination of legacy and modern methods. Furthermore, we note the platform has the potential to eradicate paper ticketing and surplus voucher cards.
Blockchain technologies enable new forms of data sharing in platforms. This raises questions around how they are jointly developed and managed in blockchain consortia and what role public agencies play in those efforts. Based on an analysis of prior work on data sharing in public-private partnerships and other blockchain projects, we analyze the case of the Cardossier. The Cardossier project and (later) association develops a platform to link the public and private actors in the Swiss car ecosystem. The participating car registration authority has the roles of an actor in interorganizational processes, supplier of data, source of trust, guarantor of data quality, user of data, and incentive for making goods public. We conclude that the public agencies have a very important role in blockchain consortia and propose that they should use this role actively as part of their efforts to create public value.
Increasing penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) gives rise to the challenges in the secure operation of power systems. The EV charging loads should be distributed among charging stations in a fair and incentive-compatible manner while ensuring that power transmission and transformation facilities are not overloaded. This paper first proposes a charging right (or charging power ration) trading mechanism and model based on blockchain. Considering all kinds of random factors of charging station loads, we use Monte Carlo modeling to determine the charging demand of charging stations in the future. Based on the charging demand of charging stations, a charging station needs to submit the charging demand for a future period. The blockchain first distributes initial charging right in a just manner and ensures the security of facilities. Given that the charging urgency and elasticity differences vary by charging stations, all charging stations then proceed with double auction and peer-to-peer (P2P) transaction of charging right. Bids and offers are cleared via double auctions if bids are higher than offers. The remaining bids and offers are cleared via the P2P market. Then, this paper designs the charging right allocation and trading platform and smart contract based on the Ethernet blockchain to ensure the safety of the distribution network (DN) and the transparency and efficiency of charging right trading. Simulation results based on the Ethereum private blockchain show the fairness and efficiency of the proposed mechanism and the effectiveness of the method and the mechanism.
This paper presents a system architecture to promote the development of smart transportation systems. Thanks to the use of distributed ledgers and related technologies, it is possible to create, store and share data generated by users through their sensors, while moving. In particular, IOTA and IPFS are used to store and certify data (and their related metadata) coming from sensors or by the users themselves. Ethereum is exploited as the smart contract platform that coordinates the data sharing and provisioning. The necessary privacy guarantees are provided by the usage of Zero Knowledge Proof. We show some results obtained from some use case scenarios that demonstrate how such technologies can be integrated to build novel smart services and to promote social good in user mobility.
Delivery service via ridesharing is a promising service to share travel costs and improve vehicle occupancy. Existing ridesharing systems require participating vehicles to periodically report individual private information (e.g., identity and location) to a central controller, which is a potential central point of failure, resulting in possible data leakage or tampering in case of controller break down or under attack. In this paper, we propose a Blockchain secured ridesharing delivery system, where the immutability and distributed architecture of the Blockchain can effectively prevent data tampering. However, such tamper-resistance property comes at the cost of a long confirmation delay caused by the consensus process. A Hash-oriented Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) based consensus algorithm is proposed to improve the Blockchain efficiency and reduce the transaction confirmation delay from 10 minutes to 15 seconds. The Hash-oriented PBFT effectively avoids the double-spending attack and Sybil attack. Security analysis and simulation results demonstrate that the proposed Blockchain secured ridesharing delivery system offers strong security guarantees and satisfies the quality of delivery service in terms of confirmation delay and transaction throughput.
Miloš N. Mladenović, Montasir Abbas, Claudio Roncoli, Sanaz Bozorg Chenani
Development of integrated mobility and traffic management strategies is an important aspect of the ongoing transition of urban mobility systems. Extending from existing credit schemes, this research presents a system design and evaluation of a framework based on the principle of Universal Basic Mobility. In particular, using premises of long-term cooperation and hierarchical self-organization, the system design includes user-based Mobility Credits interrelated with Priority Levels. To complement the cooperation framework, system architecture is formulated in line with the distributed ledger technology. The proposed framework is tested using web-based interaction in the form of stated-preference experiment. Results are analyzed through statistical distributions and a discrete-choice model of user decision-making within the proposed framework. This research concludes that this framework could nudge uses towards reciprocity and altruism in their travelling behavior. In addition, experiment participants have provided a range of comments related to positive features, potential for failure, and further development. Finally, the paper ends by raising several implications for wider citizen participation in the integrated mobility system design and evaluation.
Ryan Shivers, Mohammad Ashiqur Rahman, Hossain Shahriar
Ride-hailing and ride-sharing applications have recently gained in popularity as a convenient alternative to traditional modes of travel. Current research into autonomous vehicles is accelerating rapidly and will soon become a critical component of a ride-hailing platform's architecture. Implementing an autonomous vehicle ride-hailing platform proves a difficult challenge due to the centralized nature of traditional ride-hailing architectures. In a traditional ride-hailing environment the drivers operate their own personal vehicles so it follows that a fleet of autonomous vehicles would be required for a centralized ride-hailing platform to succeed. Decentralization of the ride-hailing platform would remove a road block along the way to an autonomous vehicle ride-hailing platform by allowing owners of autonomous vehicles to add their vehicle to a community driven fleet when not in use. Blockchain technology is an attractive choice for this decentralized architecture due to its immutability and fault tolerance. This paper proposes a framework for developing a decentralized ride-hailing architecture implemented on the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain platform. The implementation is evaluated using a static analysis tool and performing a performance analysis under heavy network load.
Michela Moschella, Pietro Ferraro, Emanuele Crisostomi, Robert Shorten
In this article, we propose a stochastic decentralized algorithm to recommend the most convenient charging station (CS) to plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) that need charging. In particular, we use different cost functions to describe the possibly different priorities of PEV drivers, such as the preference to minimize charging costs, charging times, or the distance between them and the CS. For this purpose, we leverage on an Internet of Things architecture based on a permissioned distributed ledger technology (DLT) to enforce compliance of drivers and reduces the occurrence of detrimental misbehaviors of drivers. Extensive simulations performed with the mobility simulator SUMO in realistic city-wide networks have been provided to illustrate how the proposed PEV assignment procedure works in practice, and to validate its performance.
Michela Moschella, Pietro Ferraro, Emanuele Crisostomi, Robert Shorten
In this paper we propose a stochastic decentralized algorithm to recommend\nthe most convenient Charging Station (CS) to Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs)\nthat need charging. In particular, we use different cost functions to describe\nthe possibly different priorities of PEV drivers, such as the preference to\nminimize charging costs, charging times, or the distance between them and the\nCS. For this purpose, we leverage on an IoT architecture based on a\npermissioned Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to enforce compliance of\ndrivers and reduces the occurrence of detrimental misbehaviours of drivers.\nExtensive simulations performed with the mobility simulator SUMO in realistic\ncity-wide networks have been provided to illustrate how the proposed PEV\nassignment procedure works in practice, and to validate its performance.\n
Recently, technology startups have leveraged the potential of blockchain-based technologies to govern institutions or interpersonal trust by enforcing signed treaties among different individuals in a decentralized environment. However, it is going to be hard enough convincing that the blockchain technology could completely replace the trust among trading partners in the sharing economy as sharing services always operate in a highly dynamic environment. With the rapid expanding of the rental market, the sharing economy faces more and more severe challenges in the form of regulatory uncertainty and concerns about abuses. This paper proposes an enhanced decentralized sharing economy service using the service level agreement (SLA), which documents the services the provider will furnish and defines the service standards the provider is obligated to meet. The SLA specifications are defined as the smart contract, which facilitates multi-user collaboration and automates the process with no involvement of the third party. To demonstrate the usability of the proposed solution in the sharing economy, a notebook sharing case study is implemented using the Hyperledger Fabric. The functionalities of the smart contract are tested using the Hyperledger Composer. Moreover, the efficiency of the designed approach is demonstrated through a series of experimental tests using different performance metrics.
H. S. Jennath, S. Adarsh, Nikhil V. Chandran, R. Ananthan · 6 authors
With the advances happening in the area of urbanization, with increased demand for dwellings and ever growing number of vehicles on road, finding a parking spot has become one of the major pain points for the citizens. This is mainly due to the limited parking spaces in the urban areas. To overcome this limitation, one solution is to create more parking spaces. In this work we propose a Blockchain based solution, where parking pools can be created by developing a transparent platform where individuals can rent out their unused land for a stipulated amount of time with little or no legal hassles. A non-fungible token system representing unique parking lots will be created for transparency of the entire system. This also has the added advantage of generating revenue from their otherwise unused property. Smart contracts over Blockchain enforces the contractual agreement between the participants ensuring financial transparency in the proposed system.