Blockchain Papers

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Dec 1, 2020·Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI)
1 cites
Blockchain based Communication Architectures with Applications to Private Security Networks

Ashley Mayle

Existing communication protocols in security networks are highly centralized. While this naively makes the controls easier to physically secure, external actors require fewer resources to disrupt the system because there are fewer points in the system can be interrupted without the entire system failing. We present a solution to this problem using a proof-of-work-based blockchain implementation built on MultiChain. We construct a test-bed network containing visual imagers and microwave sensor information. These data types are ubiquitous in perimeter security systems and allow a realistic representation of a real-world network architecture. The cameras in this system use an object detection algorithm to find important targets in the scene. The raw data from both the sensors and imagers are placed in a transaction. These transactions are then bundled into blocks and broadcast to the rest of the network using the Bitcoin-based MultiChain protocol. We develop five tests to examine the security metrics of our network. We performed the five security metric test using different sized networks from 7 to 39 nodes to determine how the metrics scale with respect to size. We find that when compared to a centralized architecture our implementation provides a resiliency increase that is expected from a blockchain- based protocol without slowing the system so much that a human operator would notice. Furthermore, our approach is able to detect tampering in real time. Based on these results, we theorize that security networks in general could use a blockchain- based approach in a meaningful way.

Open access
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Network Security and Intrusion Detection
Cooperative Communication and Network Coding
Original source
Dec 1, 2020·Journal of Communications and Networks
46 cites
Expansive networks: Exploiting spectrum sharing for capacity boost and 6G vision

Gürkan Gür

Adaptive capacity with cost-efficient resource provisioning is a crucial capability for future 6G networks. In this work, we conceptualize "expansive networks" which refers to a networking paradigm where networks should be able to extend their resource base by opportunistic but self-controlled expansive actions. To this end, we elaborate on a key aspect of an expansive network as a concrete example: Spectrum resource at the PHY layer. Evidently, future wireless networks need to provide efficient mechanisms to coexist in the licensed and unlicensed bands and operate in expansive mode. In this work, we first describe spectrum sharing issues and possibilities in 6G networks for expansive networks. We then present security implications of expansive networks, an important concern due to more open and coupled systems in expansive networks. We also discuss two key enablers, namely distributed ledger technology (DLT) and network intelligence via machine learning, which are promising to realize expansive networks for the spectrum sharing aspect.

Open access
Advanced Wireless Communication Technologies
Advanced MIMO Systems Optimization
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Original source
Nov 21, 2020·Preprints.org
11 cites
Blockchain-SDN based Energy Optimized and Distributed Secure Architecture for IoTs in Smart Cities

Md. Jahidul Islam, Anichur Rahman, Sumaiya Kabir, Md. Razaul Karim · 8 authors

Abstract: Insecure and portable devices in the smart city’s Internet of Things (IoT) network are increasing at an incredible rate. Various distributed and centralized platforms against cyber-attacks have been implemented in recent years, but these platforms are inefficient due to their constrained levels of storage, high energy consumption, the central point of failure, underutilized resources, high latency, and etc. In addition, the current architecture confronts the problems of scalability, flexibility, complexity, monitoring, managing & collecting of IoT data, and defend against cyber-threats. To address these issues, the author presents distributed and decentralized Blockchain-Software Defined Networking (SDN) based energy-optimized architecture for IoT in smart cities. Thus, SDN continuous observing, controlling, managing IoT devices activities and detect possible attacks in the network; Blockchain provides adequate security & privacy against cyber-attacks, reduces the central point of failure issues; Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are used to saving energy, load balancing, as well as increasing the lifetime of the entire network. Also, we introduce a Cluster Head Selection (CHS) algorithm to reduce the energy consumption in the presented model. Finally, we analyze the performance using various parameters (e.g. throughput, response time, gas consumption, communication overhead) and demonstrating the result that provides higher throughput, lower response time, lower gas consumption than existing works for smart cities.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Original source
Nov 10, 2020·IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics
30 cites
NFV and Blockchain Enabled 5G for Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communications in Industry: Architecture and Performance Evaluation

Haojun Huang, Wang Miao, Geyong Min, Jialin Tian · 5 authors

5G networks are expected to provide cost-efficient, reliable, and flexible services for industrial productions and applications potentially, by introducing emerging network technologies like blockchain and network functions virtualization (NFV), which virtualizes network functions and runs them on standard infrastructure rather than customized hardware. However, how to deal with the emerging security challenges and fulfil the requirement of ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) has not been fully resolved. In this article, we present an NFV-enabled 5G paradigm for the industry with the guarantee of URLLC through service chain acceleration and dynamic blockchain-based spectrum resource sharing among a variety of industry applications running in NVF-based equipment. First, we elaborate the benefits and shortcomings of NFV for industry, by executing an industry application experiment in virtualized and nonvirtualized data center networks. Then, we illustrate an NFV-enabled 5G paradigm for URLLC in detail, with a special focus on the service chain acceleration and spectrum sharing built on NFV, blockchain, software-defined networking, and mobile edge computing. Finally, we establish a mathematical model to study the worst-cast transmission latency of NFV-enabled 5G with the input of the bursty traffic. The proposed model can be exploited to support the plan, management, and optimization of NFV-enabled 5G URLLC systems for industry.

Open access
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Advanced Wireless Communication Technologies
Advanced MIMO Systems Optimization
Original source
Sep 30, 2020·IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management
29 cites
FUSION—Fog Computing and Blockchain for Trusted Industrial Internet of Things

Andrea Ceccarelli, Marcello Cinque, Christian Esposito, Luca Foschini · 6 authors

The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is currently foreseen as a foundation to implement the Industry 4.0 vision. However, device heterogeneity and the need of integration and configuration exposes the industrial infrastructure to potential threats, such as black-hole, man-in-the-middle, and malicious configuration attacks. In this article, we investigate how to manage distributed trust information and to enable trusted configuration actions in the IIoT, by opportunistically intermingling blockchain with the software defined networking and container orchestration technologies. In particular, we focus on how the joint and coordinated adoption of such technologies can make technicians’ interventions on industrial equipment both easier and more trusted. To this purpose, we present the design of a software architecture to simplify the management, configuration, and assessment of IIoT systems, and we discuss our experiences with the application of the proposed architecture in a railways use case.

Open access
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Original source
Sep 15, 2020·Sensors
5 cites
CoNTe: A Core Network Temporal Blockchain for 5G

Steven Platt, Luis Sanabria-Russo, Miquel Oliver

Virtual Network Functions allow the effective separation between hardware and network functionality, a strong paradigm shift from previously tightly integrated monolithic, vendor, and technology dependent deployments. In this virtualized paradigm, all aspects of network operations can be made to deploy on demand, dynamically scale, as well as be shared and interworked in ways that mirror behaviors of general cloud computing. To date, although seeing rising demand, distributed ledger technology remains largely incompatible in such elastic deployments, by its nature as functioning as an immutable record store. This work focuses on the structural incompatibility of current blockchain designs and proposes a novel, temporal blockchain design built atop federated byzantine agreement, which has the ability to dynamically scale and be packaged as a Virtual Network Function (VNF) for the 5G Core.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Sep 1, 2020·2020 IEEE 3rd 5G World Forum (5GWF)
15 cites
Peer-to-Peer Blockchain-based NFV Service Platform for End-to-End Network Slice Orchestration Across Multiple NFVI Domains

Pol Alemany, Ricard Vilalta, Raül Muñoz, Ramon Casellas · 5 authors

This paper presents a non-hierarchical architecture to deploy End-to-End Network Slices in a multi-domain network using an Ethereum-based Blockchain to manage the Network Slicing requests across domains. The use of Blockchain aims to look towards a collaboration vision to deploy Networks Slices using the resources to deploy them as if they would be placed under the domain of the Network Slice requester. The authors describe a possible instantiation procedure and they present results showing how much the use of Blockchain might increase the deployment time of an End-to-End Network Slice.

Open access
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Cloud Computing and Resource Management
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Jul 30, 2020·Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security
46 cites
INSPIRE-5Gplus

Jordi Ortiz, Ramón Sanchez‐Iborra, Jorge Bernal Bernabé, Antonio Skármeta · 21 authors

The promise of disparate features envisioned by the 3GPP for 5G, such as offering enhanced Mobile Broadband connectivity while providing massive Machine Type Communications likely with very low data rates and maintaining Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications requirements, create a very challenging environment for protecting the 5G networks themselves and associated assets. To overcome such complexity, future 5G networks must employ a very high degree of network and service management automation, which is a security challenge by itself as well as an opportunity for smarter and more efficient security functions. In this paper, we present the smart, trustworthy and liable 5G security platform being designed and developed in the INSPIRE-5Gplus1 project. This platform takes advantage of new techniques such as Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), network softwarization and Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) for closed-loop and end-to-end security management following a zero-touch model in 5G and Beyond 5G networks. To this end, we specifically elaborate on two key aspects of our platform, namely security management with Security Service Level Agreements (SSLAs) and liability management, in addition to the description of the overall architecture.

Open access
Security and Verification in Computing
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Original source
Jul 28, 2020·IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics
60 cites
Blockchain Based IIoT Data Sharing Framework for SDN-Enabled Pervasive Edge Computing

Ying Gao, Yijian Chen, Xiping Hu, Hongliang Lin · 6 authors

Pervasive edge computing (PEC) is an emerging paradigm for the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and software-defined networks (SDN) offer lower latency services, and massive intelligent devices connectivity for the IIoT. However, the PEC has some issues with data security, and privacy while PEC devices sharing data among edges. What's more, the centralized SDN suffers from single point of attacks such as distributed denial of service (DDoS) from IIoT devices, and has the challenge of data leakage. In this article, we use blockchain, and proxy reencryption (PRE) technologies to tackle these challenges. The blockchain authorizes all devices in the network to improve their credibility, and authenticity. In addition, a blockchain-based data sharing framework that combines a PRE scheme is introduced for secure device-to-device communication in PEC environments. A series of smart contracts are designed for flexible operations of searching, and updating records on the blockchain. The experiments reveal that our design is highly efficient, and has high performance.

Open access
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Original source
Jul 10, 2020·arXiv (Cornell University)
2 cites
Self-healing Dilemmas in Distributed Systems: Fault Correction vs. Fault\n Tolerance

Jovan Nikolić, Nursultan Jubatyrov, Evangelos Pournaras

Large-scale decentralized systems of autonomous agents interacting via\nasynchronous communication often experience the following self-healing dilemma:\nfault detection inherits network uncertainties making a remote faulty process\nindistinguishable from a slow process. In the case of a slow process without\nfault, fault correction is undesirable as it can trigger new faults that could\nbe prevented with fault tolerance that is a more proactive system maintenance.\nBut in the case of an actual faulty process, fault tolerance alone without\neventually correcting persistent faults can make systems underperforming.\nMeasuring, understanding and resolving such self-healing dilemmas is a timely\nchallenge and critical requirement given the rise of distributed ledgers, edge\ncomputing, the Internet of Things in several energy, transport and health\napplications. This paper contributes a novel and general-purpose modeling of\nfault scenarios during system runtime. They are used to accurately measure and\npredict inconsistencies generated by the undesirable outcomes of fault\ncorrection and fault tolerance as the means to improve self-healing of\nlarge-scale decentralized systems at the design phase. A rigorous experimental\nmethodology is designed that evaluates 696 experimental settings of different\nfault scales, fault profiles and fault detection thresholds in a prototyped\ndecentralized network of 3000 nodes. Almost 9 million measurements of\ninconsistencies were collected in a network, where each node monitors the\nhealth status of another node, while both can defect. The prediction\nperformance of the modeled fault scenarios is validated in a challenging\napplication scenario of decentralized and dynamic in-network data aggregation\nusing real-world data from a Smart Grid pilot project. Findings confirm the\norigin of inconsistencies at design phase.\n

Open access
Cloud Computing and Resource Management
Distributed systems and fault tolerance
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Original source
Jun 1, 2020·Open Access at Essex (University of Essex)
13 cites
Blockchain-Aided Flow Insertion and Verification in Software Defined Networks

Jiejun Hu, Martin J. Reed, Mays Al-Naday, Nikolaos Thomos

The Internet of Things (IoT) connected by Software Defined Networking (SDN) promises to bring great benefits to cyber-physical systems. However, the increased attack surface offered by the growing number of connected vulnerable devices and complex nature of SDN control plane applications could overturn the huge benefits of such a system. This paper addresses the vulnerability of some unspecified security flaw in the SDN control plane application (such as a zero-day software vulnerability) which can be exploited to insert malicious flow rules in the switch that do not match network policies. Specifically, we propose a blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) based framework that supports switch flow verification and insertion; and additionally provides straightforward deployment of blockchain technology within an existing SDN infrastructure. While use of an external BaaS brings straightforward deployment, it obscures knowledge of the blockchain agents who are responsible for flow conformance testing through a smart blockchain contract, leading to potential exploitation. Thus, we design a strategy to prevent the blockchain agents from acting arbitrarily, as this would result in what is termed a "moral hazard". We achieve this by developing a novel mathematical model of the fair reward scheme based on game theory. To understand the performance of our system, we evaluate our model using a Matlab based simulation framework. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm balances the needs of the blockchain agents to maximise the overall social welfare, i.e. the sum of profits across all parties.

Open access
3 source records
cs.NI
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Original source
Jun 1, 2020·ICC 2020 - 2020 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC)
4 cites
Can SDN deanonymize Bitcoin users?

Victoria Wallace, Sandra Scott-Hayward

According to the Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2019 report, Bitcoin is still the currency of choice in criminal markets and as payment for cyber-related extortion attempts, such as from ransomware or a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system first proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. By design, Bitcoin is a pseudonymous coin, meaning that users can transact with the currency without revealing their true identity. To tackle the challenge of Bitcoin-related crime, a range of deanonymization techniques have been proposed. In general, these solutions are limited by the time and resources required to predict likely transaction owners. In this paper, we propose the first software-defined network (SDN)-based Bitcoin transaction mapping solution. We analyse the Bitcoin transaction process in an SDN environment and demonstrate a deterministic approach to deanonymize users in Bitcoin's network.

Open access
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Original source
Jun 1, 2020·2020 European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC)
50 cites
AI-driven Zero-touch Operations, Security and Trust in Multi-operator 5G Networks: a Conceptual Architecture

Gino Carrozzo, Muhammad Shuaib Siddiqui, August Betzler, José Bonnet · 7 authors

The 5G network solutions currently standardised and deployed do not yet enable the full potential of pervasive networking and computing envisioned in 5G initial visions: network services and slices with different QoS profiles do not span multiple operators; security, trust and automation is limited. The evolution of 5G towards a truly production-level stage needs to heavily rely on automated end-to-end network operations, use of distributed Artificial Intelligence (AI) for cognitive network orchestration and management and minimal manual interventions (zero-touch automation). All these elements are key to implement highly pervasive network infrastructures. Moreover, Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) can be adopted to implement distributed security and trust through Smart Contracts among multiple non-trusted parties. In this paper, we propose an initial concept of a zero-touch security and trust architecture for ubiquitous computing and connectivity in 5G networks. Our architecture aims at cross-domain security & trust orchestration mechanisms by coupling DLTs with AI-driven operations and service lifecycle automation in multi-tenant and multi-stakeholder environments. Three representative use cases are identified through which we will validate the work which will be validated in the test facilities at 5GBarcelona and 5TONIC/Madrid.

Open access
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Original source
May 1, 2020·2020 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC)
20 cites
A Controlled Natural Language to Support Intent-based Blockchain Selection

Eder J. Scheid, Patrick Widmer, Bruno Rodrigues, Muriel Figueredo Franco · 5 authors

In the last years, cryptocurrencies have become increasingly popular along with their underlying distributed ledger technology, referred to as a Blockchain (BC). Nowadays, a wide variety of BC implementations are available. However, the selection of a suitable implementation for a particular application or use case is complex because it requires a technical understanding of the underlying BC implementation aspects. Therefore, this paper proposes a Controlled Natural Language (CNL) to extends existing BC selection solutions to abstract underlying implementation details. The approach allows the specification abstract high-level policies, referred to as intents, in an English-based language. The approach is inspired by previous approaches from the network management field. Moreover, a state machine-based refinement technique is proposed to refine these intents into low-level BC selection policies. The results of the performance evaluation of the prototype implementation show that the refinement process presents a minimal overhead. In addition, the perceived intuitiveness of the CNL by users was assessed in a survey. The results of the survey suggest that technical and non-technical individuals benefit from an intentbased approach equally.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Original source
May 1, 2020·2020 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP)
101 cites
A Stealthier Partitioning Attack against Bitcoin Peer-to-Peer Network

Muoi Tran, Inho Choi, Gi Jun Moon, Viet-Anh Vu · 5 authors

Network adversaries, such as malicious transit autonomous systems (ASes), have been shown to be capable of partitioning the Bitcoin's peer-to-peer network via routing-level attacks; e.g., a network adversary exploits a BGP vulnerability and performs a prefix hijacking attack (viz. Apostolaki et al. [3]). Due to the nature of BGP operation, such a hijacking is globally observable and thus enables immediate detection of the attack and the identification of the perpetrator. In this paper, we present a stealthier attack, which we call the EREBUS attack, that partitions the Bitcoin network without any routing manipulations, which makes the attack undetectable to control-plane and even to data-plane detectors. The novel aspect of EREBUS is that it makes the adversary AS a natural man-in-the-middle network of all the peer connections of one or more targeted Bitcoin nodes by patiently influencing the targeted nodes' peering decision. We show that affecting the peering decision of a Bitcoin node, which is believed to be infeasible after a series of bug patches against the earlier Eclipse attack [29], is possible for the network adversary that can use abundant network address resources (e.g., spoofing millions of IP addresses in many other ASes) reliably for an extended period of time at a negligible cost. The EREBUS attack is readily available for large ASes, such as Tier-1 and large Tier-2 ASes, against the vast majority of 10K public Bitcoin nodes with only about 520 bit/s of attack traffic rate per targeted Bitcoin node and a modest (e.g., 5-6 weeks) attack execution period. The EREBUS attack can be mounted by nation-state adversaries who would be willing to execute sophisticated attack strategies patiently to compromise cryptocurrencies (e.g., control the consensus, take down a cryptocurrency, censor transactions). As the attack exploits the topological advantage of being a network adversary but not the specific vulnerabilities of Bitcoin core, no quick patches seem to be available. We discuss that some naive solutions (e.g., whitelisting, rate-limiting) are ineffective and third-party proxy solutions may worsen the Bitcoin's centralization problem. We provide some suggested modifications to the Bitcoin core and show that they effectively make the EREBUS attack significantly harder; yet, their non-trivial changes to the Bitcoin's network operation (e.g., peering dynamics, propagation delays) should be examined thoroughly before their wide deployment.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Cloud Computing and Resource Management
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Original source
Apr 16, 2020·arXiv
19 cites
Hybrid Blockchain-Enabled Secure Microservices Fabric for Decentralized Multi-Domain Avionics Systems

Ronghua Xu, Yu Chen, Erik Blasch, Alexander Aved · 6 authors

Advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), dynamic data driven application systems (DDDAS), and hierarchical cloud-fog-edge computing paradigm provide opportunities for enhancing multi-domain systems performance. As one example that represents multi-domain scenario, a "fly-by-feel" system utilizes DDDAS framework to support autonomous operations and improve maneuverability, safety and fuel efficiency. The DDDAS "fly-by-feel" avionics system can enhance multi-domain coordination to support domain specific operations. However, conventional enabling technologies rely on a centralized manner for data aggregation, sharing and security policy enforcement, and it incurs critical issues related to bottleneck of performance, data provenance and consistency. Inspired by the containerized microservices and blockchain technology, this paper introduces BLEM, a hybrid BLockchain-Enabled secure Microservices fabric to support decentralized, secure and efficient data fusion and multi-domain operations for avionics systems. Leveraging the fine-granularity and loose-coupling features of the microservices architecture, multidomain operations and security functionalities are decoupled into multiple containerized microservices. A hybrid blockchain fabric based on two-level committee consensus protocols is proposed to enable decentralized security architecture and support immutability, auditability and traceability for data provenience in existing multi-domain avionics system. Our evaluation results show the feasibility of the proposed BLEM mechanism to support decentralized security service and guarantee immutability, auditability and traceability for data provenience across domain boundaries.

Open access
2 source records
cs.CR
cs.DC
Smart Grid Security and Resilience
Original source
Mar 29, 2020·Digital Communications and Networks
222 cites
Blockchain-enabled resource management and sharing for 6G communications

Hao Xu, Paulo Valente Klaine, Oluwakayode Onireti, Bin Cao · 6 authors

The sixth-generation (6G) network must provide better performance than previous generations to meet the requirements of emerging services and applications, such as multi-gigabit transmission rate, higher reliability, and sub-1 ​ms latency and ubiquitous connection for the Internet of Everything (IoE). However, with the scarcity of spectrum resources, efficient resource management and sharing are crucial to achieving all these ambitious requirements. One possible technology to achieve all this is the blockchain. Because of its inherent properties, the blockchain has recently gained an important position, which is of great significance to the 6G network and other networks. In particular, the integration of the blockchain in 6G will enable the network to monitor and manage resource utilization and sharing efficiently. Hence, in this paper, we discuss the potentials of the blockchain for resource management and sharing in 6G using multiple application scenarios, namely, Internet of things, device-to-device communications, network slicing, and inter-domain blockchain ecosystems.

Open access
2 source records
Advanced Wireless Communication Technologies
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Original source
Mar 24, 2020·International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications
13 cites
BlockFlow: A decentralized SDN controller using blockchain

Theviyanthan Krishnamohan, Kugathasan Janarthanan, Peramune P.R.L.C, Ranaweera A.T

With the rise of cloud computing, data centers, and big data, the current rigid network architecture has been found to be inadequate. The modern technological demands require a flexible and easily reconfigurable network architecture. Software Defined Networking is a revolutionary concept that separates the control plane of network devices from their data plane and centralizes the control plane of all devices, facilitating the controlling of the entire network through a single portal. This helps us create flexible network architectures that can be reconfigured quickly to fit different needs. However, centralizing control leads to a Single Point of Failure and makes the network vulnerable to Denial of Service attacks, which is one of the major reasons why industries are reluctant to adopt this technology. Blockchain provides us a with a distributed ledger and a decentralized state, allowing us to create decentralized applications that run over multiple computers. This research aims to distribute the control plane of Software Defined Networks across multiple devices using blockchain. This addresses the existing security vulnerabilities of the Software Defined Network architecture such as Single Point of Failure while continuing to keep the control plane logically centralized, thereby allowing the network to be configured through a single portal. The resulting architecture has a physically distributed control plane whose logic is centralized.

Open access
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Network Security and Intrusion Detection
Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting
Original source
Mar 17, 2020·arXiv
61 cites
NSBchain: A Secure Blockchain Framework for Network Slicing Brokerage

Lanfranco Zanzi, Antonio Albanese, Vincenzo Sciancalepore, Xavier Costa‐Pérez

With the advent of revolutionary technologies, such as virtualization and softwarization, a novel concept for 5G networks and beyond has been unveiled: Network Slicing. Initially driven by the research community, standardization bodies as 3GPP have embraced it as a promising solution to revolutionize the traditional mobile telecommunication market by enabling new business models opportunities. Network Slicing is envisioned to open up the telecom market to new players such as Industry Verticals, e.g., automotive, smart factories, e-health, etc. Given the large number of potential new business players, dubbed as network tenants, novel solutions are required to accommodate their needs in a cost-efficient and secure manner. In this paper, we propose NSBchain, a novel network slicing brokering (NSB) solution, which leverages on the widely adopted Blockchain technology to address the new business models needs beyond traditional network sharing agreements. NSBchain defines a new entity, the Intermediate Broker (IB), which enables Infrastructure Providers (InPs) to allocate network resources to IBs through smart contracts and IBs to assign and re-distribute their resources among tenants in a secure, automated and scalable manner. We conducted an extensive performance evaluation by means of an open-source blockchain platform that proves the feasibility of our proposed framework considering a large number of tenants and two different consensus algorithms.

Open access
2 source records
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Mar 10, 2020·PLoS ONE
27 cites
TrustBlock: An adaptive trust evaluation of SDN network nodes based on double-layer blockchain

Bo Zhao, Yifan Liu, Xiang Li, Jiayue Li · 5 authors

The data layer devices in the Software Defined Network (SDN) play an important role in packet forwarding. However, whether the forwarding task can be efficiently completed by the node has not attracted enough attention. A method called TrustBlock is proposed in this paper, which introduces trust as a security attribute in SDN routing planning. Besides, in order to enhance the integrity and controllability of trust evaluation, the double-layer blockchain architecture is established. In the first layer, the behavior data of the node is recorded, and then the trust calculation is performed in the second layer. In the evaluation model, nodes' trust is calculated from three aspects: direct trust, indirect trust and historical trust. Firstly, from the perspective of security, blockchain is used to achieve identity authentication of nodes, after that, from the perspective of reliability, the forwarding status is used to calculate the trust value. Secondly, consensus algorithm is used to filter malicious recommendation trust value and prevent colluding attacks. Finally, the adaptive historical trust weight is designed to prevent the periodic attack. In this paper, the entropy method is used to determine the weight of each evaluation attribute, which can avoid the problem that the subjective judgment method is not adaptable to the weight setting. Simulation results show that the detection rate of the TrustBlock is up to 98.89%, which means this model can effectively identify the abnormal nodes in SDN. Moreover, it is attractive in terms of integrity and controllability.

Open access
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Network Security and Intrusion Detection
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Original source
Jan 31, 2020·IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems
61 cites
Towards Blockchain-Based Software-Defined Networking: Security Challenges and Solutions

Wenjuan Li, Weizhi Meng, Zhiqiang Liu, Man-Ho Au

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) enables flexible deployment and innovation of new networking applications by decoupling and abstracting the control and data planes. It has radically changed the concept and way of building and managing networked systems, and reduced the barriers to entry for new players in the service markets. It is considered to be a promising solution providing the scale and versatility necessary for IoT. However, SDN may also face many challenges, i.e., the centralized control plane would be a single point of failure. With the advent of blockchain technology, blockchain-based SDN has become an emerging architecture for securing a distributed network environment. Motivated by this, in this work, we summarize the generic framework of blockchain-based SDN, discuss security challenges and relevant solutions, and provide insights on the future development in this field.

Open access
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Original source
Jan 23, 2020·IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics
88 cites
Deep-Learning-Based Blockchain Framework for Secure Software-Defined Industrial Networks

Maninderpal Singh, Gagangeet Singh Aujla, Amritpal Singh, Neeraj Kumar · 5 authors

Software-defined industrial network has emer-ged as an autonomous ecosystem where the network control relies on a centralized controller to provide seamless data transfer. However, the reliance on a centralized controller can lead to several challenges, such as single point of failure. An adversary can initiate a denial of service attack and limit the availability of the controller by projecting malicious or uncontrolled traffic flows. To overcome this, in this article, a deep-learning-based blockchain framework is designed for providing secure software-defined industrial network. In this framework, a blockchain mechanism is designed wherein all the switch are registered, verified (using zero-knowledge proof), and, thereafter, validated in the blockchain using a voting-based consensus mechanism. A deep Boltzmann machine based flow analyzer is deployed at the control plane to identify the anomalous switch requests. The evaluation is performed using a mininet emulator wherein the results obtained depict the superiority of the proposed framework.

Open access
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Smart Grid Security and Resilience
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Original source
Jan 1, 2020·IEEE Access
19 cites
Blockchain and SDN Architecture for Spectrum Management in Cellular Networks

Asuquo A. Okon, Ibrahim Elgendi, Olusegun Samuel Sholiyi, Jaafar M. H. Elmirghani · 6 authors

Whereas 4G LTE networks have brought about an increase in data rates of mobile networks, they are unable to meet the capacity demands of future networks. Specifically, the centralized nature of the evolved packet core (EPC) makes the network non-scalable to match the exponential increase in number of wireless devices in addition to the complexities of diverse service requirements. The SDN concept has recently attracted a lot of research interest as a viable proposition for bringing about programmability and ease of network management while also offering flexibility for innovative network designs. However, current SDN implementations are not adapted to support business agreements that foster interoperability among mobile network operators (MNOs). This paper is an extended version of our earlier work and we intend to present a unified SDN and blockchain architecture with enhanced spectrum management features for enabling seamless user roaming capabilities between MNOs. Our simulation results show that users can experience no disruption in service with very minimal delay as they traverse between operators.

Open access
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
Advanced MIMO Systems Optimization
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Jan 1, 2020·EEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 209594-209609, 2020
63 cites
DistB-Condo: Distributed Blockchain-based IoT-SDN Model for Smart Condominium

Anichur Rahman, Md. Jahidul Islam, Ziaur Rahman, Md. Mahfuz Reza · 8 authors

Condominium network refers to intra-organization networks, where smart buildings or apartments are connected and share resources over the network. Secured communication platform or channel has been highlighted as a key requirement for a reliable condominium which can be ensured by the utilization of the advanced techniques and platforms like Software-Defined Network (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Blockchain (BC). These technologies provide a robust, and secured platform to meet all kinds of challenges, such as safety, confidentiality, flexibility, efficiency, and availability. This work suggests a distributed, scalable IoT-SDN with Blockchain-based NFV framework for a smart condominium (DistB-Condo) that can act as an efficient secured platform for a small community. Moreover, the Blockchain-based IoT-SDN with NFV framework provides the combined benefits of leading technologies. It also presents an optimized Cluster Head Selection (CHS) algorithm for selecting a Cluster Head (CH) among the clusters that efficiently saves energy. Besides, a decentralized and secured Blockchain approach has been introduced that allows more prominent security and privacy to the desired condominium network. Our proposed approach has also the ability to detect attacks in an IoT environment. Eventually, this article evaluates the performance of the proposed architecture using different parameters (e.g., throughput, packet arrival rate, and response time). The proposed approach outperforms the existing OF-Based SDN. DistB-Condo has better throughput on average, and the bandwidth (Mbps) much higher than the OF-Based SDN approach in the presence of attacks. Also, the proposed model has an average response time of 5% less than the core model.

Open access
2 source records
cs.CR
cs.SE
Software-Defined Networks and 5G
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