Blockchain Papers

Patiphan Thupphae, Weerakorn Ongsakul

No abstract is available for this record.

Inna Romashkova, Mikhail Komarov, Aleksandr Ometov

One of the most promising enablers for the secure distributed operation of the Internet of Things (IoT) systems could be based on a mathematical construct widely known as blockchain that aims to neglect the system’s centralization and scalability properties. This paper aims to map the requirements and features of both systems, highlight the main integration challenges, and technological candidates for smoother integration of IoT and blockchain, as well as highlight the standartization outlook. This work has identified an architectural approach to an integrated solution based on classic literature review methodology aiming to consider the IoT versus blockchain characteristics mapping and outlining related integration challenges. Potential integration challenges of the proposed integrated approach are also identified and classified. Critical solutions to address the integration bottlenecks include moving from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Distributed Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus, adding a Fog overlay to the architecture model, and leveraging the synergies combining the benefits of blockchain and IoT technology are highlighted.

Yaodong Huang, Yiming Zeng, Fan Ye, Yuanyuan Yang

Edge computing is becoming pervasive in our daily lives with emerging smart devices and the development of communication technology. Resource-rich smart devices and high-density supportive networks make data transactions prevalent over edge environments. To ensure such transactions are unmodifiable and undeniable, blockchain technology is introduced into edge environments. In this paper, we propose a hybrid blockchain system to enhance the security for transactions and determine the incentive for miners in edge computing environments. We propose a Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) hybrid consensus blockchain system utilizing the heterogeneity of devices to adapt to the characteristic of edge environments. We raise the incentive assignment problem for a fair incentive to PoW miners. We formulate the problem and propose an iterative and another heuristic algorithm to determine the incentive that the miner will receive for a new block. We further prove that the iterative algorithm can obtain global optimal results. Numerical simulation results show that our proposed algorithm can give a reasonable incentive to miners under different system parameters in edge blockchain systems.

Johannes Sedlmeir, Philipp Ross, André Luckow, Jannik Lockl · 6 authors

Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) promise to revolutionize business ecosystems by permitting secure transactions without intermediaries. A widely recognized challenge that inhibits the uptake of DLT is scalability and performance. Hence, quantifying key metrics such as throughput and latency is crucial for designing DLT-based infrastructures, applications, and ecosystems. However, current benchmarking frameworks for blockchains do not cover the whole benchmarking process; impeding transparent comparisons of different DLT networks. In this paper, we present the Distributed Ledger Performance Scan (DLPS), an open-source framework for end-to-end performance characterizations of blockchains, addressing the need to transparently and automatically evaluate the performance of highly customizable configurations. We describe our new framework and argue that it significantly improves existing DLT benchmarking solutions. To demonstrate the capabilities of the DLPS, we also summarize the main results obtained from a series of experiments that we have conducted with it, giving a first comprehensive comparison of essential scalability properties of several commonly used enterprise blockchains.

Remigijus Paulavičius, Saulius Grigaitis, Ernestas Filatovas

In recent years, distributed ledger technologies, and especially blockchain, have gained tremendous interest from academia, government, and industry. Although various blockchain-based solutions were created, the lack of tools to evaluate these complex distributed systems may hinder the development of the field. Many advantages of blockchain systems can be demonstrated only at large scales, e.g., using thousands of nodes. An investigation of different implementations and design choices is complicated and hardly feasible on real systems. Meanwhile, blockchain simulators give the possibility to repeat the complex real-world processes at a low cost. This work provides the first and an up-to-date systematic review and empirical analysis of blockchain simulators. Simulators are easily extensible and can test the performance of distributed ledgers using different settings and parameters on a single computer. The features and limitations of selected simulators are summarized and experimentally validated. Finally, recommendations for potential future research directions in the field are provided.

Kaifeng Yue, Yuanyuan Zhang, Yanru Chen, Li Yang · 7 authors

Trusted third parties (TTPs) are frequently used for serving as an authority to issue and verify transactions in applications. Although the TTP-based paradigm provides customers with convenience, it causes a whole set of inevitable problems such as security threats, privacy vulnerabilities, and censorship. The TTP-based paradigm is not suitable for all modern networks, e.g., 5G and beyond networks, which are been evolving to support ubiquitous, decentralized, and autonomous services. Driven by the vision of blockchain technologies, there has been a paradigm shift in applications, from TTP-based to decentralized-trust-based. Decentralized applications (DApps) with blockchains promise no trust on authorities, tackling the key challenges of security and privacy problems. A main thrust of blockchain research is to explore frameworks and paradigms for decentralizing applications, fostering a number of new designs ranging from network architectures to business models. Therefore, this paper provides a compact and concise survey on the state-of-the-art research of decentralizing applications with blockchain in the 5G and beyond perspective. We provide four burning 5G and beyond challenges and discuss five aspects of motivation for decentralizing applications with blockchain. Then, we define nine fundamental modules of blockchains and explain the potential influence of these modules on decentralization in depth. We also discuss the interrelation between decentralization and some desired blockchain properties. Particularly, we present the capabilities of blockchain for decentralizing applications through reviewing DApps for 5G and beyond. We clearly distinguish three blockchain paradigms and discuss how developers to make right choices for 5G and beyond. Finally, we highlight important learned lessons and open issues in applying blockchain for decentralizing applications. Lessons learned and open issues from this survey will facilitate the transformation of centralized applications to DApps.

Yuntao Xu, Xingyu Yang, Jiale Zhang, Junwu Zhu · 6 authors

Consensus mechanism plays an important role in blockchain. At present, mainstream consensus mechanisms include proof of work (PoW), proof of stake (PoS), and delegated proof of stake (DPoS). PoW, as is widely used in virtual currency, results in significant energy consumption; PoS and DPoS are proposed to reduce energy waste caused by PoW, but their disadvantage is that they tend to create Matthew Effect (ME): “the rich get richer.” In order to balance the discourse power of new nodes and elder ones, this paper proposes a flexible consensus mechanism called proof of engagement (PoE), based on the activity and contribution of network nodes. We analyze the incentive compatibility of PoE from the perspective of mechanism design. In our simulation experiments, we tested the profit changes under PoW, PoS, and PoE. The results illustrate it is easier for new nodes to accumulate their profits under PoE than under PoW or PoS, so as to reduce the negative impacts of ME.

Promila Devi, Srinivasan Ananthanarayanan Bragadeesh, Arumugam Umamakeswari

No abstract is available for this record.

Sandeep Kumar Panda, Suresh Chandra Satapathy

No abstract is available for this record.

Bahareh Lashkari, Petr Musı́lek

Since the advent of distributed ledger technologies, they have provided diverse opportunities in a wide range of application domains. This article brings a comprehensive review of the fundamentals of distributed ledger and its variants. Analyzing 185 publications, ranging from academic journals to industry websites, it provides a comparative analysis of 130 consensus algorithms using a novel architectural classification. The distribution of the reviewed algorithms is analyzed in terms of the proposed classification and different application domains, along with the applicability of each class among the top 10 platforms in the most prominent blockchain application domains. Additional conclusions are drawn from the evolution of consensus mechanisms, and the analysis concludes envisaging future prospects for consensus as an important part of distributed ledger technology.

Suyeon Kim, Hyun Kook Kahng

In this paper, We studied the operation of distributed ledger technology used as a core technology for smart contracts and the components of distributed ledger technology. As a solution applying the entity of distributed ledger technology to NoE, we proposed the protocol of the distributed ledger technology using the thing user social group management function of NoE protocols being standardized in ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6. The management function of things user social group in NoE provides stable protocol functions and data transmission management, and provides group management functions such as member discovery function and data transmission channel management function. It is expected to be useful for member management functions of distributed ledger nodes by providing a service that apply the component of distributed ledger technology. We intend to actively reflect this technology in the future network functions of ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6, which is undergoing standardization.

Mikel Cortes-Goicoechea, Luca Franceschini, Leonardo Bautista-Gomez

Scalability is a common issue among the most used permissionless blockchains, and several approaches have been proposed accordingly. As Ethereum is set to be a solid foundation for a decentralized Internet web, the need for tackling scalability issues while preserving the security of the network is an important challenge. In order to successfully deliver effective scaling solutions, Ethereum is on the path of a major protocol improvement called Ethereum 2.0 (Eth2), which implements sharding. As the change of consensus mechanism is an extremely delicate matter, this improvement will be achieved through different phases, the first of which is the implementation of the Beacon Chain. For this, a specification has been developed and multiple groups have implemented clients to run the new protocol. In this work, we analyse the resource usage behaviour of different clients running as Eth2 nodes, comparing their performance and analysing differences. Our results show multiple network perturbations and how different clients react to it.

Mikel Cortes-Goicoechea, Leonardo Bautista-Gomez

Achieving the equilibrium between scalability, sustainability, and security while keeping decentralization has prevailed as the target solution for decentralized blockchain applications over the last years. Several approaches have been proposed by multiple blockchain teams to achieve it, Ethereum being among them. Ethereum is on the path of a major protocol improvement called Ethereum 2.0 (Eth2), implementing Sharding and introducing the Proof-of-Stake (PoS). As the change of consensus mechanism is a delicate matter, this improvement will be achieved through different phases, the first of which is the implementation of the Beacon Chain. As Ethereum1, Eth2 relies on a decentralized peer-to-peer (p2p) network for the message distribution. Up to date, we estimate that there are around 5.000 nodes in the Eth2 main net geographically distributed. However, the topology of this one still prevails unknown. In this paper, we present the results obtained from the analysis we performed on the Eth2 p2p network. Describing the topology of the network, as possible hazards that this one implies.

Weizhi Meng, Wenjuan Li, Jianying Zhou

No abstract is available for this record.

Yustus Eko Oktian, Sang-Gon Lee

The Internet of Things (IoT) providers serve better IoT services each year while producing more IoT gateways and devices to expand their services. However, the security of the IoT ecosystem remains an afterthought for most IoT providers. This action results in many cybersecurity breaches in the field, most likely due to the lack of access control mechanisms. In this paper, we propose BorderChain, an access control framework based on blockchain for IoT endpoints. The security protocol guarantees two properties. First, our proposal assures IoT users and services that they communicate with approved IoT gateways as endpoints, holding verified IoT devices that they need. Second, BorderChain also generates access tokens that the IoT service and users can use to query IoT resources legitimately inside the IoT domains. As a result, the protocol can convince IoT domain owners that the system will only authorize IoT requests that they approve. We realize our protocol in the form of a smart contract to allow many IoT entities such as IoT domain owners, IoT devices, IoT gateways, IoT vendors, IoT services, IoT users, and Internet Service Provider (ISP) to collaborate in a unified environment. We then implement entities in BorderChain as Node JS applications connecting to the Ethereum blockchain as our peer-to-peer platform. Based on our performance evaluation using several Raspberry Pi hardware and our private server, we show that BorderChain can process entities' authentication and authorization requests efficiently using all hardware resources. Finally, we release BorderChain for public use.

Wei Ren, Xutao Wan, Pengcheng Gan

No abstract is available for this record.

Lasse Orda, Oliver Gehrke, Henrik W. Bindner

No abstract is available for this record.

Faizan Safdar Ali, Ouns Bouachir, Öznur Özkasap, Moayad Aloqaily

Industrial investments into distributed energy resource technologies are increasing and playing a pivotal role in the global transactive energy, as part of a wider drive to provide a clean and stable source of energy. The management of prosumers, which consume and as well as generate energy, with heterogeneous energy sources is critical for sustainable and efficient energy trading procedures. This article proposes a blockchain-assisted adaptive model, namely SynergyChain, for improving the scalability and decentralization of the prosumer grouping mechanism in the context of peer-to-peer energy trading. Smart contracts are used for storing the transaction information and for the creation of the prosumer groups. SynergyChain integrates a reinforcement learning module to further improve the overall system performance and profitability by creating a self-adaptive grouping technique. The proposed SynergyChain is developed using Python and Solidity and has been tested using Ethereum test nets. The comprehensive analysis using the hourly energy consumption dataset shows a 39.7% improvement in the performance and scalability of the system as compared to the centralized systems. The evaluation results confirm that SynergyChain can reduce the request completion time along with an 18.3% improvement in the overall profitability of the system as compared to its counterparts.

Christian Esposito, Massimo Ficco, Brij B. Gupta

No abstract is available for this record.

Ahmet Kurt, Suat Mercan, Enes Erdin, Kemal Akkaya

Lightning Network (LN) addresses the scalability problem of Bitcoin by leveraging off-chain transactions. Nevertheless, it is not possible to run LN on resource-constrained IoT devices due to its storage, memory, and processing requirements. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an efficient and secure protocol that enables an IoT device to use LN's functions through a gateway LN node. The idea is to involve the IoT device in LN operations with its digital signature by replacing original 2-of-2 multisignature channels with 3-of-3 multisignature channels. Our protocol enforces the LN gateway to request the IoT device's cryptographic signature for all operations on the channel. We evaluated the proposed protocol by implementing it on a Raspberry Pi for a toll payment scenario and demonstrated its feasibility and security.

Morteza Alizadeh, Karl Andersson, Olov Schelén

Blockchain technology has enabled the keeping of a decentralized, tamper-proof, immutable, and ordered ledger of transactional events. Efforts to leverage such a ledger may be challenging when data storage requirements exceed most blockchain protocols' current capacities. Storing large amounts of decentralized data while maintaining system efficiency is the challenge that we target. This paper proposes using the IPFS distributed hash table (DHT) technology to store information immutably and in a decentralized manner to mitigate the high cost of storage. A storage system involving blockchain and other storage systems in concert should be based on immutable data and allow removal of data from malicious users in the DHT. Efficiency is improved by decreasing the overall processing time in the blockchain with the help of DHT technology and introducing an agreement service that communicate with the blockchain via a RESTful API. We demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method and conclude that the combination of IPFS and blockchain provides efficient cryptographic storage, immutable history and overall better efficiency in a decentralized manner.

Barbara Guidi, Andrea Michienzi

Today, Online Social Networks (OSNs) represent an important communication channel in the daily life of many people in the world. OSNs are platforms where people are encouraged to interact, consume, generate, and share content with other users by establishing connections. However, they have several important issues, such as privacy and fake news, which have been the input to exploit new decentralized solution. Blockchain-based Online Social Media are decentralized Social Media where the Blockchain technology is used to reward users for their social activity. Several BOSMs have been proposed, however, their real benefits are still unknown, as is the behaviour of malicious users, such as bots and trolls. This paper proposes an analysis of the social behaviour of users and bots in Blockchain-based Online Social Media in order to highlight features that can be used in bots detection techniques. We consider Steemit as a case study because it is the most representative platform of its kind. Results show that bots are on average much more active than human users, thus suggesting that bots can be outlined using publicly available features.

Gökay Saldamlı, Ardalan Razavi, Lo’ai Tawalbeh

Swarm Robotics can be used in many applications. But they suffer from certain limitations that make them undesirable in Surveillance applications. Among their limitations is the absence of scalability and security. Currently, these robots do not have framework that allows it to communicate with each other to execute missions autonomously and transparently. Blockchain is the new technology for distributed autonomous systems by providing set of computer nodes for data storage and distribution among the nodes in the system. Each participating node can protect and validate the data in the blockchain system. No modifications can be performed on the data records due to the fact that it is been watched by all the users. Based on the blockchain features, we focus on this research how blockchain applications can make swarm robots securely connected using Ethereum smart contracts. Starting with surveillance missions deployment task, we propose a decentralized application (DApp) for that. Then, blockchain is used by the swarms to establish the Ethereum private networks that allows them to communicate and carry out tasks. We set a test swarm robotics system and evaluate the blockchain for its performance, scalability, recoverability, and responsiveness. In conclusion, we found that blockchain enables a swarm to be globally securely connected, but there are still need for performance enhancement.

Ke‐Jun Li, Yunan Liu, Hong Wan, Ling Zhang

Motivated by the growing interests in Bitcoin blockchain technology, we build a Monte-Carlo simulation model to study the miners' and mining pool managers' decisions in the Bitcoin blockchain network. Our simulation model aims to capture the dynamics of participants of these two different parties and how their decisions collectively affect the system dynamics. Given the limited amount of monetary budget and mining power capacity, individual miners decide on which mining pools to join and determine how much hashing power to invest. Mining pool managers need to determine how to appropriately allocate the mining reward and how to adjust the membership fee. In addition to the aforementioned miner and pool behavior, we also characterize the system-level dynamics of the blockchain in terms of mining difficulty level and total hashing power.