Vaibhav V. Gijare, Satpalsing D. Rajput, Srinivas Ambala, Mrunal Swapnil Aware · 7 authors
In this chapter, we use blockchain technology to illustrate the design tenets and dimensions of a decentralized Internet of Things (IoT) – Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) architecture. The IoT-WSN&s;s planned design has major limitations that prohibit it from expanding, endangering both its security and privacy. By establishing a decentralized, secure, and private network, blockchain technology can offer answers to the problems we are now facing. This chapter outlines a plan for creating an IoT-WSN architecture based on blockchain technology, which, if adopted, might improve the security and privacy of the IoT-WSN infrastructure that presently exists. The chapter also discusses the drawbacks and limitations of the suggested design and offers some suggestions for the direction the research community should take in the future.
Lawrence Nforh CheSuh, Ramón Ángel Fernández Díaz, Jose Manuel Alija-Perez, Carmen Benavides · 5 authors
The quality of service (QoS) parameters in IoT applications plays a prominent role in determining the performance of an application. Considering the significance and popularity of IoT systems, it can be predicted that the number of users and IoT devices are going to increase exponentially shortly. Therefore, it is extremely important to improve the QoS provided by IoT applications to increase their adaptability. Majority of the IoT systems are characterized by their heterogeneous and diverse nature. It is challenging for these systems to provide high-quality access to all the connecting devices with uninterrupted connectivity. Considering their heterogeneity, it is equally difficult to achieve better QoS parameters. Artificial intelligence-based machine learning (ML) tools are considered a potential tool for improving the QoS parameters in IoT applications. This research proposes a novel approach for enhancing QoS parameters in IoT using ML and Blockchain techniques. The IoT network with Blockchain technology is simulated using an NS2 simulator. Different QoS parameters such as delay, throughput, packet delivery ratio, and packet drop are analyzed. The obtained QoS values are classified using different ML models such as Naive Bayes (NB), Decision Tree (DT), and Ensemble, learning techniques. Results show that the Ensemble classifier achieves the highest classification accuracy of 83.74% compared to NB and DT classifiers.
Rudolf Kovacs, Sorin Buzura, Bogdan Iancu, Vasile Dădârlat · 6 authors
The network function virtualization (NFV) feature lies at the core of modern networking, and it allows on-demand real-time integration of new network functions, which is a great benefit for large-scale infrastructure networks. In contrast to the functional benefits, NFV introduces software complexity and computational overhead through additional abstraction layers. The current article addresses the function validation problem in large-scale infrastructure networks of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and proposes the utilization of blockchain as a validation technology, as opposed to implementing a custom validation solution. The current work showcases a practical architecture implementation to address the service validation in service provider large-scale networks. The POX-based solution to control software-defined networks (SDN) for NFV is extended to offer additional blockchain capabilities. Thus, a blockchain node is integrated and executed in the POX SDN controller. Transaction experiments are performed between two endpoints located in remote locations on the Internet, and the detailed results are presented to validate the utilization of the blockchain technology used on SDNs’ control plane.
Haoxiang Luo, Gang Sun, Hongfang Yu, Bo Lei · 5 authors
Blockchain technology has gained considerable attention in wireless network scenarios due to its security features. However, the complex workflow of blockchain consensus negotiation often results in high energy consumption. This may cause nodes to run out of energy quickly and go offline, especially in wireless networks with limited node battery capacity. To improve this issue, we propose a sharding scheme named Green Sharding (GS), which minimizes the energy consumption for Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) consensus. The GS assigns nodes in a wireless blockchain network to specific shards based on their geographical location, thereby avoiding their participation in a global consensus. Meanwhile, we also propose an estimation method of energy consumption after sharding, to simplify the energy consumption computing of sharded wireless blockchain networks. Furthermore, we provide an optimal algorithm for committee node (CN) selection, which can further decline the energy consumption of committee consensus on the GS basis. At last, we analyze and simulate the GS performance for two 6G communication scenarios: the terahertz (THz) and the millimeter wave (mmWave) signals. The simulation results prove the effectiveness of the GS, which reduces energy consumption by 99.76%, and the minimum error of our estimation method is only 0.11%.
As a result of the ubiquitous network applications and services, exacerbated by the overarching digital revolution the need and demand for efficient and dependable connectivity solutions have surged to unprecedented levels. Quality of Service (QoS)-based routing has emerged as a critical solution, enabling service differentiation, efficient resource allocation, and improved network performance. In this study, we introduce a novel Genetic Algorithm-powered QoS-aware Cross-Network Traffic Engineering framework,GATE-BC, at the confluence of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Blockchain (BC) technologies.GATE-BCorchestrates end-to-end (E2E) QoS traffic, providing resource-efficient, reliable, and latency-tolerant delivery of intelligent network services in BC-enabled SDNs. Leveraging BC features such as decentralization, transparency, and immutability,GATE-BCeliminates the need for centralized entities in QoS-supported cross-network routing models. We compareGATE-BCframework with three other traffic management and engineering approaches: QoSChain (QC), Hierarchical Routing Approach (HRA), and Distributed Routing Approach (DRA). The extensive simulations reveal thatGATE-BCoutperforms the other routing strategies in terms of Path Setup Time (PST), Network Message Overhead (NMO), Request Acceptance Ratio (RAR), Network Bandwidth Consumption (NBC), Average Path Length (APL), and Average Network Length (ANL) metrics under various network topologies. Furthermore,GATE-BCemploys three different feasible path selection strategies based on bandwidth (GATE-BC_BW), delay (GATE-BC_D), and reliability (GATE-BC_R) QoS parameters to satisfy the service levels requested.
Nowadays, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become immensely popular in various fields like healthcare, smart cities, and industrial automation. IoT networks are expanding rapidly, including different IoT devices with limited capabilities in terms of power and storage which make the IoT security a crucial issue. IoT Network Intrusion Detection System is one of the most famous solutions that used to identify different types of attack and extract their features (e.g. IP addresses of attackers). The IP address is a valuable feature that can identify malicious traffic of an attacker who attempts to access the IoT network. However, IoT Network Intrusion Detection Systems has different limitations: centralization and scalability which easily allow attackers to access the IoT network. Accordingly, this paper aims to address these issues by proposing a novel collaborative framework called Blockchain-based Collaborative Intrusion Detection Systems (BC-IDSs) that utilizes Blockchain technology to connect several IDSs. The BC-IDSs framework (1) creates a list of malicious IP addresses using IDSs; (2) utilizes Blockchain to share and store the Blacklist; (3) creates a function for duplication check in the Blockchain layer. Further, the implementation of a proof of concept for BC-IDSs framework is presented by using Ethereum Blockchain simulators. Compared to previous works, this paper discusses several types of performance metrics that prove BC-IDSs is able to secure IoT networks. BC-IDSs also increases the scalability by 50% when compared to one of the previous defence work.
Low-speed internet can negatively impact incident response by causing delayed detection, ineffective response, poor collaboration, inaccurate analysis, and increased risk. Slow internet speeds can delay the receipt and analysis of data, making it difficult for security teams to access the relevant information and take action, leading to a fragmented and inadequate response. All of these factors can increase the risk of data breaches and other security incidents and their impact on IoT-enabled communication. This study combines virtual network function (VNF) technology with software -defined networking (SDN) called virtual network function software-defined networking (VNFSDN). The adoption of the VNFSDN approach has the potential to enhance network security and efficiency while reducing the risk of cyberattacks. This approach supports IoT devices that can analyze large volumes of data in real time. The proposed VNFSDN can dynamically adapt to changing security requirements and network conditions for IoT devices. VNFSDN uses threat filtration and threat-capturing and decision-driven algorithms to minimize cyber risks for IoT devices and enhance network performance. Additionally, the integrity of IoT devices is safeguarded by addressing the three risk categories of data manipulation, insertion, and deletion. Furthermore, the prioritized delegated proof of stake (PDPoS) consensus variant is integrated with VNFSDN to combat attacks. This variant addresses the scalability issue of blockchain technology by providing a safe and adaptable environment for IoT devices that can quickly be scaled up and down to pull together the changing demands of the organization, allowing IoT devices to efficiently utilize resources. The PDPoS variant provides flexibility to IoT devices to proactively respond to potential security threats, preventing or mitigating the impact of cyberattacks. The proposed VNFSDN dynamically adapts to the changing security requirements and network conditions, improving network resiliency and enabling proactive threat detection. Finally, we compare the proposed VNFSDN to existing state-of-the-art approaches. According to the results, the proposed VNFSDN has a 0.08 ms minimum response time, a 2% packet loss rate, 99.5% network availability, a 99.36% threat detection rate, and a 99.77% detection accuracy with 1% malicious nodes.
Mouhamad Almakhour, Layth Sliman, Abed Ellatif Samhat, Boussad Ait Salem · 5 authors
Recently, the integration of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) with the blockchain has been gaining a lot of attention. This combination aims to avoid traditional NFV issues such as trust, payment, and security. Several works have been proposed to orchestrate, buy, execute, and manage the life cycle of a Virtual Network Function (VNF). Thus, they came as NFV marketplaces and orchestration platforms. In this paper, we provide a novel secure End-to-End NFV marketplace called “VNFO-DCSC”, that uses dynamic composite smart contracts. This platform provides full orchestration, management, execution, and monitoring of VNFs in a secure way. “VNFO-DCSC” is implemented following the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standards [1] for NFV management and it is available on GitHub.
The rapid evolution of the IoT has paved the way for new opportunities in smart city domains, including e-health, smart homes, and precision agriculture.However, this proliferation of services demands effective SLAs between customers and service providers, especially for critical services.Difficulties arise in maintaining the integrity of such agreements, especially in vulnerable wireless environments.This study proposes a novel SLA management model that uses an SDN-Enabled WSN consisting of wireless nodes to interact with smart contracts in a straightforward manner.The proposed model ensures the persistence of network metrics and SLA provisions through smart contracts, eliminating the need for intermediaries to audit payment and compensation procedures.The reliability and verifiability of the data prevents doubts from the contracting parties.To meet the high-performance requirements of the blockchain in the proposed model, low-cost algorithms have been developed for implementing blockchain technology in wireless sensor networks with low-energy and low-capacity nodes.Furthermore, a cryptographic signature control code is generated by wireless nodes using the in-memory private key and the dynamic random key from the smart contract at runtime to prevent tampering with data transmitted over the network.This control code enables the verification of end-to-end data signatures.The efficient generation of dynamic keys at runtime is ensured by the flexible and high-performance infrastructure of the SDN architecture.
This paper presents a novel QoE provisioning system with micropayment for Voice of Internet Protocol (VoIP) and video streaming services (QmV2). QmV2leverages Software Defined Networking (SDN) to provide guaranteed QoE and the distributed ledger IOTA technology micropayment. More specifically, QmV2's SDN controller has an innovative QoE calculation mechanism utilizing Mean Opinion Score (MOS) that considers service flow monitoring parameters, including packet loss rate and delay. Upon a QoE request and receiving the IOTA payment, QmV2can provide the requested QoE for the service flow. We have implemented and evaluated QmV2using the POX SDN controller, the network emulator Mininet-WiFi with VoIP and video streaming. The results confirm QmV2delivers satisfactory user experiences (i.e., aligned with the guaranteed MOS values) for VoIP and video streaming applications with the confirmed IOTA payment.
Mohamed A. Abo-Soliman, Eman Shabaan, Mirvat Al-Qutt, Karim Emara
The tremendous increase in implementing IoT devices for critical infrastructures yells for higher performance and robust protection. Traditional cloud based IoT architecture is unsuitable for delay-sensitive or real-time applications and lacks the robust security needed by industrial systems. Thus, new technologies are introduced to endorse the industry's digital transformation. Edge computing greatly satisfies required performance while Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) mitigates potential data compromises. This work proposes an integrated four layers architecture based on Edge Computing and DLT that provides efficient computing, security, and scalability. Edge computing handles transmission delay and scalability issues, while DLT handles data validation and trust. A lightweight DLT model is introduced to enable faster data commitment and better networking. The model incorporates two main features: a new grouping technique that enables network segmentation reducing network complexity. The second technique dynamically optimizes resource-utilization by adjusting DLT requirements according to the hardware capabilities of each participating node.
False data injection attacks (FDIA) pose a significant threat to the microgrids by corrupting information exchange among controller units. An effective solution to enhance the cyber-resilience is urgently needed, given the unbalanced advantages between the attacker and defender. To mitigate this issue, a proposed framework for enhancing cyber-resilience leverages the intrinsic security of blockchain technology to replace vulnerable information exchange and computation with secure transactions. Unlike the current approaches in the control field with limited cyber-resilience, this framework considers both the communication and control fields. Smart contracts (SCs) deployed on an enterprise-level HyperLedger blockchain provide distributed secondary control and self-healing functions, securing microgrid secondary control against FDIAs in a zero-trust environment. The proposed framework is validated through a four-DG microgrid system on a hardware-in-the-loop testbed. The results demonstrate that the framework provides comparable distributed control performance to conventional approaches, even in cases where the intensity of the FDIA launched exceeds the theoretical fault-tolerance of the blockchain technology.
The rapid advancement and increasing complexity of computer networks have created a need for robust, secure, and scalable solutions in order to manage and protect network resources. Blockchain, an emerging distributed ledger technology, offers enhanced security, transparency, and privacy preservation. As a result, Blockchain is regarded as a promising solution to network challenges. However, limited research has been conducted in this area so far which highlights the necessity for further in-vestigation and exploration. This paper presents a comprehensive study of blockchain integration in computer networking, focusing on its potential applications, benefits, and future perspectives in Software-defined Networking (SDN), network security, and networking protocols. We identify that blockchain's tamper-proof nature could significantly improve network security by mitigating risks associated with centralized control and single points of failure. The integration of blockchain in computer networking has the potential to increase trust and transparency among network participants, as it allows for secure, verifiable, and auditable transactions and communication. Blockchain also can streamline the management of Software-defined Networking (SDN) by enabling decentralized and automated network control, resource allocation, and orchestration. Additionally, We also find that utilizing blockchain can address network challenges, such as mitigating DDoS attacks, enhancing intrusion detection and prevention, and securing routing protocols. Meanwhile, we also identify potential limitations of blockchain integration in computer networking, such as scalability challenges arising from the growing size of the distributed ledger and increasing network traffic. We emphasize the need for further research in optimizing consensus mechanisms, enhancing scalability and privacy preservation techniques interoperability, and facilitating standardization of networking protocols and practices.
Andrei C. Azevedo, Eder J. Scheid, Muriel Figueredo Franco, Lisandro Zambenedetti Granville
Besides the main blockchain use-case of exchanging cryptocurrencies, Distributed Applications (DApps) can also be developed on top of such a technology. However, due to the size of popular blockchains and price, testing these DApps in a real-world environment becomes challenging. Thus, blockchain emulators were proposed to address such as issue. This paper presents the experience of emulating an Ethereum network using a Docker-based lightweight testbed developed for Software Defined Networks (SDN).
Quang Huy, Sami Souihi, Van Tong, Sara Tucci-Piergiovanni
The deployment of fifth-generation wireless networks shows promising significant advancements in network capacity, system throughput, and high-quality service. Nevertheless, challenges such as transparency, network privacy, and security vulnerabilities remain to be addressed. Blockchain, a distributed ledger system, offers transparency, immutability, and decentralization, making it a compelling solution for addressing these issues in the context of 5G. By combining blockchain and 5G, new opportunities arise for secure and transparent IoT networks, enhanced network security and privacy, as well as decentralized network management and governance. This paper delves into the application of blockchain in 5G, discussing its benefits and challenges. Interestingly, we concentrate on two key prospective applications, namely software defined networking and Network Slicing. We finally discuss the challenges for widespread adoption of blockchain in the context of 5G and provide insights for future research directions.
Nischal Aryal, Fariba Ghaffari, E. Bertin, Noël Crespi
The Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) introduces openness and intelligence into the existing, tightly-coupled RAN ecosystem. Openness promotes collaboration among various vendors to provide diverse components (hardware, software, or both) for the RAN ecosystem, while intelligence handles complex network activities using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Although O-RAN design addresses many issues in traditional RANs, such as vendor lock-in, lack of flexibility, and limited innovation, it raises several management and security concerns related to collaboration, access management, privacy, trust, and availability. Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) offer a viable method of establishing trust among entities, managing resources efficiently, and automating complex network tasks. Several DLT properties, such as distributed architecture, high automation through smart contracts, immutability, and transparency, could position DLT-based ideas as game changers in a multi-vendor O-RAN ecosystem. Furthermore, this technology has the potential to introduce new business models and establish secure and trusted micro-payments among vendors and network participants. In this paper, we first present a taxonomy for discussing existing O-RAN challenges. Based on the taxonomy, we then examine the possibility of incorporating DLT-based solutions in O-RAN architecture to address these challenges.
Aditya Bhardwaj, Rajat Chaudhary, Anjum Mohd Aslam, Ishan Budhiraja
To promote interaction between physical IoT assets and digital services, the rapid expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) necessitates digitizing industrial processes. Integrating digital twins into an IoT network enables real-time virtualization of physical entities, allowing for efficient real-time control, rapid maintenance, and better decision-making. Furthermore, a digital twin-enabled IoT network may generate a vast amount of data, posing storage, processing, and security difficulties. In this study, we presented a blockchain and software-defined networking (SDN) integrated framework for offering decentralized and secure data operations in IoT networks to address these concerns. To filter malicious packets, the proposed system incorporates a packet analyzer and feature extraction modules at the SDN control layer. The blockchain is then constructed using an elliptic curve point technique for authenticating IoT devices. The results reveal that, when compared to the existing model, our suggested approach performs significantly better in terms of latency and throughput.
Blockchain and other decentralized databases, known as distributed ledgers, are designed to store information online where all trusted network members can update the data with transparency. The dynamics of ledger's development can be mathematically represented by a directed acyclic graph (DAG). One essential property of a properly functioning shared ledger is that all network members holding a copy of the ledger agree on a sequence of information added to the ledger, which is referred to as consensus and is known to be related to a structural property of DAG called one-endedness. In this paper, we consider a model of distributed ledger with sequential stochastic arrivals that mimic attachment rules from the IOTA cryptocurrency. We first prove that the number of leaves in the random DAG is bounded by a constant infinitely often through the identification of a suitable martingale, and then prove that a sequence of specific events happens infinitely often. Combining those results we establish that, as time goes to infinity, the IOTA DAG is almost surely one-ended.
Low Power and Lossy Networks (LLNs) are a class of networks characterized by constrained resources, intermittent connectivity, and potential lossy links. These networks find applications in various domains such as Internet of Things (IoT), smart grids, and industrial automation. However, the inherent challenges of LLNs, including energy efficiency, routing reliability, and scalability, have prompted researchers to explore innovative solutions. Blockchain, a de -centralized and secure distributed ledger technology, has emerged as a potential candidate to address these challenges. This systematic review aims to comprehensively analyze and evaluate the existing research on utilizing blockchain solutions for routing protocols in LLNs. The review follows a structured methodology to identify, categorize, and critically assess the state -of -the -art research contributions in this domain.
Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled Smart Grid (SG) network is envisioned as the next-generation network for intelligent and efficient electric power transmission. In SG environment, the Smart Meters (SMs) mostly exchange services and data from Service Providers (SPs) via insecure public channel. This makes the entire SG ecosystem vulnerable to various security threats. Motivated from the aforementioned challenges, we incorporate Digital Twin (DT) technology, Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Deep Learning (DL) and blockchain into the design of a novel SG network. Specifically, a secure communication channel is first designed using an authentication method based on blockchain technology that has the ability to withstand a number of well-known assaults. Second, a new DL architecture that includes a self-attention mechanism, a Bidirectional-Gated Recurrent Unit (Bi-GRU) model, fully connected layers, and a softmax classifier is designed to enhance the attack detection process in SG environments. To deliver low latency and real-time services, the SDN is next employed as the network’s backbone to send requests from SMs to a global SDN controller. DT technology is finally integrated into the SDN control plane, which stores the operating states and behavior models of SMs and communicates with SMs. The efficiency of the proposed framework is demonstrated by the blockchain implementation used in the SG network to assess computing time for the various numbers of transactions per block. Finally, the numerical results based on the N-BaIoT dataset shows better intrusion detection.