Cross-Referencing Method for Scalable Public Blockchain

We previously proposed a cross-referencing method for enabling multiple peer-to-peer network domains to manage their own public blockchains and periodically exchanging the state of the latest fixed block in the blockchain with hysteresis signatures among all the domains via an upper network layer. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of our method from three theoretical viewpoints: decentralization, scalability, and tamper resistance. We show that the performance of the entire system can be improved because transactions and blocks are distributed only inside the domain. We argue that the transaction processing capacity will increase to 56,000 transactions per second, which is as much as that of a VISA credit card system. The capacity is also evaluated by multiplying the number of domains by the average reduction in transaction-processing time due to the increase in block size and reduction in the block-generation-time interval by domain partition. For tamper resistance, each domain has evidence of the hysteresis signatures of the other domains in the blockchain. We introduce two types of tamper-resistance-improvement ratios as evaluation measures of tamper resistance for a blockchain and theoretically explain how tamper resistance is improved using our cross-referencing method. With our method, tamper resistance improves as the number of domains increases. The proposed system of 1,000 domains are 3-10 times more tamper-resistant than that of 100 domains, and the capacity is 10 times higher. We conclude that our method enables a more scalable and tamper-resistant public blockchain balanced with decentralization.Comment: (29 pages, 18 figures, Internet of Things 15 (2021) 100419

Enabling interoperable distributed ledger technology with legacy platforms for enterprise digitalization

Presently to achieve enterprise digitalization technologies such as Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) has now been deployed to support digital services provided by enterprises. But several challenges in DLTs remain to be addressed, including the interoperability, standardization, and integration. Therefore, this study provides theoretical and practical understanding of DLT interoperability and identified the factors that influence the interoperability of DLTs. Also, an architecture is designed to shows how interoperability can be achieved in DLTs and legacy systems supported by Application Programming Interface (API). A case study is presented to illustrate the applicability of the architecture to support a digital energy marketplace.acceptedVersio

Comparison of Blockchain technology in various segments of supply chain management

Blockchain technology promises to disrupt existing business processes by replacing existing centralized systems. Blockchain technology has gotten plenty of attention in the past few years. The interest in the new technology has reached logistics and supply chain management. When blockchain technology is implemented successfully it can bring benefits such as cost savings, better visibility, and better efficiency. Businesses could greatly benefit from these matters and get competitive advantage if they succeed to implement blockchain technology successfully before their competitors. There are various blockchain platforms available and new platforms are created continuously. These platforms can differ greatly from each other in terms of performance, scalability, and privacy. When considering implementing blockchain technology to supply chains it is key to choose a platform which has the best match to the particular use case. There is earlier research done about different blockchain platforms in different applications, but it is hard to get a bigger picture difference of blockchain platforms in supply chain applications from single studies. This research combines earlier research of the topic using qualitative meta-synthesis. The aim of the study is to find out the differences between Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum, Corda, Multichain, and Bitcoin platforms. Study found big differences in the suitability to supply chain applications between the platforms. It is key to understand comprehensively the needs for the platform before any decisions between platforms are made, because choosing between these platforms is a tradeoff. The result of the study was that Hyperledger Fabric shoved the best results in most use cases. The biggest challenge in this thesis was to find relevant information because the technology is relatively new.Blockchain teknologialla on mahdollisuus häiritä olevia liiketoimintaprosesseja korvaamalla nykyiset keskitetyt järjestelmät. Lohkoketju teknologia on saanut yhä enemmissä määrin huomiota viime vuosina. Kiinnostus uutta teknologiaa kohtaan on saavuttanut logistiikan ja toimitusketjun hallinnan. Jos lohkoketju teknologia pystytään implementoimaan onnistuneesti, se voi tuoda etuja, kuten kustannussäästöjä ja parempaa tehokkuutta. Tämä voisi suuresti hyödyttää yrityksiä, jos ne onnistuvat ottamaan lohkoketju teknologian käyttöön onnistuneesti ennen kilpailijoitaan. Jo nykyisin saatavilla on erilaisia lohkoketju alustoja ja uusia alustoja luodaan jatkuvasti. Nämä alustat voivat erota suuresti toisistaan muun muassa suorituskyvyn, skaalautuvuuden ja yksityisyyden suhteen. Kun harkitaan lohkoketju teknologian käyttöönottoa toimitusketjuissa, on tärkeää valita alusta, joka sopii parhaiten omaan käyttötarkoitukseen. Eri sovelluksissa eri lohkoketju alustoista on tehty aiemminkin tutkimuksia, mutta yksittäisistä tutkimuksista on vaikea saada suurempaa kuvaa lohkoketju alustojen eroista toimitusketju sovelluksissa. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tutkia metasynteesi tutkimusmenetelmää hyödyntäen Hyperledger Fabric-, Ethereum-, Corda-, Multichain- ja Bitcoin- alustojen eroavaisuuksia. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin suuria eroja alustojen välillä soveltuvuudessa toimitusketju sovelluksiin. On tärkeää ymmärtää kokonaisvaltaisesti omat tarpeet alustalle ennen päätöksiä alustojen välillä, sillä valinta on kompromissi alustojen eroavaisuuksista johtuen. Tutkimuksen tuloksena havaittiin, että Hyperledger Fabric saavutti parhaat tulokset useimmissa käyttötapauksissa. Suurin haaste tässä opinnäytetyössä oli olennaisen tiedon löytäminen, koska tekniikka on suhteellisen uutta

Using Distributed Ledger Technologies in VANETs to Achieve Trusted Intelligent Transportation Systems

With the recent advancements in the networking realm of computers as well as achieving real-time communication between devices over the Internet, IoT (Internet of Things) devices have been on the rise; collecting, sharing, and exchanging data with other connected devices or databases online, enabling all sorts of communications and operations without the need for human intervention, oversight, or control. This has caused more computer-based systems to get integrated into the physical world, inching us closer towards developing smart cities. The automotive industry, alongside other software developers and technology companies have been at the forefront of this advancement towards achieving smart cities. Currently, transportation networks need to be revamped to utilize the massive amounts of data being generated by the public’s vehicle’s on-board devices, as well as other integrated sensors on public transit systems, local roads, and highways. This will create an interconnected ecosystem that can be leveraged to improve traffic efficiency and reliability. Currently, Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) communications, all play a major role in supporting road safety, traffic efficiency, and energy savings. To protect these devices and the networks they form from being targets of cyber-related attacks, this paper presents ideas on how to leverage distributed ledger technologies (DLT) to establish secure communication between vehicles that is decentralized, trustless, and immutable. Incorporating IOTA’s protocols, as well as utilizing Ethereum’s smart contracts functionality and application concepts with VANETs, all interoperating with Hyperledger’s Fabric framework, several novel ideas can be implemented to improve traffic safety and efficiency. Such a modular design also opens up the possibility to further investigate use cases of the blockchain and distributed ledger technologies in creating a decentralized intelligent transportation system (ITS)

Deep Learning meets Blockchain for Automated and Secure Access Control

Access control is a critical component of computer security, governing access to system resources. However, designing policies and roles in traditional access control can be challenging and difficult to maintain in dynamic and complex systems, which is particularly problematic for organizations with numerous resources. Furthermore, traditional methods suffer from issues such as third-party involvement, inefficiency, and privacy gaps, making transparent and dynamic access control an ongoing research problem. Moreover detecting malicious activities and identifying users who are not behaving appropriately can present notable difficulties. To address these challenges, we propose DLACB, a Deep Learning Based Access Control Using Blockchain, as a solution to decentralized access control. DLACB uses blockchain to provide transparency, traceability, and reliability in various domains such as medicine, finance, and government while taking advantage of deep learning to not rely on predefined policies and eventually automate access control. With the integration of blockchain and deep learning for access control, DLACB can provide a general framework applicable to various domains, enabling transparent and reliable logging of all transactions. As all data is recorded on the blockchain, we have the capability to identify malicious activities. We store a list of malicious activities in the storage system and employ a verification algorithm to cross-reference it with the blockchain. We conduct measurements and comparisons of the smart contract processing time for the deployed access control system in contrast to traditional access control methods, determining the time overhead involved. The processing time of DLBAC demonstrates remarkable stability when exposed to increased request volumes.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2303.1475

SoK: Diving into DAG-based Blockchain Systems

Blockchain plays an important role in cryptocurrency markets and technology services. However, limitations on high latency and low scalability retard their adoptions and applications in classic designs. Reconstructed blockchain systems have been proposed to avoid the consumption of competitive transactions caused by linear sequenced blocks. These systems, instead, structure transactions/blocks in the form of Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) and consequently re-build upper layer components including consensus, incentives, \textit{etc.} The promise of DAG-based blockchain systems is to enable fast confirmation (complete transactions within million seconds) and high scalability (attach transactions in parallel) without significantly compromising security. However, this field still lacks systematic work that summarises the DAG technique. To bridge the gap, this Systematization of Knowledge (SoK) provides a comprehensive analysis of DAG-based blockchain systems. Through deconstructing open-sourced systems and reviewing academic researches, we conclude the main components and featured properties of systems, and provide the approach to establish a DAG. With this in hand, we analyze the security and performance of several leading systems, followed by discussions and comparisons with concurrent (scaling blockchain) techniques. We further identify open challenges to highlight the potentiality of DAG-based solutions and indicate their promising directions for future research.Comment: Full versio