446 research outputs found
Blockchain-enabled resource management and sharing for 6G communications
The sixth-generation (6G) network must provide performance superior to previous generations to meet the requirements of emerging services and applications, such as multi-gigabit transmission rate, even 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 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
Quality of Service improvements for real time multimedia applications using next generation network architectures and blockchain in Internet Service Provider cooperative scenario
Real time communications are becoming part of our daily life, requiring constrained requisites with the purpose of being enjoyed in harmony by end users. The factors ruling these requisites are Quality of Service parameters of the users' Internet connections. Achieving a satisfactory QoS level for real time communications depends on parameters that are strongly influenced by the quality of the network connections among the Internet Service Providers, which are located in the path between final users and Over The Top service providers that are supplying them with real time services. Final users can be: business people having real time videoconferences, or adopting crytpocurrencies in their exchanges, videogamers playing online games together with others residing in other countries, migrants talking with their relatives or watching their children growing up in their home countries, people with disabilities adopting tecnologies to help them, doctors performing remote surgeries, manufacturers adopting augmented reality devices to perform dangerous tasks. Each of them performing their daily activities are requiring specific QoS parameters to their ISPs, that nowadays seem to be unable to provide them with a satisfactory QoS level for these kinds of real time services. Through the adoption of next generation networks, such as the Information Centric Networking, it would be possible to overcome the QoS problems that nowadays are experienced. By adopting Blockchain technologies, in several use cases, it would be possible to improve those security aspects related to the non-temperability of information and privacy. I started this thesis analyzing next generation architectures enabling real time multimedia communications. In Software Defined Networking, Named Data Networking and Community Information Centric Networking, I highlighted potential approaches to solve QoS problems that are affecting real time multimedia applications. During my experiments I found that applications able to transmit high quality videos, such as 4k or 8k videos, or to directly interact with devices AR/VR enabled are missing for both ICN approaches. Then I proposed a REST interface for the enforcing of a specific QoS parameter, the round trip time (RTT) taking into consideration the specific use case of a game company that connects with the same telecommunication company of the final user. Supposing that the proposed REST APIs have been deployed in the game company and in the ISP, when one or more users are experiencing lag, the game company will try to ask the ISP to reduce the RTT for that specific user or that group of users. This request can be done by performing a call to a method where IP address(es) and the maximum RTT desired are passed. I also proposed other methods, through which it would be possible to retrieve information about the QoS parameters, and exchange, if necessary, an exceeding parameter in change of another one. The proposed REST APIs can also be used in more complex scenarios, where ISPs along the path are chained together, in order to improve the end to end QoS among Over The Top service provider and final users. To store the information exchanged by using the proposed REST APIs, I proposed to adopt a permissioned blockchain, analizying the ISPs cooperative use case with Hyperledger Fabric, where I proposed the adoption of the Proof of Authority consensus algorithm, to increase the throughput in terms of transactions per second. In a specific case that I examined, I am proposing a combination of Information Centric Networking and Blockchain, in an architecture where ISPs are exchanging valuable information regarding final Users, to improve their QoS parameters. I also proposed my smart contract for the gaming delay use case, that can be used to rule the communication among those ISPs that are along the path among OTT and final users. An extension of this work can be done, by defining billing costs for the QoS improvements
Automotive Ethernet architecture and security: challenges and technologies
Vehicle infrastructure must address the challenges posed by today's advances toward connected and autonomous vehicles. To allow for more flexible architectures, high-bandwidth connections and scalability are needed to connect many sensors and electronic control units (ECUs). At the same time, deterministic and low latency is a critical and significant design requirement to support urgent real-time applications in autonomous vehicles. As a recent solution, the time-sensitive network (TSN) was introduced as Ethernet-based amendments in IEEE 802.1 TSN standards to meet those needs. However, it had hurdle to be overcome before it can be used effectively. This paper discusses the latest studies concerning the automotive Ethernet requirements, including transmission delay studies to improve worst-case end-to-end delay and end-to-end jitter. Also, the paper focuses on the securing Ethernet-based in-vehicle networks (IVNs) by reviewing new encryption and authentication methods and approaches
NSBchain: A Secure Blockchain Framework for Network Slicing Brokerage
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
Multilayer Environment and Toolchain for Holistic NetwOrk Design and Analysis
The recent developments and research in distributed ledger technologies and
blockchain have contributed to the increasing adoption of distributed systems.
To collect relevant insights into systems' behavior, we observe many evaluation
frameworks focusing mainly on the system under test throughput. However, these
frameworks often need more comprehensiveness and generality, particularly in
adopting a distributed applications' cross-layer approach. This work analyses
in detail the requirements for distributed systems assessment. We summarize
these findings into a structured methodology and experimentation framework
called METHODA. Our approach emphasizes setting up and assessing a broader
spectrum of distributed systems and addresses a notable research gap. We
showcase the effectiveness of the framework by evaluating four distinct systems
and their interaction, leveraging a diverse set of eight carefully selected
metrics and 12 essential parameters. Through experimentation and analysis we
demonstrate the framework's capabilities to provide valuable insights across
various use cases. For instance, we identify that a combination of Trusted
Execution Environments with threshold signature scheme FROST introduces minimal
overhead on the performance with average latency around \SI{40}{\ms}. We
showcase an emulation of realistic systems behavior, e.g., Maximal Extractable
Value is possible and could be used to further model such dynamics. The METHODA
framework enables a deeper understanding of distributed systems and is a
powerful tool for researchers and practitioners navigating the complex
landscape of modern computing infrastructures
Blockchain for video streaming : opportunities, challenges and open issues
Blockchain, Quality of Experience (QoE), and Video Streaming have all received much attention from both academia and industry so far, although they have not been jointly addressed for prospective applications yet. While the industry has already adopted blockchain-based video streaming platforms, other stakeholders, e.g., academia, government, regulators, and service providers, could contribute more to develop protocols, technologies, and standards to help grow this niche technology and support its implementation in media streaming applications. This paper reviews the current technologies, industrial advancements, and critically identifies the current research activities and future research opportunities
BC4LLM: Trusted Artificial Intelligence When Blockchain Meets Large Language Models
In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are
reshaping society's production methods and productivity, and also changing the
paradigm of scientific research. Among them, the AI language model represented
by ChatGPT has made great progress. Such large language models (LLMs) serve
people in the form of AI-generated content (AIGC) and are widely used in
consulting, healthcare, and education. However, it is difficult to guarantee
the authenticity and reliability of AIGC learning data. In addition, there are
also hidden dangers of privacy disclosure in distributed AI training. Moreover,
the content generated by LLMs is difficult to identify and trace, and it is
difficult to cross-platform mutual recognition. The above information security
issues in the coming era of AI powered by LLMs will be infinitely amplified and
affect everyone's life. Therefore, we consider empowering LLMs using blockchain
technology with superior security features to propose a vision for trusted AI.
This paper mainly introduces the motivation and technical route of blockchain
for LLM (BC4LLM), including reliable learning corpus, secure training process,
and identifiable generated content. Meanwhile, this paper also reviews the
potential applications and future challenges, especially in the frontier
communication networks field, including network resource allocation, dynamic
spectrum sharing, and semantic communication. Based on the above work combined
and the prospect of blockchain and LLMs, it is expected to help the early
realization of trusted AI and provide guidance for the academic community
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