Blockchain-IoT peer device storage optimization using an advanced time-variant multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm

The integration of Internet of Things devices onto the Blockchain implies an increase in the transactions that occur on the Blockchain, thus increasing the storage requirements. A solution approach is to leverage cloud resources for storing blocks within the chain. The paper, therefore, proposes two solutions to this problem. The first being an improved hybrid architecture design which uses containerization to create a side chain on a fog node for the devices connected to it and an Advanced Time‑variant Multi‑objective Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (AT‑MOPSO) for determining the optimal number of blocks that should be transferred to the cloud for storage. This algorithm uses time‑variant weights for the velocity of the particle swarm optimization and the non‑dominated sorting and mutation schemes from NSGA‑III. The proposed algorithm was compared with results from the original MOPSO algorithm, the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA‑II), and the Pareto Envelope‑based Selection Algorithm with region‑based selection (PESA‑II), and NSGA‑III. The proposed AT‑MOPSO showed better results than the aforementioned MOPSO algorithms in cloud storage cost and query probability optimization. Importantly, AT‑MOPSO achieved 52% energy efficiency compared to NSGA‑III. To show how this algorithm can be applied to a real‑world Blockchain system, the BISS industrial Blockchain architecture was adapted and modified to show how the AT‑MOPSO can be used with existing Blockchain systems and the benefits it provides

Adaptive Storage Optimization Scheme for Blockchain-IIoT Applications Using Deep Reinforcement Learning

Blockchain-IIoT integration into industrial processes promises greater security, transparency, and traceability. However, this advancement faces significant storage and scalability issues with existing blockchain technologies. Each peer in the blockchain network maintains a full copy of the ledger which is updated through consensus. This full replication approach places a burden on the storage space of the peers and would quickly outstrip the storage capacity of resource-constrained IIoT devices. Various solutions utilizing compression, summarization or different storage schemes have been proposed in literature. The use of cloud resources for blockchain storage has been extensively studied in recent years. Nonetheless, block selection remains a substantial challenge associated with cloud resources and blockchain integration. This paper proposes a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) approach as an alternative to solving the block selection problem, which involves identifying the blocks to be transferred to the cloud. We propose a DRL approach to solve our problem by converting the multi-objective optimization of block selection into a Markov decision process (MDP). We design a simulated blockchain environment for training and testing our proposed DRL approach. We utilize two DRL algorithms, Advantage Actor-Critic (A2C), and Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) to solve the block selection problem and analyze their performance gains. PPO and A2C achieve 47.8% and 42.9% storage reduction on the blockchain peer compared to the full replication approach of conventional blockchain systems. The slowest DRL algorithm, A2C, achieves a run-time 7.2 times shorter than the benchmark evolutionary algorithms used in earlier works, which validates the gains introduced by the DRL algorithms. The simulation results further show that our DRL algorithms provide an adaptive and dynamic solution to the time-sensitive blockchain-IIoT environment

Interobserver agreement in interpretation of chest radiographs for pediatric community acquired pneumonia: Findings of the pedCAPNETZ-cohort.

Although chest radiograph (CXR) is commonly used in diagnosing pediatric community acquired pneumonia (pCAP), limited data on interobserver agreement among radiologists exist. PedCAPNETZ is a prospective, observational, and multicenter study on pCAP. N = 233 CXR from patients with clinical diagnosis of pCAP were retrieved and n = 12 CXR without pathological findings were added. All CXR were interpreted by a radiologist at the site of recruitment and by two external, blinded pediatric radiologists. To evaluate interobserver agreement, the reporting of presence or absence of pCAP in CXR was analyzed, and prevalence and bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK) statistical testing was applied. Overall, n = 190 (82%) of CXR were confirmed as pCAP by two external pediatric radiologists. Compared with patients with pCAP negative CXR, patients with CXR-confirmed pCAP displayed higher C-reactive protein levels and a longer duration of symptoms before enrollment (p < .007). Further parameters, that is, age, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation showed no significant difference. The interobserver agreement between the onsite radiologists and each of the two independent pediatric radiologists for the presence of pCAP was poor to fair (69%; PABAK = 0.39% and 76%; PABAK = 0.53, respectively). The concordance between the external radiologists was fair (81%; PABAK = 0.62). With regard to typical CXR findings for pCAP, chance corrected interrater agreement was highest for pleural effusions, infiltrates, and consolidations and lowest for interstitial patterns and peribronchial thickening. Our data show a poor interobserver agreement in the CXR-based diagnosis of pCAP and emphasized the need for harmonized interpretation standards

A method for implementation of machine learning solutions for predictive maintenance in small and medium sized enterprises

In recent years, machine learning algorithms have made a huge development in performance and applicability in industry and especially maintenance. Their application enables predictive maintenance and thus offers efficiency increases. However, a successful implementation of such solutions still requires high effort in data preparation to obtain the right information, interdisciplinarity in teams as well as a good communication to employees. Here, small and medium sized enterprises (SME) often lack in experience, competence and capacity. This paper presents a systematic and practice-oriented method for an implementation of machine learning solutions for predictive maintenance in SME, which has already been validated

Schloss: Blockchain-Based System Architecture for Secure Industrial IoT

Industrial companies can use blockchain to assist them in resolving their trust and security issues. In this research, we provide a fully distributed blockchain-based architecture for industrial IoT, relying on trust management and reputation to enhance nodes’ trustworthiness. The purpose of this contribution is to introduce our system architecture to show how to secure network access for users with dynamic authorization management. All decisions in the system are made by trustful nodes’ consensus and are fully distributed. The remarkable feature of this system architecture is that the influence of the nodes’ power is lowered depending on their Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS), and the nodes’ significance and authority is determined by their behavior in the network. This impact is based on game theory and an incentive mechanism for reputation between nodes. This system design can be used on legacy machines, which means that security and distributed systems can be put in place at a low cost on industrial systems. While there are no numerical results yet, this work, based on the open questions regarding the majority problem and the proposed solutions based on a game-theoretic mechanism and a trust management system, points to what and how industrial IoT and existing blockchain frameworks that are focusing only on the power of PoW and PoS can be secured more effectively

Schloss: Blockchain-Based System Architecture for Secure Industrial IoT

Industrial companies can use blockchain to assist them in resolving their trust and security issues. In this research, we provide a fully distributed blockchain-based architecture for industrial IoT, relying on trust management and reputation to enhance nodes&rsquo; trustworthiness. The purpose of this contribution is to introduce our system architecture to show how to secure network access for users with dynamic authorization management. All decisions in the system are made by trustful nodes&rsquo; consensus and are fully distributed. The remarkable feature of this system architecture is that the influence of the nodes&rsquo; power is lowered depending on their Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS), and the nodes&rsquo; significance and authority is determined by their behavior in the network. This impact is based on game theory and an incentive mechanism for reputation between nodes. This system design can be used on legacy machines, which means that security and distributed systems can be put in place at a low cost on industrial systems. While there are no numerical results yet, this work, based on the open questions regarding the majority problem and the proposed solutions based on a game-theoretic mechanism and a trust management system, points to what and how industrial IoT and existing blockchain frameworks that are focusing only on the power of PoW and PoS can be secured more effectively

Trust Management System for Hybrid Industrial Blockchains

As industrial networks continue to expand and connect more devices and users, they face growing security challenges such as unauthorized access and data breaches. This paper delves into the crucial role of security and trust in industrial networks and how trust management systems (TMS) can mitigate malicious access to these networks. The TMS presented in this paper leverages distributed ledger technology (blockchain) to evaluate the trustworthiness of blockchain nodes, including devices and users, and make access decisions accordingly. While this approach is applicable to blockchain, it can also be extended to other areas. This approach can help prevent malicious actors from penetrating industrial networks and causing harm. The paper also presents the results of a simulation to demonstrate the behavior of the TMS and provide insights into its effectiveness

Formal Description of Use Cases for Industry 4.0 Maintenance Processes Using Blockchain Technology

Maintenance processes in Industry 4.0 applications try to achieve a high degree of quality to reduce the downtime of machinery. The monitoring of executed maintenance activities is challenging as in complex production setups, multiple stakeholders are involved. So, full transparency of the different activities and of the state of the machine can only be supported, if these stakeholders trust each other. Therefore, distributed ledger technologies, like Blockchain, can be promising candidates for supporting such applications. The goal of this paper is a formal description of business and technical interactions between non-trustful stakeholders in the context of Industry 4.0 maintenance processes using distributed ledger technologies. It also covers the integration of smart contracts for automated triggering of activities

Industry Use Cases on Blockchain Technology

Digital transformation strengthens the interconnection of companies in order to develop optimized and better customized, cross-company business models. These models require secure, reliable, and trace- able evidence and monitoring of contractually agreed information to gain trust between stakeholders. Blockchain technology using smart contracts allows the industry to establish trust and automate cross- company business processes without the risk of losing data control. A typical cross-company industry use case is equipment maintenance. Machine manufacturers and service providers offer maintenance for their machines and tools in order to achieve high availability at low costs. The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate how maintenance use cases are attempted by utilizing hyperledger fabric for building a chain of trust by hardened evidence logging of the maintenance process to achieve legal certainty. Contracts are digitized into smart contracts automating business that increase the security and mitigate the error-proneness of the business processes

Security Audit of a Blockchain-Based Industrial Application Platform

In recent years, both the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain technologies have been highly influential and revolutionary. IoT enables companies to embrace Industry 4.0, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which benefits from communication and connectivity to reduce cost and to increase productivity through sensor-based autonomy. These automated systems can be further refined with smart contracts that are executed within a blockchain, thereby increasing transparency through continuous and indisputable logging. Ideally, the level of security for these IoT devices shall be very high, as they are specifically designed for this autonomous and networked environment. This paper discusses a use case of a company with legacy devices that wants to benefit from the features and functionality of blockchain technology. In particular, the implications of retrofit solutions are analyzed. The use of the BISS:4.0 platform is proposed as the underlying infrastructure. BISS:4.0 is intended to integrate the blockchain technologies into existing enterprise environments. Furthermore, a security analysis of IoT and blockchain present attacks and countermeasures are presented that are identified and applied to the mentioned use case