Blockchain-Enabled IoT: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Prospects

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Networks".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 August 2024 | Viewed by 522

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent times, the technological spheres of Blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) have emerged as significant disruptors, with both leading a wave of innovation in their respective domains. Their intersection is now poised to redefine our approach to digital infrastructure and interconnected systems.

Blockchain, known for its decentralized and secure architecture, has evolved beyond its cryptocurrency roots to become a foundational technology for various sectors, ensuring data integrity and trust in digital transactions. Its adoption in areas like smart city development, energy management, etc., highlights its versatility and capacity to address complex data challenges. Conversely, IoT has been instrumental in driving the connected world, offering real-time data collection, automation, and enhanced operational efficiency across diverse industries.

The integration of IoT with Blockchain opens up new avenues for secure, transparent, and reliable data exchange in interconnected systems, such as decentralized IoT networks secured by Blockchain, improved data privacy in IoT devices, and smart contracts facilitating autonomous IoT operations. However, this integration also brings forth unique challenges related to scalability, interoperability, and energy efficiency that need to be addressed for optimal utilization.

This Special Issue aims to explore the synergies between Blockchain and IoT, highlighting the innovations at their nexus, understanding the obstacles in their joint application, and envisioning a future where these technologies cohesively work to create advanced, secure, and efficient systems. 

Dr. Davide Patti
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • integration of IoT with blockchain for secure data exchange
  • privacy and security challenges in IoT–blockchain systems
  • blockchain-enabled autonomous operations in IoT
  • overcoming scalability and interoperability issues in blockchain–IoT frameworks
  • real-world applications in sectors such as smart cities, energy, healthcare, and logistics
  • ethical and regulatory considerations in the IoT–blockchain landscape
  • future directions and innovative solutions at the intersection of blockchain and IoT

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 2365 KiB  
Article
Solving Confirmation Time in Sharded Blockchain with PFQN
by Junting Wu, Haotian Du, Jin Chen and Wei Ren
Electronics 2024, 13(7), 1220; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/electronics13071220 - 26 Mar 2024
Viewed by 363
Abstract
Sharding shows great potential for extending the efficiency of blockchains. The current challenge facing sharded blockchain technology lies in addressing the extended transaction confirmation times caused by isolated states between shards and unbalanced transaction allocation strategies. These factors contribute to an increase in [...] Read more.
Sharding shows great potential for extending the efficiency of blockchains. The current challenge facing sharded blockchain technology lies in addressing the extended transaction confirmation times caused by isolated states between shards and unbalanced transaction allocation strategies. These factors contribute to an increase in cross-shard transactions and disproportionate shard workloads, ultimately resulting in indefinite confirmation delays for cross-shard transactions. A critical priority for sharded blockchain systems is to conduct a comprehensive qualitative analysis to better understand and mitigate the prolonged transaction confirmation times. We introduce a product-form queue network (PFQN) model to address the transaction confirmation time problem in sharded blockchains and incorporate a new confirmation queue to more accurately simulate the actual transaction confirmation process in the blockchain. In addition, we provide a detailed quantitative analysis of the relationship between the network load and consensus efficiency in sharded blockchains, offering a meaningful perspective for achieving robustness and efficiency in sharded blockchains. This research not only contributes to addressing the scalability issues in sharded blockchains but also offers a new perspective for future research directions. Full article
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