A Blockchain-Based Contractual Routing Protocol for the Internet of Things Using Smart Contracts. (1st November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ramezan, Gholamreza; Leung, Cyril
• Other Names: Chen Jiageng Guest Editor.
• Is Part Of: Wireless communications and mobile computing. Volume 2018(2018)
• Publication Date: 2018-11-01
• Subjects: Wireless communication systems -- Periodicals; Mobile communication systems -- Periodicals; 621.38205
• DOI: 10.1155/2018/4029591
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1530-8669

Abstract

Abstract : In this paper, we propose a novel blockchain-based contractual routing (BCR) protocol for a network of untrusted IoT devices. In contrast to conventional secure routing protocols in which a central authority (CA) is required to facilitate the identification and authentication of each device, the BCR protocol operates in a distributed manner with no CA. The BCR protocol utilizes smart contracts to discover a route to a destination or data gateway within heterogeneous IoT networks. Any intermediary device can guarantee a route from a source IoT device to a destination device or gateway. We compare the performance of BCR with that of the Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol in a network of 14 devices. The results show that the routing overhead of the BCR protocol is 5 times lower compared to AODV at the cost of a slightly lower packet delivery ratio. BCR is fairly resistant to both Blackhole and Greyhole attacks. The results show that the BCR protocol enables distributed routing in heterogeneous IoT networks.