Abstract:

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) plays a crucial role in the context of Industry 4.0, where the goal is to establish a versatile, scalable, and secure IIoT framework that can be adopted across various industries. However, current IIoT systems face vulnerabilities in terms of potential single points of failure and susceptibility to malicious attacks, making it challenging to ensure consistent and reliable services. Recognizing the reliability and security benefits of blockchain technology, there has been growing interest in integrating blockchain with the Internet of Things (IoT). Yet, it's important to note that blockchains come with their own set of limitations, such as their high energy consumption and limited transaction processing speed. These characteristics make traditional blockchains less suitable for IoT devices that have constraints on power consumption. To address these issues, we introduce a blockchain system that utilizes a credit-based consensus mechanism specifically designed for IIoT. Our solution involves implementing a credit-based proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism tailored for IoT devices. This innovative approach serves to ensure both the security of the system and the efficiency of transactions simultaneously. In order to maintain the confidentiality of sensitive data, we have developed a data authority management system that governs access to sensor data. This mechanism helps regulate who can access the data, adding an extra layer of protection. Additionally, our system is constructed based on directed acyclic graph (DAG) structured blockchains, which prove to be more efficient in terms of performance when compared to the conventional Satoshi-style blockchain architecture. Our comprehensive evaluation and analysis demonstrate the effectiveness of the creditbased PoW mechanism and the data access control in enhancing the security and efficiency of IIoT applications.

Description:

IIoT security, Blockchain integration, Credit-based consensus, Data confidentiality, DAG-structured blockchain