Access Control for Distributed Ledgers in the Internet of Things: A Networking Approach

Cullen, Andrew; Ferraro, Pietro; Sanders, William H.; Vigneri, Luigi; Shorten, Robert

doi:10.1109/jiot.2021.3096129

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(49 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While our results generally apply to any DAG-based DLT, we include some details of IOTA's implementation as a concrete example. Specifically, the rate at which nodes can issue transactions in the IOTA network is regulated by an access control algorithm [27], [28]. Each node regulates its own issue rate via a distributed algorithm based on the additive increase multiplicative decrease (AIMD) algorithm [29]- [31] 3 .…”

Section: System Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a PoW ledger, this would be a fixed value, λi (t) = λ i , based on the computing power of node i (provided the node's computing power remains constant). In this work, however, we focus our attention on the IOTA protocol in which the service rate of the LTP is governed by an AIMD rate setter [27] as part of IOTA's access control algorithm which replaces the need for PoW. We employ a max-min moving average filter to estimate the issue rate of each node as described in the Appendix.…”

Section: Algorithm 3 Dbns Executed By Usersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Transactions issued by nodes need to be forwarded to neighbours to achieve a shared view of the ledger. As described in [27], the total rate at which nodes can process new transaction ν. In the below simulations, ν is set to 50 transactions per second.…”

Section: Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Improving Quality of Service for Users of DAG-based Distributed Ledgers

Cullen¹,

Zhao²,

Vigneri³

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An outstanding problem in the design of distributed ledgers concerns policies that govern the manner in which users interact with the network. Network usability is crucial to the mainstream adoption of distributed ledgers, particularly for enterprise applications in which most users do not wish to operate full node. For DAG-based ledgers such as IOTA, we propose a user-node interaction mechanism that is designed to ensure the risk of a user experiencing a poor quality of service is low. Our mechanism involves users selecting nodes to issue their transactions to the ledger based on quality of service indicators advertised by the nodes. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed policies.1 Reputation is a numeric value associated to a node which affords it ledger access. In principle, reputation should be difficult to gain and easy to lose.

show abstract

Section: System Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Algorithm 3 Dbns Executed By Usersmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Improving Quality of Service for Users of DAG-based Distributed Ledgers

Cullen¹,

Zhao²,

Vigneri³

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Their model assumes that the computational power of the agent is known to the transaction rate regulator. [18] borrows an idea from wireless networks to control the transaction using an access control scheme. Congestion control has also been studied in the context of wireless communication.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling Transaction Rate in Tangle Ledger: A Principal Agent Problem Approach

Gupta¹,

Krishnamurthy²

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tangle is a distributed ledger technology that stores data as a directed acyclic graph (DAG). Unlike blockchain, Tangle does not require dedicated miners for its operation. This makes Tangle suitable for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. To prevent congestion and spamming, distributed ledgers have a built-in transaction rate control mechanism. This is typically achieved by increasing or decreasing the proof of work (PoW) difficulty level; unfortunately, this simplistic mechanism gives an unfair advantage to users with high computational power. This paper proposes a principal-agent problem (PAP) framework from microeconomics to control the transaction rate in Tangle. With users as the agents and the transaction rate controller as the principal, we design a truth-telling mechanism to assign PoW difficulty levels to agents as a function of their computational power. The solution of the PAP is achieved by compensating a higher PoW difficulty level with a larger weight/reputation for the transaction. The solution of PAP is obtained by solving a mixed-integer optimization problem. Moreover, we show that the decision variables have useful structures: the optimal solution of the PAP increases with the computational power of the agents. We also show that the optimal PoW increases with the number of agents. The structural result reduces the search space of the mixed-integer program and enables efficient computation of the optimal mechanism. Finally, via numerical examples, we illustrate the transaction rate control mechanism and study its impact on the dynamics of Tangle.

show abstract

“…To this end, in the future, the distributed ledger technology, e.g., blockchain, can provide a solution [122,123]. Furthermore, it reinforces the decentralized requirement of access control in both IoT and IIoT systems at scale [124]. For instance, hybrid access control is proposed in [125] for IIoT networks.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Protocol-Based and Hybrid Access Control for the IoT: Approaches and Research Opportunities

Pal

Jadidi

2021

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Internet of Things (IoT) applications and services are becoming more prevalent in our everyday life. However, such an interconnected network of intelligent physical entities needs appropriate security to sensitive information. That said, the need for proper authentication and authorization is paramount. Access control is in the front line of such mechanisms. Access control determines the use of resources only to the specified and authorized users based on appropriate policy enforcement. IoT demands more sophisticated access control in terms of its usability and efficiency in protecting sensitive information. This conveys the need for access control to serve system-specific requirements and be flexibly combined with other access control approaches. In this paper, we discuss the potential for employing protocol-based and hybrid access control for IoT systems and examine how that can overcome the limitations of traditional access control mechanisms. We also focus on the key benefits and constraints of this integration. Our work further enhances the need to build hierarchical access control for large-scale IoT systems (e.g., Industrial IoT (IIoT) settings) with protocol-based and hybrid access control approaches. We, moreover, list the associated open issues to make such approaches efficient for access control in large-scale IoT systems.

show abstract

Access Control for Distributed Ledgers in the Internet of Things: A Networking Approach

Cited by 20 publications

References 35 publications

Improving Quality of Service for Users of DAG-based Distributed Ledgers

Improving Quality of Service for Users of DAG-based Distributed Ledgers

Controlling Transaction Rate in Tangle Ledger: A Principal Agent Problem Approach

Protocol-Based and Hybrid Access Control for the IoT: Approaches and Research Opportunities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About