Blockchain and IoT Integration: A Systematic Survey

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the interconnection of smart devices to collect data and make intelligent decisions. However, a lack of intrinsic security measures makes IoT vulnerable to privacy and security threats. With its “security by design,” Blockchain (BC) can help in addressing major security requirements in IoT. BC capabilities like immutability, transparency, auditability, data encryption and operational resilience can help solve most architectural shortcomings of IoT. This article presents a comprehensive survey on BC and IoT integration. The objective of this paper is to analyze the current research trends on the usage of BC-related approaches and technologies in an IoT context. This paper presents the following novelties, with respect to related work: (i) it covers different application domains, organizing the available literature according to this categorization, (ii) it introduces two usage patterns, i.e., device manipulation and data management (open marketplace solution), and (iii) it reports on the development level of some of the presented solutions. We also analyze the main challenges faced by the research community in the smooth integration of BC and IoT, and point out the main open issues and future research directions. Last but not least, we also present a survey about novel uses of BC in the machine economy.

ControlChain: A new stage on the IoT access control authorization

“…Other works highlighted the benefits from the union between Blockchain and IoT. In addition, the works of Kumar and Mallick and Panarello et al discussed the challenges of IoT networks and its integration with the Blockchain. Panarello et al also constructed a systematic survey, where they categorized a wide range of works in application domains, usage domains and development level.…”

Blockchain‐based security aspects in heterogeneous Internet‐of‐Things networks: A survey

“…Consensus protocols ensure that no malicious transactions or changes can be made to the BC itself . Consensus or agreement on the state of the BC is required in a distributed and decentralized network.…”

“…Consensus protocols ensure that no malicious transactions or changes can be made to the BC itself. 5 Consensus or agreement on the state of the BC is required in a distributed and decentralized network. The consensus problem in BC, which is distributed and trustless, can be considered synonymous to Byzantine generals' problem.…”

Blockchain of Things (BCoT): The Fusion of Blockchain and IoT Technologies

“…Since IoT highly utilises the existing wireless sensor network (wsn) technologies, intrinsically it remains vulnerable to privacy as well as security threats. On the contrary, blockchain, by its design and architecture-consensus method and cryptographic techniques -is considered as a Trust Machine (Panarello, Tapas, Merlino, Longo, & Puliafito, 2018). Thus, it possesses the potentials to address major share of the security issues found in IoT.…”