IMPROVING INTERNET OF THINGS NETWORK STABILITY USING A HIERARCHICAL HYPERLEDGER FABRIC MODEL

Abstract

Smart contracts in the blockchain have enabled the technology to find its way beyond the financial uses in which it originally operated. As such, it has quickly found its way into the Internet of Things (IoT) networks, since the blockchain complements IoT networks by boosting its benefits (such as the modularity of the network and peer-to-peer connections). In this thesis, we aim to solve several known roadblocks that prevent the widespread adoption of blockchain technology in the IoT network; specifically, our proposed solution will be the most effective one for settings in which there is no need for all the IoT devices to communicate with each other, including smart grids, smart homes and cities, and (to a lesser extent) smart vehicles. All these models primarily have a central authority that needs a means of secure communication with its clients. Our work will make use of a hierarchical approach to the blockchain on the IoT network so that we can control the throughput that each segment uses as well as the size of the ledger. Our solution will make use of Hyperledger Fabric, which is a free and open-source blockchain framework that helps resolve the ledger size and cost issues that plague many existing solutions in the literature without compromising on the main benefits of the blockchain. As such, it enhances the integrity, authorization, and authentication of the communication among IoT devices in the network.