S. Vishnu Sharma
IIT Jodhpur researchers developed an improvised version of a blockchain technology that is computationally lighter and both energy and time efficient allowing its application for making secure communication in IoT networks.
The results of the work done by IIT Jodhpur researchers have been published in a prestigious international journal ‘IEEE Transactions’ on Computational Social Systems.
IIT Jodhpur researchers
The research paper has been co-authored by Dr. Debasis Das, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Jodhpur along with his research scholars.
The Internet of things(IoT) is a new paradigm that will revolutionize the way we live, say IIT Jodhpur researchers.
With zillions of smart devices talking to each other through the embedded sensors, softwares and technologies, the IoT platform will enable integration of data for seamless functioning of smart cities, smart homes, smart industries, smart transportation and others, say IIT Jodhpur researchers.
As a plethora of sensitive data will be collected and passed through this platform, IoT security is a major concern for both the users and providers, say IIT Jodhpur researchers.
To make the IoT platforms more secure, researchers suggest the use of blockchain technology to run the IoT platforms.
The technology
Blockchain is a technology that is being employed as a means for secure digital transactions of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and many more, say IIT Jodhpur researchers.
However, time delays and energy efficiency are major drawbacks of currently used Blockchain protocols limiting its use for IoT platforms.
Speaking about the work by IIT Jodhpur researchers Dr. Debasis Das said Blockchain is one of the technologies that can resolve the security issues of the IoT networks.
It is a scalable, distributed, transparent, and tamper-proof ledger that keeps uniform records of information at varying locations and can deal with IoT networks’ information security affairs, he said speaking further about work done by IIT Jodhpur researchers.
‘Decentralization, integrity, and anonymity are the prominent characteristics of blockchain that increase IoT applications’ integrity and improve IoT security.’
Dr. Das has now come up with a blockchain protocol that is energy efficient and can be integrated with lightweight IoT devices.
The blockchain protocol devised by the research team is an improvised version of an existing blockchain protocol-Bitcoin-NG, say IIT Jodhpur researchers.
While Bitcoin-NG protocol is a significant improvement over the currently used Bitcoin protocol in terms of time efficiency, however, it requires high computational power and is energy-intensive, say IIT Jodhpur researchers.
To make the Bitcoin-NG protocol computationally and energy-wise efficient, Dr Das used a leader selection algorithm that reduces the number of operations per node.
Proposed Improvised Bitcoin-NG is applied to solve a variety of complex tasks and shows significant results without much human intervention, said Dr. Das, speaking about the work done by IIT Jodhpur researchers.
Given Blockchain-based IoT systems will add a boom in the advancement of IoT technology and explore the suitability and sustainability of improvised Bitcoin-NG for various application areas, added Dr. Das.
Blockchain
IIT Jodhpur researchers further said In blockchain technology, the data is stored in the form of blocks containing information or transactions which are stored in a network of computers such that everyone can add to it but none can change or delete it.
The blockchain uses a consensus algorithm that aims at finding the most agreed upon block details in the entire computer network to ensure that the information has not been changed or deleted at any level, say IIT Jodhpur researchers.
This feature, which makes blockchains more secure, adds up to time delays when the network increases making the whole system more computationally and energy-intensive.
IIT Jodhpur researchers worked on these problems of the current protocols in Blockchain paving the path for use of blockchain technology in the IoT space.
Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur was established in 2008, to foster technology education and research in India.
The Institute is committed to technological thought and action to benefit the economic development of India. Scholarship in teaching and learning; Scholarship in research and creative accomplishments; and relevance to Industry are three driving forces for us at IIT Jodhpur.
IIT Jodhpur functions from its sprawling residential Permanent Campus of 852 acres on National Highway 65, North-Northwest of Jodhpur towards Nagaur.
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This campus is meticulously planned and envisioned to stand as a symbol of academics. A large parcel of the Permanent Campus (of about 182 acres) is set aside for the development of a Technology Park to strengthen institute-industry interactions.
The Institute is committed to a multidisciplinary approach of technology development. Hence, it has established state-of-the-art laboratories for basic research and has organized its academic degree activities through Departments and its coordinated research through Centers for Technologies.