Blockchain-Based Systems

A special issue of Computers (ISSN 2073-431X). This special issue belongs to the section "Blockchain Infrastructures and Enabled Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 58968

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115, USA
Interests: human-centered systems; machine learning; data science; distributed computing; blockchain
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Blockchain is the key enabling technology for cryptocurrency. It was introduced as part of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which was established during the great recession in early 2009. Blockchain is often referred to as a distributed and secure database. In reality, blockchain is much more than that: It consists of a mechanism that ensures distributed consensus among independent participants operating in an untrusted peer-to-peer network. As such, blockchain has now been used in areas far beyond the financial sector. In addition to the applications of blockchain, there is also intense research on the foundation of the blockchain technology itself, such as different ways to accomplish distributed consensus, security of blockchain, and scalability of blockchain. This Special Issue welcomes original research and review articles on all aspects of the blockchain technology. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following areas:

  • Consensus algorithms;
  • Cyberattacks on blockchains;
  • Economic impact on cyberattacks;
  • Security and trust on permissioned blockchains;
  • Scalability of blockchains;
  • Reliability analysis on blockchain-based systems;
  • Smart contracts;
  • Visualization of blockchain data;
  • Blockchain for banking and finance;
  • Blockchain for supply chain;
  • Blockchain for consumer products and retail;
  • Blockchain for governments;
  • Blockchain for automotive;
  • Blockchain for medicine and health care;
  • Blockchain for travel and transportation;
  • Blockchain for Internet of Things;
  • Blockchain for agriculture.

Prof. Dr. Wenbing Zhao
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • blockchain
  • proof of work
  • proof of stake
  • distributed consensus
  • secure ledger
  • smart tracts
  • cryptocurrency

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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38 pages, 2357 KiB  
Article
Mind Your Outcomes: The ΔQSD Paradigm for Quality-Centric Systems Development and Its Application to a Blockchain Case Study
by Seyed Hossein Haeri, Peter Thompson, Neil Davies, Peter Van Roy, Kevin Hammond and James Chapman
Computers 2022, 11(3), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers11030045 - 17 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6338
Abstract
This paper directly addresses a long-standing issue that affects the development of many complex distributed software systems: how to establish quickly, cheaply, and reliably whether they can deliver their intended performance before expending significant time, effort, and money on detailed design and implementation. [...] Read more.
This paper directly addresses a long-standing issue that affects the development of many complex distributed software systems: how to establish quickly, cheaply, and reliably whether they can deliver their intended performance before expending significant time, effort, and money on detailed design and implementation. We describe ΔQSD, a novel metrics-based and quality-centric paradigm that uses formalised outcome diagrams to explore the performance consequences of design decisions, as a performance blueprint of the system. The distinctive feature of outcome diagrams is that they capture the essential observational properties of the system, independent of the details of system structure and behaviour. The ΔQSD paradigm derives bounds on performance expressed as probability distributions encompassing all possible executions of the system. The ΔQSD paradigm is both effective and generic: it allows values from various sources to be combined in a rigorous way so that approximate results can be obtained quickly and subsequently refined. ΔQSD has been successfully used by a small team in Predictable Network Solutions for consultancy on large-scale applications in a number of industries, including telecommunications, avionics, and space and defence, resulting in cumulative savings worth billions of US dollars. The paper outlines the ΔQSD paradigm, describes its formal underpinnings, and illustrates its use via a topical real-world example taken from the blockchain/cryptocurrency domain. ΔQSD has supported the development of an industry-leading proof-of-stake blockchain implementation that reliably and consistently delivers blocks of up to 80 kB every 20 s on average across a globally distributed network of collaborating block-producing nodes operating on the public internet. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Blockchain-Based Systems)
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18 pages, 757 KiB  
Article
Leveraging Blockchain Technology to Break the Cloud Computing Market Monopoly
by Tasos Bakogiannis, Ioannis Mytilinis, Katerina Doka and Georgios Goumas
Computers 2020, 9(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers9010009 - 10 Feb 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 7034
Abstract
Cloud computing offerings traditionally originate from a handful of large and well established providers, which monopolize the market, preventing small players and individuals from having a share. As a result, the few, blindly and perforce trusted entities define the prices and manage to [...] Read more.
Cloud computing offerings traditionally originate from a handful of large and well established providers, which monopolize the market, preventing small players and individuals from having a share. As a result, the few, blindly and perforce trusted entities define the prices and manage to gain a significant competitive advantage by exploiting the knowledge derived by users’ data and computations. To tackle this monopoly and empower the democratization and full decentralization of the cloud computing market, we present CloudAgora, a platform that enables any potential resource provider, ranging from individuals to large companies, to monetize idle resources competing on equal terms, and allows any cloud consumer to enjoy access to low-cost storage and computation without having to trust any central authority. The key enabler of the platform is Blockchain technology, which is used to record commitment policies through the use of smart contracts, publicly verify off-chain services, both storage and computation related, and trigger automatic micropayments. On one hand, cloud consumers have the chance to request storage or compute resources, upload data, and outsource task processing over remote, fully distributed infrastructures. Although such infrastructures cannot be a priori trusted, CloudAgora offers mechanisms to ensure the verifiable validity of the outsourced storage and computation, discourage potential providers from behaving maliciously, and incentivize participants to play fair. On the other hand, providers are able to participate in auctions, placing bids for storage or computation tasks, serve requests, and offer validity proofs upon request. Our prototype is built as a Dapp on top of Ethereum and is available as an open source project. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Blockchain-Based Systems)
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15 pages, 833 KiB  
Article
DeliveryCoin: An IDS and Blockchain-Based Delivery Framework for Drone-Delivered Services
by Mohamed Amine Ferrag and Leandros Maglaras
Computers 2019, 8(3), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers8030058 - 6 Aug 2019
Cited by 64 | Viewed by 9216
Abstract
In this paper, we propose an intrusion detection system (IDS) and Blockchain-based delivery framework, called DeliveryCoin, for drone-delivered services. The DeliveryCoin framework consists of four phases, including system initialization phase, creating the block, updating the blockchain, and intrusion detection phase. To achieve privacy-preservation, [...] Read more.
In this paper, we propose an intrusion detection system (IDS) and Blockchain-based delivery framework, called DeliveryCoin, for drone-delivered services. The DeliveryCoin framework consists of four phases, including system initialization phase, creating the block, updating the blockchain, and intrusion detection phase. To achieve privacy-preservation, the DeliveryCoin framework employs hash functions and short signatures without random oracles and the Strong Diffie–Hellman (SDH) assumption in bilinear groups. To achieve consensus inside the blockchain-based delivery platform, we introduce a UAV-aided forwarding mechanism, named pBFTF. We also propose an IDS system in each macro eNB (5G) for detecting self-driving network attacks as well as false transactions between self-driving nodes. Furthermore, extensive simulations are conducted, and results confirm the efficiency of our proposed DeliveryCoin framework in terms of latency of blockchain consensus and accuracy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Blockchain-Based Systems)
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Review

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17 pages, 1090 KiB  
Review
Blockchain Technology toward Creating a Smart Local Food Supply Chain
by Jovanka Damoska Sekuloska and Aleksandar Erceg
Computers 2022, 11(6), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers11060095 - 13 Jun 2022
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 6279
Abstract
The primary purpose of the supply chains is to ensure and secure the availability and smooth flow of the necessary resources for efficient production processes and consumption. Supply chain activities have been experiencing significant changes due to the importance and creation of the [...] Read more.
The primary purpose of the supply chains is to ensure and secure the availability and smooth flow of the necessary resources for efficient production processes and consumption. Supply chain activities have been experiencing significant changes due to the importance and creation of the integrated process. Blockchain is viewed as an innovative tool for transforming supply chain management’s (SCM’s) actual business model; on the other hand, the SCM provides an applicative value of blockchain technology. The research is focused on examining the influence of blockchain technology on the increasing efficiency, transparency, auditability, traceability, and security issues of the food supply chain (FSC), with particular attention to the local food supply chain (LFSC). The main objective of the research is to suggest the implementation of blockchain technology in the local food supply chain as a niche of the food industry. The result of the research is the identification of a three-layers model of a smart local food supply chain. The model provides efficient and more transparent tracking across the local food supply chain, improving food accessibility, traceability, and safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Blockchain-Based Systems)
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31 pages, 2116 KiB  
Review
A Critical Review of Blockchain Acceptance Models—Blockchain Technology Adoption Frameworks and Applications
by Hamed Taherdoost
Computers 2022, 11(2), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers11020024 - 8 Feb 2022
Cited by 73 | Viewed by 15726
Abstract
Blockchain is a promising breakthrough technology that is highly applicable in manifold sectors. The adoption of blockchain technology is accompanied by a range of issues and challenges that make its implementation complicated. To facilitate the successful implementation of blockchain technology, several blockchain adoption [...] Read more.
Blockchain is a promising breakthrough technology that is highly applicable in manifold sectors. The adoption of blockchain technology is accompanied by a range of issues and challenges that make its implementation complicated. To facilitate the successful implementation of blockchain technology, several blockchain adoption frameworks have been developed. However, selecting the appropriate framework based on the conformity of its features with the business sector may be challenging for decision-makers. This study aims to provide a systematic literature review to introduce the adoption frameworks that are most used to assess blockchain adoption and realize business sectors that these models have been applied. Thus, the blockchain adoption models in 56 articles are reviewed and the results of the studies are summarized by categorizing the articles into five main sections including supply chain, industries, financial sector, cryptocurrencies, and other articles (excluded from the former fields). The findings of the study show that the models based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), technology–organization–environment (TOE), and new conceptual frameworks were the focus of the majority of selected articles. Most of the articles have focused on blockchain adoption in different industry fields and supply chain areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Blockchain-Based Systems)
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17 pages, 666 KiB  
Review
The Use of Blockchain Technology in e-Government Services
by Ioannis Lykidis, George Drosatos and Konstantinos Rantos
Computers 2021, 10(12), 168; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers10120168 - 10 Dec 2021
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 11408
Abstract
e-Government services have evolved significantly over the last decade, from a paper-based bureaucratic procedure to digital services. Electronically processed transactions require limited physical interaction with the public administration, and provide reduced response times, increased transparency, confidentiality and integrity. Blockchain technology enhances many of [...] Read more.
e-Government services have evolved significantly over the last decade, from a paper-based bureaucratic procedure to digital services. Electronically processed transactions require limited physical interaction with the public administration, and provide reduced response times, increased transparency, confidentiality and integrity. Blockchain technology enhances many of the above properties as it facilitates immutability and transparency for the recorded transactions and can help establish trust among participants. In this paper, we conduct a literature review on the use of blockchain technology in e-government applications to identify e-government services that can benefit from the use of blockchains, types of technologies that are chosen for the proposed solutions, and their corresponding maturity levels. The aim is to demonstrate blockchain’s potential and contribution to the field, provide useful insights to governments who are considering investing in this innovative technology, and facilitate researchers in their future activities in blockchain-enabled e-government services. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Blockchain-Based Systems)
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