Exploiting blockchain for dependable services in zero-trust vehicular networks

Abstract

The sixth-generation (6G) wireless communication system is envisioned be cable of providing highly dependable services by integrating with native reliable and trustworthy functionalities. Zero-trust vehicular networks is one of the typical scenarios for 6G dependable services. Under the technical framework of vehicle-and-roadside collaboration, more and more on-board devices and roadside infrastructures will communicate for information exchange. The reliability and security of the vehicle-and-roadside collaboration will directly affect the transportation safety. Considering a zero-trust vehicular environment, to prevent malicious vehicles from uploading false or invalid information, we propose a malicious vehicle identity disclosure approach based on the Shamir secret sharing scheme. Meanwhile, a two-layer consortium blockchain architecture and smart contracts are designed to protect the identity and privacy of benign vehicles as well as the security of their private data. After that, in order to improve the efficiency of vehicle identity disclosure, we present an inspection policy based on zero-sum game theory and a roadside unit incentive mechanism jointly using contract theory and subjective logic model. We verify the performance of the entire zero-trust solution through extensive simulation experiments. On the premise of protecting the vehicle privacy, our solution is demonstrated to significantly improve the reliability and security of 6G vehicular networks.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

sixth-generation (6G) / zero-trust / block-chain / vehicular networks / privacy preservation

Min Hao is now a PhD student of networked control systems in Guangdong University of Technology, China. His research interests mainly focus on vehicular networks, wireless communications and networking

Beihai Tan received the PhD degree in Communication and Information System from South China University of Technology (SCUT), China, and the BS degree in Information and Computing Sciences from Taiyuan University of Technology (TUT), China in 2007 and 2002, respectively. Currently, He is an associate professor in the School of Integrated Circuits at Guangdong University of Technology (GDUT), China. Before joining in GDUT in August 2010, he was a Post-Doctor and associate research fellow in Electronic & Information Engineering at South China University of Technology (SCUT), China. His research interests include wireless networking and mobile computing

Siming Wang is now a PhD student of networked control systems in Guangdong University of Technology, China. His research interests mainly focus on vehicular networks, wireless communications and networking

Rong Yu received his BS degree in Communication Engineering from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China in 2002, and PhD degree in Electronic Engineering from Tsinghua University, China in 2007. After that, he was with the School of Electronic and Information Engineering, South China University of Technology, China. In 2010, he joined the School of Automation, Guangdong University of Technology, where he is currently a professor. His research interests include wireless networking and mobile computing, such as edge computing, deep learning, blockchain, connected vehicles, smart grids, and Internet of Things

Ryan Wen Liu received the BSc degree (Hons.) in Information and Computing Science from the Department of Mathematics, Wuhan University of Technology, China in 2009, and the PhD degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China in 2015. He is currently an Associate Professor with the School of Navigation, Wuhan University of Technology, China. He was a Visiting Scholar with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore. His research interests include machine learning, multi-source data fusion, and intelligent transportation systems

Lisu Yu received the BE degree from the School of Information Science and Technology, Mao Yisheng Honors College, Southwest Jiaotong University, China in 2014, and the PhD degree from the Key Laboratory of Information Coding and Transmission, Southwest Jiaotong University, China in 2019. He is currently a Distinguished Associate Professor at the School of Information Engineering, Nanchang University, China. His main research interests include advanced wireless communications, coded modulation, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported in part by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2020YFB1807802), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61971148, U22A2054).

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2024 Higher Education Press