Blockchain-Enabled Secure and Scalable SDN Control Architecture for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs)

Abstract

The next-generation Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are dependent on Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) because they allow real-time vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication. Nonetheless VANETs encounter very important issues of scalability, secure communications and on the fly monitoring of topology particularly at dense vehicle population. In this paper, a Blockchain-based Software-Defined Networking (SDN) control architecture is proposed to support deployment of VANETs in an urban as well as highway in the United States. The given framework uses SDN to divide the control and data planes so that the network could be controlled centrally and programmatically. At the same time, blockchain offers a decentralized system of trust which guarantees safe identity management, data integrity and security against the threats which could be represented by Sybil and replay attacks. Access privileges and policy enforced access occur through the use of smart contracts with On-Board Units (OBUs) and Roadside Units (RSUs). On simulation experiments using U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) mobility traces, performance improvements are significant at up to 35 percent handoff latency, 22 percent throughput, and 100 percent malicious identity injection detection. The findings confirm the feasibility of scalable, secure and intelligent vehicular networking of the present architecture, which would help realisation of resilient ITS infrastructure based on smart mobility efforts in the US.