Trusted, Decentralized and Blockchain-Based M2M Application Service Provision

Abstract

Decentralized M2M service platforms enable the integration of end-user-based M2M applications and end-user-located M2M resources without the use of central entities or components in the system architecture. Sharing end-user-based M2M applications with other users’ part of an M2M community allows the creation of new and complex M2M applications. However, a fully decentralized system often leads to several trust issues regarding the behavior of end-users and M2M applications. A powerful measure to overcome possible limitations of decentralized M2M service platforms and to replace the missing control authority are trust relationships among the nodes. Therefore, this publication proposes a novel concept for trusted M2M application service provision. Moreover, it introduces the integration of blockchain elements and trust evaluation techniques to optimize the M2M application service provision. A trust consensus protocol is integrated in order to secure the decision-making process among the stakeholders which optimizes several aspects, such as peer joining, service registration and application configuration.