A blockchain-based industrial internet of things cross-domain trust management method

Abstract

The application belongs to the field of industrial internet of things, and particularly relates to a cross-domain trust management method for industrial internet of things based on block chain. The basic idea is that: assuming that device A in domain 1 needs to query the trust ticket of device B in domain 2, device A in domain 1 sends the trust ticket query request for device B in domain 2 to the trust management center through the user module, the trust management center starts the trust ticket generator to generate the current trust ticket for device B after receiving the request, and sends the generated trust ticket to the consensus engine, and uses the trust-enhanced practical Byzantine fault tolerance consensus protocol designed by us to perform consensus verification, and finally, the trust ticket query result is sent to device A. The application establishes the trust relationship between the devices in different domains through the trust ticket, and effectively solves the cross-domain trust management problem of industrial internet of things. In addition, a plurality of sub-block chains are introduced to manage the trust, which not only improves the throughput, but also greatly reduces the delay of consensus verification.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), specifically involving a blockchain-based cross-domain trust management method for IIoT. The basic idea is as follows: A trust ticket query request from an IIoT device in one domain to an IIoT device in another domain is sent to the trust management center through a user module. Upon receiving the request, the trust management center first activates the trust ticket generator in the sub-blockchain corresponding to the domain of the queried device and calls its embedded smart contract TTG (Trust Ticket Generation) to extract the trust information of the queried device from the database of that blockchain. Then, it uses the trust evaluation mechanism of the requesting device's domain to generate a current trust ticket for the queried device. Simultaneously, the generated trust ticket is sent to the consensus engine of the sub-blockchain corresponding to the domain of the queried device. The consensus engine uses our designed Enhanced-Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerant (E-PBFT) consensus protocol to verify the ticket. Finally, the trust management center sends the verified trust ticket as the trust ticket query result to the requesting device. This invention establishes trust relationships between IIoT devices in different domains through trust tickets, effectively solving the cross-domain trust management problem in the Industrial Internet of Things. Furthermore, introducing multiple blockchains to manage trust not only improves throughput but also significantly reduces consensus verification latency. This invention has a degree of scalability and can be well applied to large-scale industrial IoT scenarios. Background Technology

[0002] The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) deploys IIoT devices (sensors, controllers, actuators, etc.) into networks and integrates technologies such as mobile communication and intelligent analytics into industrial production processes to reduce management costs and improve production efficiency. As production processes become increasingly complex, a complete production step typically requires collaboration across multiple domains (e.g., factories). IIoT devices located in different domains need to interact to achieve data sharing and exchange during the production process. However, these IIoT devices come from different domains and do not trust each other. Therefore, for security reasons, some IIoT devices are unwilling to participate in data sharing. To address this issue, existing methods involve establishing trust relationships between different devices.

[0003] Traditional trust management methods fall into two categories: centralized and distributed. The centralized approach manages the entire IIoT network through a single trust entity, typically a third-party institution trusted by all domains. The distributed approach requires each IIoT device to calculate the trust of other devices. Centralized trust management suffers from single points of failure and performance bottlenecks, while distributed trust management suffers from unreliable trust information and inconsistent trust views across nodes. In recent years, blockchain technology has been widely applied across various fields due to its immutability, decentralization, and anonymity. Some scholars have proposed blockchain-based distributed trust management methods to ensure the consistency of trust views and the reliability of trust information for each device. However, IIoT devices have limited storage and computing resources. Existing blockchain-based management methods are based on a single-chain architecture, leading to high storage overhead, low throughput, high transaction latency, and low consensus efficiency, failing to meet the practical application needs of large-scale industrial IoT. Furthermore, existing trust management methods ignore the heterogeneity of trust evaluation mechanisms across different domains. Therefore, a new solution is urgently needed. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention proposes a blockchain-based cross-domain trust management method for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), addressing the challenge of establishing trust between IIoT devices from different management domains. This method considers the overhead of trust establishment and the heterogeneity of trust evaluation methods used in different domains, deploying multiple sub-blockchains at the trust management center.

[0005] This method first assumes that there are n domains (domain 1, domain 2, domain 3, ..., domain n) in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) system. The device initiating the trust ticket query request is IIoT device A in domain 1, which needs to query the trust ticket of IIoT device B in domain 2. The basic idea is as follows: IIoT device A in domain 1 sends its trust ticket query request for IIoT device B in domain 2 to the trust management center through the user module. Upon receiving the request, the trust management center starts the trust ticket generator in the sub-blockchain 2 corresponding to domain 2 and calls its embedded smart contract TTG (Trust Ticket Generation) to extract the trust information of IIoT device B from the database in sub-blockchain 2. Then, it uses the trust evaluation mechanism of domain 1 to generate a current trust ticket for IIoT device B and sends the generated trust ticket to the consensus engine of sub-blockchain 2. The consensus engine uses our designed Trust Enhanced-Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerant (E-PBFT) consensus protocol to verify the ticket. Finally, the trust management center sends the verified trust ticket as the trust ticket query result to IIoT device A, which initiated the query request. This invention enables the establishment of trust relationships between IIoT devices in different domains. Furthermore, different trust evaluation methods can be used to calculate the trust value of devices during the generation of trust tickets, effectively solving the heterogeneity problem of trust evaluation methods across different domains. In addition, by deploying a sub-blockchain for each domain, trust information of IIoT devices in different domains is effectively isolated. Since these sub-blockchains are independent and generate trust tickets for IIoT devices within their respective domains in parallel, throughput is significantly improved, and consensus verification latency is reduced.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0007] In its specific implementation, this invention includes: a functional module deployment phase; a trust ticket query request sending phase; a trust ticket generation phase; a trust ticket consensus verification phase; and a trust ticket query result return phase, such as... Figure 1 As shown, firstly, several user modules are deployed in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) cross-domain trust management system, with one user-end module deployed for each IIoT device in each domain; then, a trust management center is deployed. Multiple sub-blockchains are deployed in the trust management center, each corresponding to one domain. Each sub-blockchain then deploys a trust ticket generator, a database storing IIoT device trust information, and a consensus engine module. Each trust ticket generator embeds a TTG (Trust TicketGeneration) smart contract to generate trust tickets. Figure 2As shown in the diagram, suppose the device initiating the trust ticket query request is IIoT device A in domain 1, which needs to query the trust ticket of IIoT device B in domain 2. IIoT device A in domain 1 will send the trust ticket query request for IIoT device B in domain 2 to the trust management center through the user module. After receiving the request, the trust management center will activate the trust ticket generator in sub-blockchain 2 corresponding to IIoT device B in domain 2 and call its embedded smart contract TTG (Trust Ticket Generation). TTG will extract the trust information of IIoT device B from the database in sub-blockchain 2, and then use the trust evaluation mechanism of domain 1 to generate the current trust ticket for IIoT device B. Simultaneously, the generated trust ticket will be sent to the consensus engine of sub-blockchain 2. The consensus engine will use our designed Enhanced-Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerant (E-PBFT) consensus protocol to verify the ticket. After successful consensus verification, the trust management center will send the verified trust ticket as the trust ticket query result to IIoT device A in domain 1.

[0008] The blockchain-based cross-domain trust management method for industrial IoT proposed in this invention has the following advantages and technical effects compared with existing technologies:

[0009] This method utilizes multiple sub-blockchains to store and process transactions within a domain, effectively isolating trust information from IIoT devices in different domains. These multiple sub-blockchains operate independently, concurrently calling smart contracts to generate trust tickets for IIoT devices in different domains, significantly improving throughput and reducing consensus verification latency. Therefore, compared to the current single-chain structure, the multi-sub-blockchain architecture is more scalable and suitable for large-scale industrial IoT scenarios.

[0010] This method takes into account the heterogeneity of trust evaluation methods in different domains, and can flexibly select different trust evaluation mechanisms during the generation of trust tickets. In addition, the method of generating and verifying trust tickets by calling smart contracts and consensus engines also ensures the immutability and traceability of trust ticket calculation.

[0011] This method uses our designed Enhanced-Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerant (E-PBFT) consensus protocol to verify trusted documents. Compared to the traditional Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerant (PBFT) protocol, only IIoT devices with trust levels of High and Medium can participate in the E-PBFT consensus verification process. Therefore, the E-PBFT consensus protocol reduces the number of consensus nodes, effectively avoiding security threats caused by untrusted nodes, while improving the consensus efficiency of the blockchain. Attached Figure Description

[0012] Figure 1 Key stages of the specific implementation process

[0013] Figure 2 Functional modules of the specific implementation process

[0014] Figure 3 Trust Note Diagram Detailed Implementation

[0015] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments:

[0016] Key stages of the specific implementation process, such as Figure 1 The functional modules of the specific implementation process are as follows: Figure 2 As shown, it has the following characteristics:

[0017] The entire Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) cross-domain trust management system includes: user-end module; trust management center; sub-blockchain; domain; IIoT devices; trust ticket query request; IIoT device trust information; trust ticket;

[0018] In its specific implementation, this invention includes: a functional module deployment phase; a trust ticket query request sending phase; a trust ticket generation phase; a trust ticket consensus verification phase; and a trust ticket query result return phase.

[0019] Functional module deployment phase:

[0020] First, several user modules are deployed in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) cross-domain trust management system, with one user-end module deployed for each IIoT device in each domain. Then, a trust management center is deployed. Multiple sub-blockchains are deployed in the trust management center, each corresponding to one domain. Each sub-blockchain deploys a trust ticket generator, a database storing IIoT device trust information, and a consensus engine module. Each trust ticket generator embeds a TTG (Trust Ticket Generation) smart contract to generate trust tickets.

[0021] The stage of sending a trust ticket query request:

[0022] Assuming an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) system contains n domains (domain 1, domain 2, domain 3, ..., domain n), the device initiating the trust ticket query request is IIoT device A in domain 1, which needs to query the trust ticket of IIoT device B in domain 2. IIoT device A in domain 1 will send the trust ticket query request for IIoT device B in domain 2 to the trust management center through the user module.

[0023] Trust note generation stage:

[0024] Upon receiving the request, the Trust Management Center first activates the Trust Ticket Generator in sub-blockchain 2 corresponding to IIoT device B in domain 2 and calls its embedded smart contract TTG (Trust Ticket Generation). It then extracts the trust information of IIoT device B from the database in sub-blockchain 2 and uses the trust evaluation mechanism of domain 1 to generate the current trust ticket for IIoT device B. The structure of the trust ticket is as follows: Figure 3 As shown, Trust Note TTick B Including ticket number N B Identity ID B The public key PK of IIoT device B B Credibility level CL B and validity period t B The credibility level is calculated as follows:

[0025]

[0026] Wherein: T B It is the trust value of IIoT device B calculated by the trust ticket generator calling its embedded smart contract TTG and using the trust evaluation mechanism of domain 1.

[0027] Trusted Bill Consensus Verification Phase:

[0028] After the trust ticket generator generates a trust ticket for IIoT device B, the generated trust ticket is verified through consensus by the consensus engine in sub-blockchain 2. To enhance the security of the consensus protocol, this invention designs an enhanced-practical-Byzantine-fault-tolerant consensus protocol, E-PBFT, based on the traditional practical Byzantine-fault-tolerant (PBFT) consensus protocol. Its consensus steps include consensus node selection, block packaging, and consensus negotiation. In the consensus node selection step, the E-PBFT consensus protocol selects one device as the master node from IIoT devices with a trust level of High, and selects another device as the master node from IIoT devices with trust levels of High and Medium. One device is a verification node, and the remaining nodes are ordinary nodes, where n is the total number of nodes in a sub-blockchain. (IIoT devices) The probability of being selected as a master node / verifier node is:

[0029]

[0030] in It is an IIoT device As recently The number of times a node becomes a master node / verifier within a given time period. It's recently The total number of consensus attempts within a given time period. In the block packaging step, the master node is responsible for packaging the trust tickets requiring verification into a block and sending it to the validator nodes via network broadcast. In the consensus negotiation step, the validator nodes are responsible for verifying and synchronizing the blocks. When each validator node receives at least... If different verification nodes send the same verification message, it means that the block has passed verification.

[0031] Return to Trust Ticket Query Results Stage:

[0032] After consensus verification is successful, the Trust Management Center will send the verified trust ticket as the trust ticket query result to IIoT device A in Domain 1.

[0033] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the technical solutions described in the present invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions can still be made to the present invention. All technical solutions and improvements that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention should be covered within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A blockchain-based cross-domain trust management method for the Industrial Internet of Things, characterized in that... Includes the following steps: Functional module deployment phase: In the cross-domain trust management system for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), several user modules are deployed, with one user-end module deployed for each IIoT device in each domain, and a trust management center is deployed. Multiple sub-blockchains are deployed in the trust management center, with each sub-blockchain corresponding to one domain. Each sub-blockchain deploys a trust ticket generator, a database for storing trust information of IIoT devices, and a consensus engine module. Each trust ticket generator embeds a trust ticket generation smart contract (TTG) to generate trust tickets. The stage of sending a trust ticket query request: The device initiating the trust ticket query request is IIoT device A in domain 1. This device needs to query the trust ticket of IIoT device B in domain 2. IIoT device A in domain 1 will send the trust ticket query request for IIoT device B in domain 2 to the trust management center through the user module. Trust note generation stage: Upon receiving the request, the Trust Management Center first activates the Trust Ticket Generator in sub-blockchain 2 corresponding to IIoT device B in domain 2 and calls its embedded smart contract TTG. It then extracts the trust information of IIoT device B from the database in sub-blockchain 2 and uses the trust assessment mechanism of domain 1 to generate the current trust ticket TTick for IIoT device B. B The structure includes the ticket number N B Identity ID B The public key PK of IIoT device B B Credibility level CL B and validity period t B ; Trusted Bill Consensus Verification Phase: After the trust ticket generator generates a trust ticket for IIoT device B, the generated trust ticket is verified through the consensus engine in sub-blockchain 2. The consensus engine employs the Trust Enhanced Practical Byzantine Fault-Tolerant (E-PBFT) consensus protocol. The E-PBFT consensus steps include: selecting a master node from IIoT devices with a trust level of High, and selecting... One device is a verification node, and the remaining nodes are ordinary nodes, where n is the total number of nodes in a sub-blockchain, and the IIoT devices are... The probability of being selected as a master node / verifier node is: in It is an IIoT device As recently The number of times a node becomes a master node / verifier within a given time period. It's recently The total number of consensus attempts over a given time period is as follows: In the block packaging step, the master node is responsible for packaging the trust tickets requiring verification into a block and sending it to the validator nodes via network broadcast. In the consensus negotiation step, the validator nodes are responsible for verifying and synchronizing the blocks. This process occurs when each validator node receives at least [a certain number of] consensus requests. If different verification nodes send the same verification message, it means that the block has passed verification. Return to Trust Ticket Query Results Stage: After consensus verification is successful, the Trust Management Center will send the verified trust ticket as the trust ticket query result to IIoT device A in Domain 1.

2. The blockchain-based cross-domain trust management method for industrial IoT as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The trust management center of this method includes multiple blockchains; each blockchain corresponds to a domain, and the different blockchains are independent of each other. They can call smart contracts and consensus engines in parallel to generate and verify trust tickets for IIoT devices in different domains, and can select different trust evaluation mechanisms during the generation of trust tickets.

3. The blockchain-based cross-domain trust management method for industrial IoT as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The formula for calculating the credibility level of a trust document is as follows: Wherein: T B It is the trust value of IIoT device B calculated by the trust ticket generator calling its embedded smart contract TTG and using the trust evaluation mechanism of domain 1.

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