Secure and Distributed IoV Data Sharing Scheme Based on a Hybrid PoS Blockchain Protocol

Internet of Vehicles (IoV) enables vehicles and other smart terminals to share data in order to improve traffic safety and efficiency. With the increase in data volume and data interaction frequency, the burden of the central server increases dramatically, and it is difficult for resource-limited vehicles to store and verify all messages in the untrusted environment as well. Therefore, a secure and distributed IoV data-sharing scheme needs to be constructed. This paper proposes a hybrid proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain consensus and constructs a secure and efficient distributed IoV data-sharing scheme based on it. In this scheme, participants can store and share data securely in a distributed way through blockchain. The hybrid PoS blockchain consensus, where block producers are chosen based on their own stakes, and multiple trusted managers supervise each other updating head blocks periodically, maintains a more secure blockchain as a consistent and tamper-proof record for data sharing, than some researches using existing consensus, as shown in the security analysis. Every entity can participate in the blockchain consensus equally, without consuming high computation power, which improves the distribution degree and achieves co-governance of the IoV system. The performance evaluation shows that referring to the Gini coefficient, our scheme achieves a higher degree of decentralization than other schemes with only RSUs participants. In this way, vehicles collaborating with roadside units, realize distributed storage and secure data sharing to whoever with their authorization.