Resource Sharing and Trading of Blockchain Radio Access Networks: Architecture and Prototype Design

Recently, blockchain radio access network (B-RAN) arises as an innovative paradigm for the sixth-generation (6G) wireless communications to build cooperative trust, aggregate wireless resources, and schedule inter- and intra-network tasks among independent network entities. It establishes an open platform based on blockchain to provide diverse wireless services and applications, such as radio access, Internet of Things (IoT), and mobile-edge computing, via trusted interactions with enhanced security and efficiency. As a distinctive feature, B-RAN enables secure and efficient resource sharing and trading by aggregating, pooling, and coordinating resources from multiple resource hosts and owners across subnetworks. Therefore, an implementable architecture along with various functional modules shall be delicately designed. This work aims to establish a unified architecture with enhanced efficiency, security, compatibility, and flexibility for resource sharing and trading in B-RAN. Specifically, we develop a six-layer architecture that incorporates a number of novel features, such as enhanced blockchain structures, secure interaction methods, efficient service mechanisms, and scalable transaction patterns. We design a number of pluggable functional modules in each layer to support diverse functions, services, and applications of resource sharing and trading. Finally, we implement a practical prototype based on the layered architecture for resource-limited devices. Multiple experiments are presented to verify the performance of the proposed architecture from different aspects.