A Distributed Ledger-Assisted Robust and Trusted Service Protocol for VANETs

The emergence of 5G/6G networks has sparked new potentials for Internet of Things (IoT) scenarios, such as vehicle ad hoc networks (VANETs), inspiring numerous scholars to leverage Blockchain-based Internet of Vehicles (BIoV) solutions to address prevailing issues in VANETs. However, the dynamic and decentralized nature of VANETs presents significant challenges in terms of security and privacy, hindering data providers from engaging in the data-sharing process. Furthermore, the reliability of edge nodes and system architecture in the BIoV paradigm faces several challenges, including limited consensus participation, high resource consumption, poor scalability, and centralization. To mitigate these challenges, we propose RTSP, a robust and trusted service protocol for VANETs, based on a distributed ledger technology. RTSP advocates a novel three-tier BIoV architecture suitable for any permissioned BIoV application scenario. To improve the quality of data sharing, we design a decentralized reputation mechanism. This mechanism mitigates the performance bottleneck induced by consensus transactions by measuring the historical behavior of roadside units (RSUs). Empirical evidence from simulation experiments and security performance analyses substantiates RTSP’s capabilities. It can hinder the number of faulty RSUs from increasing while simultaneously improving data-sharing efficiency, simplifying communication complexity, and enhancing system scalability and consensus stability.