Performance evaluation of Hyperledger Fabric-enabled framework for pervasive peer-to-peer energy trading in smart Cyber–Physical Systems

Abstract

The in-depth collaboration of Cyber–Physical Systems (CPSs) and smart grids constitute the novel paradigm of distributed energy trading, in which computation and process control are managed in an adaptive Peer-to-Peer (P2P) manner. To further strengthen this collaboration, Hyperledger Fabric (HF) can be prominently considered as a mean to implement next-generation secure and intelligent communication. However, implementing real-world applications on this platform may concern performance issues. For the constructive exploration of these issues, initially, we design a novel P2P energy trading framework for improving resource utilization and consequently addressing the impending electricity crisis challenge. Thenceforward, we evaluate the results based on the different system operational parameters for establishing a proof-of-concept. For determining performance bottlenecks and best-configuration, these results are investigated independently by using the Nectar Research Cloud, thereby sustaining scalability. The proposed evaluation approach will largely contribute to determining the system operational-level parameters of enterprise applications that will utilize the HF platform as their communication tool-support. In addition, a benchmark is presented based on the Hyperledger Caliper tool to facilitate application designers and developers in the form of selecting an appropriate implementation model across the two latest stable HF model versions. The illustrative CPS-enabled energy trading scenario corroborates the feasibility of the proposed framework to foster the development of HF-assisted smart P2P energy trading mechanisms.