Abstract
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are widely used in blockchain to represent unique and non-interchangeable assets. Current NFTs allow representing assets by a unique identifier, as a possession of an owner. The novelty introduced in this paper is the proposal of smart NFTs to represent IoT devices, which are physical smart assets. Hence, they are also identified as the utility of a user, they have a blockchain account (BCA) address to participate actively in the blockchain transactions, they can establish secure communication channels with owners and users, and they operate dynamically with several modes associated with their token states. A smart NFT is physically bound to its IoT device thanks to the use of a physical unclonable function (PUF) that allows recovering its private key and, then, its BCA address. The link between tokens and devices is difficult to break and can be traced during their lifetime, because devices execute a secure boot and carry out mutual authentication processes with new owners and users that could add new software. Hence, devices prove their trusted hardware and software. A whole demonstration of the proposal developed with ESP32-based IoT devices and Ethereum blockchain is presented, using the SRAM of the ESP32 microcontroller as the PUF.
Highlights
The Internet of things (IoT) is the paradigm where anything can be interconnected through the Internet with the capability of interacting, collecting, processing, and sharing data in a smart way
That work included, as a new attribute in ERC-721 non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the blockchain account (BCA) address associated with the user of the IoT device, such that the ownership and the use of the device can be traced by the blockchain with the same token
The solution proposed in this work guarantees the trustworthiness of the hardware and software of IoT devices from manufacturing until end-user application
Summary
The Internet of things (IoT) is the paradigm where anything (devices, objects, subjects, etc.) can be interconnected through the Internet with the capability of interacting, collecting, processing, and sharing data in a smart way. That work included, as a new attribute in ERC-721 NFTs, the blockchain account (BCA) address associated with the user of the IoT device, such that the ownership and the use of the device can be traced by the blockchain with the same token. That work did not allow detecting if the device is not operating correctly, if the link between the device and the NFT is broken, or if the engagement with owner and user is lost at some time To avoid these security flaws, this paper introduces a new NFT, named smart NFT, which strengthens the link between the IoT device and the NFT used to represent it. The proposal of smart NFTs to represent IoT devices that can participate actively in the blockchain by its BCA (to receive and provide information, and to sign transactions) and that can operate in several modes.
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