Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Research Articles

An Elixir for Blockchain Scalability with Channel based Clustered Sharding

Blockchain refers to distributed ledger technology which stores records without the help of a central authority. Born with bitcoin, this brainstorming technology finds its applications in healthcare, land registry, education, pharmaceutical industry, digital records, manufacturing companies and so on. The properties of blockchain such as immutability, distributed nature, tamper-resistant made it a disruptive technology in many applications. The highlighting feature of this pioneering technology is the distributed storage of ledger on all the nodes of the network. This helps to achieve decentralization without the trust for third party. The transactions are proposed, executed, validated and are then added as blocks to the blockchain. The problems with all the blockchain framework is scalability with respect to storage space and throughput. Scalability is the most significant factor to be considered in this big data era. This article proposes a solution called Channel Based Clustered Sharding (CBCS) approach for Hyperledger fabric blockchain framework. In this work, a lookup table is maintained which helps in forwarding the transactions to the clustered shards for validation. The CBCS approach helps in parallel transaction processing which in turn improves scalability and throughput of the system. The performance of the proposed work is measured with the help of Hyperledger caliper, a benchmarking tool for the performance analysis of Hyperledger fabric. The results show that the performance of the proposed system is increased from 3000 tps to 30,000 tps.

A Redactable Blockchain Scheme Supporting Quantum-Resistance and Trapdoor Updates

Applying chameleon hash functions to redactable blockchains is still challenging work. Most redactable blockchain solutions using this technique have potential problems, such as too weak decentralization performance and trapdoors with exposure risks. In addition, quantum computing also threatens the security of blockchain systems. The above two issues imply that the development of redactable blockchains is still constrained, and that quantum-resistance will be requirements for blockchain applications. Therefore, we constructed a chameleon hash function over lattices while utilizing a hierarchical identity mechanism to manage trapdoors and assign edit permissions. This variant of the chameleon hash function can support trapdoor updates and quantum-resistant performance, namely a hierarchical identity-based chameleon hash with revocable subkey (HIBCH-RS). We demonstrated the safety performance of HIBCH-RS by defining its safety concepts of collision resistance. Our HIBCH-RS scheme provides a solution for implementing a redactable blockchain with identity encryption and post-quantum cryptography. Finally, this quantum-resistant redactable blockchain was implemented on the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain platform.

A Comprehensive Performance Analysis of a Hyperledger Fabric-powered Blockchain Network for Cross-Border Fund Transfers

Ample acceptance of Blockchain Technology in today's business world has increased number of use cases tremendously beyond cryptocurrencies for which it was originally developed. Hyperledger Fabric, as an enterprise-grade permissioned Blockchain platform, offers a secure and scalable infrastructure for diverse applications, including financial services. Since performance evaluation of the platform play major role in acceptability of the technology for various applications, in this research article we are presenting a comprehensive performance analysis of the Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain platform with the help of standard benchmarking tool-Hyperledger Caliper for Cross-Border Fund Transfer (CBFT) application and results are validated using existing queuing theory based theoretical model for Hyperledger Fabric. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the most popular Blockchain platform's performance under various workloads and network conditions. By capturing the interactions between network participants and consensus mechanisms, we have presented latency analysis along with the insights into the platform's scalability and efficiency. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of Blockchain technology and aids in the design of more efficient and robust Blockchain-based applications.

Securing Construction Workers’ Data Security and Privacy with Blockchain Technology

The construction industry, characterized by its intricate network of stakeholders and diverse workforce, grapples with the challenge of managing information effectively. This study delves into this issue, recognizing the universal importance of safeguarding data, particularly amid rising concerns around unauthorized access and breaches. Aiming to harness the potential of blockchain technology to address these challenges, this study used hypothetical biographical and safety data of construction workers securely stored on a Hyperledger Fabric blockchain. Developed within the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform, this blockchain infrastructure emerged as a robust solution for enhancing data security and privacy. Anchored in the core principles of data security, the model emerges as a potent defender against the vulnerabilities of traditional data management systems. Beyond its immediate implications, this study exemplifies the marriage of blockchain technology and the construction sector, and its potential for reshaping workforce management, especially in high-risk projects and optimizing risk assessment, resource allocation, and safety measures to mitigate work-related injuries. Practical validation through transaction testing using Hyperledger Explorer validates the model’s feasibility and operational effectiveness, thus serving as a blueprint for the industry’s data management. Ultimately, this research not only showcases the promise of blockchain technology in addressing construction data security challenges but also underscores its practical applicability through comprehensive testing, thus heralding a new era of data management that harmonizes security and efficiency for stakeholders’ benefit.

Secure Seaport Management System using Blockchain Technology

Worldwide, shipping documents are still primarily created and handled in the traditional paper manner. Processes taking place in shipping ports as a result are time-consuming and heavily dependent on paper. Shipping documents are particularly susceptible to paperwork fraud because they involve numerous parties with competing interests. With the aid of smart contracts, a distributed, shared, and append-only ledger provided by blockchain technology allows for the addition of new records. In order to increase maritime transport and port efficiency and promote economic development, this paper examines current maritime sector developments in Iraq and offers a paradigm to secure the management system based on a hyper-ledger fabric blockchain platform. The performance evaluation of the proposed system implies two scenarios: one organization and two organizations by examining throughput and latency. High transaction transmission rates on large block sizes produced positive results. Similarly, employing a small block size and higher send rates results in poor performance. Additionally, it was noted that throughput will decrease and latency will rise as the number of organizations increases. Block size and block timeouts should be high in applications with many concurrent transactions in order to maintain good throughput.

A Raspberry Pi based blockchain application on IoT security

Internet of Things (IoT) is a future generation of Internet infrastructure comprised of quick-witted things outfitted with programs and electric eyes or sensors that are engaged in an extent of industries such as media, robotics, government, healthcare, and most notably, education. It is composed of connected devices equipped with software and sensors that are able to communicate with each other and facilitate automated operations. This next generation of Internet infrastructure is set to bring about unprecedented levels of efficiency and convenience. In this day and age, these industries are utilizing Quick Response (QR) codes for daily transactions due to their straightforwardness and expediency. The utilization of this technology can be beneficial for students, as many people tend to overlook the importance of attendance in daily lives. Nevertheless, attendance is essential for both students and instructors, as it illustrates who is present in the classroom. The goal of this study is to gain or provide a systematized, reliable, and secure data interchange on IoT for education particularly for students. In the realm of computing, arm64 and amd64 are both examples of 64-bit processor architectures; arm64 is smaller and uses less energy, while amd64 is bigger and more powerful. Though they may differ in their designs and implementations, both processors can achieve the same results when used to develop an attendance system with blockchain technology. This study constitutes a straightforward and efficient system application for students that victoriously run proficiently with the constructive help of QR code, raspberry pi, and also the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain which can support to increase the security of the system. This study successfully builds a newly update Fabric 2.4.7 docker images and binaries for the arm64, modifies the HLF transaction and adds a Secure Hash Algorithm or the SHA256 generated by crypto from NodeJS of each transaction key and creates a QR code from it, includes a student transaction time for both attendance and registration.

Performance analysis of LogisticChain: A blockchain platform for maritime logistics

The application of blockchain and smart contracts has been widely acknowledged as essential in digitised logistics, offering improved traceability, transparency, and efficiency. However, concerns regarding performance and implementation limitations persist. To demonstrate the challenges regarding the performance and efficiency of blockchain in logistics use cases, this study presents a proof-of-concept model by leveraging the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain network to emulate the shipping logistics process and illustrate the automated and self-executing nature of smart contracts and transactions among various logistics participants by implementing RAFT consensus mechanism. Utilizing Hyperledger Caliper, this study evaluates the performance by systematically adjusting parameters including the number of clients, the number of concurrent transactions, and transaction rates per second. Then nuanced variations in latency, send rate, and throughput are examined. Preliminary findings indicate significant performance impacts related to client numbers and transaction rates per second. When exceeding the processing capacity, the average latency of transactions experiences an exponential increase due to limited resources. Furthermore, different types of operations are compared, with Read operations exhibiting the lowest latency and Update operations displaying the highest latency due to the complex computations and validations involved. Lastly, the latency measures of the LogisticChain network between fixed-rate and linear-rate controllers are compared, highlighting lower latency with fixed-rate controllers. This research contributes to the advancement of knowledge in this field by developing open-source codes specifically tailored for maritime logistics use cases.

Decentralized Multi-Layered Architecture to Strengthen the Security in the Internet of Things Environment Using Blockchain Technology

Smart devices are connected to IoT networks and the security risks are substantial. Using blockchain technology, which is decentralized and distributed, 5G-enabled IoT networks might be able to tackle security issues. In order to simplify the implementation and security of IoT networks, we propose a multi-level blockchain security model. As part of the multi-level architecture, the communication between levels is facilitated by clustering. IoT networks define unknown clusters with applications that utilize the evolutionary computation method coupled with anatomy simulation and genetic methodologies. Authentication and authorization are performed locally by the super node. The super node and relevant base stations can communicate using local private blockchain implementations. A blockchain improves security and enhances trustworthiness by providing network authentication and credibility assurance. The proposed model is developed using the open-source Hyperledger Fabric blockchain platform. Stations communicate securely using a global blockchain. Compared to the earlier reported clustering algorithms, simulations demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm. In comparison with the global blockchain, the lightweight blockchain is more suitable for balancing network throughput and latency.

Sağlık Hizmetindeki Robotlar İçin Blokzincir Destekli Görev Yönetimi: Webots Simülasyonu

In recent years, the adoption of robotic systems has witnessed remarkable growth across diverse industries, revolutionizing various aspects of automation and human-robot interaction. Healthcare is one of the major professions where replacement of human labor with well-functioning service robots would be heavily desired. Mobile service robots in a multi robot system can work collaborately and cooperatively to assist medical personnel by performing work routines as simple or complex tasks. As these robots carry out complex tasks, there arises a crucial need for secure, efficient, and immutable storage mechanisms to manage the vast amount of task-related information generated during their operation. In this study, we propose a simulation where a system of multiple TIAGo++ robots can request and complete simple tasks while using Hyperledger Fabric (HLF) blockchain platform to address the requirements of storing and accessing task information. Communication with the blockchain network and controlling it in Webots environment for a single TIAGo++ robot are integrated into same Java application in this simulation. Experimental results show that HLF and Webots can successfully run concurrently for task allocation and to store data acquired from mobile robots in a multi robot simulation.

A Blockchain-Powered Traffic Management System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The increasing popularity and usage of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has brought about new challenges in airspace management. With the number of drones expected to grow even further in the coming years, there is an urgent need for an autonomous traffic management system (TMS) that can safely and effectively manage drone traffic in the airspace. It is critical that this TMS be built with principles of the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) triad. In this paper, a traffic management system for UAVs is presented that takes advantage of a Hyperledger Fabric blockchain network. The TMS provides a decentralized and secure method to manage and deconflict drone flight paths, allowing for safe navigation in crowded airspaces. Through a series of simulated experiments, we demonstrated the system’s capabilities in handling path creation, multiple conflict resolutions, and large numbers of drones. Simulated tests showed that the proposed system was able to handle deconfliction of 1000 drones inside of a one square kilometer, and returned calculated paths for drones in 60 to 2000 ms with up to 100 deconflictions. The Hyperledger Fabric powered traffic management system showcased the potential to leverage permissioned blockchain technology in improving drone traffic management.

MedRSS: A blockchain-based scheme for secure storage and sharing of medical records

Due to the rapid advance of Healthcare Information Technology (HIT), the amount of medical data has increased dramatically and highly demands correct and secure storage and exchange. However, centralized medical record management systems suffer from privacy breaches, data manipulation, and insufficient shareability. In this article, we propose a blockchain-based solution for medical record data storage and sharing (MedRSS), where we apply Hyperledger fabric blockchain and encryption technology to create a secure environment for medical record data storage and sharing. Blockchain technology is used to ensure that medical records are proof of tampering, smart contracts are used to control access to data users, and cryptography is used to encrypt medical record data and digitalize sign messages. Experiments have shown that MedRSS ensures the accuracy, integrity, and security of medical records and high access throughput, outperforming existing approaches.

A Systematic Comparison between the Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Platforms for Attribute-Based Access Control in Smart Home IoT Environments.

Despite the lack of blockchain systems being utilized in modern IoT environments, the prevalence of blockchain technology is increasing, due to its high level of security and accountability. The integration of blockchain technology and access control in a decentralized system for smart home networks is a promising solution to this issue. This paper compares the implementation of attribute-based access control (ABAC) with two popular blockchain platforms, Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric, for a smart home internet of things (IoT) environment. We present a comprehensive summary of access-control and blockchain-access-control methods, to provide the necessary background for this study. Additionally, we present an original ABAC smart contract for Ethereum, and the modification of a pre-existing Hyperledger Fabric ABAC smart contract, for this comparison. Through the simulation of both implementations, the advantages and limitations will be considered, to determine which is better suited for a smart home IoT environment.

Hyperledger fabric platform for healthcare trust relations—Proof-of-Concept

In recent years, blockchain technologies have expanded from the finance field to other areas that rely on trust-based solutions. The healthcare industry represents one such area, as digital transformation disrupts relationships between patients, healthcare professionals, and healthcare institutes. Patients and healthcare institutes lack a proficient tool to verify the credentials of medical professionals in a digital environment. Furthermore, healthcare professionals lack a tool where they are in control over their credentials. The first contribution of this paper is a proposal of a solution that leverages the private permissioned Hyperledger Fabric blockchain and smart contracts to provide a source of transparent trust for relationships within the healthcare industry. Second, we pave the ground for GDPR compliance by storing only the hash values on the blockchain. Third, we solve the problem of patient authentication by utilizing cryptographic techniques. Finally, we prove the usability of the proposed solution by implementing a user interface and creating a live deployment.

Enhancing Healthcare Management during COVID-19: A Patient-Centric Architectural Framework Enabled by Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain

The highly transmissible COVID-19 virus has wreaked havoc on the global economy, health, and lives. The abrupt burst and exponential spread of this pandemic has shown the inadequacies of existing healthcare institutions in handling a public health emergency. As governments around the world strive to re-establish their economies, open workplaces, ensure safe journeys, and return to regular life, they require solutions to reduce losses. The proposed framework provides virtual assistance from various medical practitioners and physicians. Furthermore, it promotes the accuracy of information gathered from COVID-19 patients, which can aid in the launch of a variety of government decisions and public guidelines aimed at combating health exigencies. The authors present a revolutionary blockchain-based solution that builds trust between the medical professionals and patients while preventing accidental coronavisrus transmission. This solution also keeps track of COVID-19 patients and improves EHR management, which can be a viable solution for common EHR challenges such as lowering the risk of patient data loss, maintaining privacy and security, and obtaining immutable consensus on the maintenance of health records, gaps in hospital communication, and inefficient clinical data retrieval methods. This research work describes a COVID-19 patient-centric blockchain-based EHR employing JavaScript-based smart contracts for a decentralized healthcare management system. The proposed Hyperledger fabric and a Composer-based working prototype ensure the model’s security and the authenticity of the health records. The authors used the Hyperledger Caliper benchmarking tool, which measures latency, throughput, resource utilization, etc., under different conditions and control parameters. The findings highlight the importance of the proposed blockchain-enabled architecture in revolutionizing healthcare administration during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, promoting enhanced clinical outcomes and supporting patient-centered care.

Blockchain for Combating Pharmaceutical Drug Counterfeiting and Cold Chain Distribution

In recent years, pharmaceutical drug traceability systems have been developed as critical tools for improving the digital supply chain's transparency and visibility. Blockchain-based drug traceability proposes a promising solution to create a distributed shared data platform for an irreversible, trustworthy, reliable, and transparent system. This article provides a thorough analysis and summary of the current state of drug traceability distribution research on the blockchain platform by using Hyperledger febric and Hyperledger Besu methodologies. Blockchain based platform, Hyperledger Fabric and Besu meets essential needs for drug traceability such as privacy, dependability, transparency, security, authorization, authentication, and scalability. The Hyperledger Fabric blockchain platform executes drug transactions proficiently and securely in the supply chains within a distributed network of stakeholders. This fabric-enabled private, permissioned distributed network comprising various pharmaceutical stakeholder groups aids in the efficient and secure execution of medication in supply chain transactions. This study also examines the impact of blockchain technology in the healthcare system while exhibiting how some features of this disruptive technology have the potential to transform existing cold chain and drug traceability processes. Blockchain technology embraces significant benefits in the processes of pharmaceutical drug serialization, protecting IoT devices, and ensuring temper-proof transaction sharing. Blockchain is also a potential solution to make use of IoT-enabled vehicles and warehouses for cold chain transportation by using smart sensors to capture critical temperature data. Blockchain-enabled IoT sensors in the cold chain ensure the secure transportation of drugs to pharmaceutical stakeholders in the supply chain network.

A blockchain-enabled sharing platform for personal health records

BackgroundLongitudinal personal health record (PHR) provides a foundation for managing patients' health care, but we do not have such a system in the U.S. except for the patients in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Such a gap exists mainly in the rest of the U.S. by the fact that patients' electronic health records are scattered across multiple health care facilities and often not shared due to privacy, security, and business interests concerns from both patients and health care organizations. In addition, patients have ethical concerns related to consent. To patients, data security, privacy, and consent are based on trustfulness, rather than patients’ engagement in ensuring only authorized people can view their PHRs with patient-managed granularity. Resolving these challenges is an important step in making longitudinal PHR useful for patient care. ObjectiveThis research aims to design and implement a blockchain-enabled sharing platform prototype for PHR with desired patient-controlled data security, privacy, and consent granularity. MethodsBuilt upon our prior work of a blockchain-enabled access control (BAC) model, we design a blockchain-enabled sharing platform for PHR with patient-controlled security, privacy, and consent granularity. We further implement the construct by building a prototypical platform among a patient and two typical health care organizations. Health organizations that hold the patient's electronic health records can join the platform with trust based on the validation from the patient. The mutual trust can be established through a rigorous validation process by both the patient and the built-in Hyperledger Fabric blockchain consensus mechanism. ResultsWe proposed a system trusted by patients and health care providers and constructed a Web-based PHR sharing platform with patient-controlled security, privacy, and consent granularity. We analyzed the system scalability in three aspects and showed millisecond range of performance when simultaneously changing access permissions on hundreds of PHRs. Consent, security and privacy of the model are ensured by the merits of the BAC model. We discovered the current blockchain model limits the system scalability due to using a non-graphical database. A new graphical database is suggested for future improvements. ConclusionsIn this research, we report a solution to electronically sharing and managing patients’ electronic health records originating from multiple organizations, focusing on privacy, security, and granularity control of consent in the U.S. Specifically, the system protects data security and privacy, and provides auditability, scalability, distributedness, patient consent autonomy, and zero-trust capabilities. The prototypical instantiation of the designed model suggested the feasibility of combining emerging blockchain technology with next generation access control model to tackle a longstanding longitudinal PHR problem.

A Decentralized and Automated Contracting System Using a Blockchain-Enabled Network of Stakeholders in Construction Megaprojects

With recent advances in information and communication technologies, trust and collaboration have become imperative in the construction industry. The increasing exchange of digital information and assets without much regard to contractual requirements has resulted in various data corruption, privacy, and security issues escalating to claims and disputes. Hence, there is a need to institute reforms in the existing contracting system to achieve a more efficient, collaborative, and transparent system. However, little research has investigated the digitalization of the contracting process, which continues to be traditional. This study is one of the first to develop a digital and automated contract management system leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts. Design science research methodology was adopted for the research work. The proposed system aims to achieve the following: (1) a decentralized permissioned network of stakeholders with well-defined roles and approval workflow, (2) automated contract execution based on predefined conditions using smart contracts, and (3) transaction history integrity with time stamps via a blockchain-based secured data structure. To exemplify these points, a use case is presented for implementing blockchain-based contract management in a construction megaproject. A conceptual model was developed illustrating the decentralized network of the key project stakeholders based in a Hyperledger Fabric blockchain environment. The roles and access controls of the stakeholders within the network are defined using the responsibility assignment [responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed (RACI) matrix]. A computable and automated smart contract clause is formulated for the price variation clause used in construction contracts. A prototype of the proposed system was developed and demonstrated to industry experts for evaluation and validation. Positive feedback from the experts concerning the system characteristics and user-friendliness of the prototype showed that it possesses the potential to improve trust and transparency in the existing system. Whereas the decentralized stakeholder network would add trust and accountability to the system, the underlying blockchain data structure would enhance security and traceability by providing an immutable and real-time record of the transactions. The study provides a workable solution that serves as a valuable reference for future research in the field of contract management across multiple sectors. Although the system is shown to be applicable and feasible in this study, it may not be economically viable. It could be optimized in the future through cost–benefit analysis for different projects.

Performance Evaluation of a Multi Organizations Secure Internet of Vehicles Based on Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Platform

Performance Evaluation of a Multi Organizations Secure Internet of Vehicles Based on Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Platform

Performance Evaluation of Multi-Organization E-Government Based on Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Platform

Performance Evaluation of Multi-Organization E-Government Based on Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Platform

Implementing GDPR-Compliant Surveys Using Blockchain

The immutability of data stored in a blockchain is a crucial pillar of trust in this technology, which has led to its increasing adoption in various use cases. However, there are situations where the inability to change or delete data may be illegal. European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—applying to any company processing personal data from European citizens—explicitly entitles individuals to the right to rectification and the right to be forgotten. In this paper, we describe the design of a system to deploy and process survey data in a GDPR-compliant manner. It combines an Hyperledger Fabric blockchain to ensure that data cannot be tampered with and InterPlanetary File Systems (IPFS) for storage. With the proposed arrangement, we reap several security benefits enabled by blockchain’s immutability without running afoul of the regulations. Furthermore, the proof-of-concept is generic and can easily be adapted to various domains.