In the last years the automotive sectors are afected by the efect of the innovation digital technologies in several vertical applications. In this ecosystem, the automotive sector is also impacted by the adaption of innovative technologies as blockchain and IoTA as decentralized network systems. In the first part of the paper the authors provide a first analysis of the two systems. In the second, a comparison analysis is presented and commented. tions, e.g. micropayments and more. The authors present the overview of the blockchain In the last years the digital technologies have been and IoTA systems in the context of the “Blockchain the center of the innovation in diferent sectors, as and IoT Lab”, a joint research laboratory between The health [1, 2], automotive [3], space [4] or energy [5, 6, University of Rome Tor Vergata and EY Italy Spa. 7]. To provide connectivity to persons and to smart ob- The Section 2 the application of the blockchain sysjects worldwide, some telecommunication architectu- tem in the automotive sector. In the section 3 the smart res have been proposed in the literature, including fixed contract are described. In the Section 4 the IoTA sysaccess, 5G and ultra-dense wireless networks and satel- tem and its application to the automotive sector are delite [8], including the IoT communication technologies scribed. The Section 5 provides a comparison analysis as wireless sensor networks and Bluetooth [9, 10, 11, of the blockchain and IoTA systems. In the Section 6 12]. In this ecosystem, the blockchain systems have the main conclusions are summarized. gained the interest of the scientific communities since they are able to managed the data in a secure way and anti-tampered way [13]. This happens thanks to the 2. Blockchain System for adoption of a decentralized network topology, asym- Automotive metric cryptography schemes and digital signature techniques. In the case of automotive sector, the possibil- The new mobility models that are being studied and ity to connect the on-board sensors and the Electronic implemented involve an increasing use of data and inControl Unit (ECU) is very important in order to col- formation, leading these systems, which can be delect data with high levels of integrity. ifned as smart, to become increasingly complex and The Tangle is the technology heart of the IOTA, a critical. The automotive sector, such as construction, permissionless, feeless and multi-dimensional distribu- insurance and entertainment, has realized that, by now, ted ledger [14]. the concept of ownership has become completely “liqThe IoTA system is based on the Tangle. It is a tech- uid” and there is no longer interest in the product “car” nology that enables Internet of Things (IoT) innova- but in the mobility service. However, this new paradigm tion through innovative machine-to-machine applica- implicitly provides some problems:
© 2020 Copyright for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative CPWrEooUrckReshdoinpgs IhStpN:/c1e6u1r3-w-0s.o7r3g CCoEmUmoRns WLiceonrsekAsthtriobuptioPnr4o.0cIneteerdnaitniognasl ((CCC EBYU4R.0)-.WS.org) • Electronics already for several years, take control in the car system. Each car, even in the cheapest models, provides an on-board computer that constantly monitors the "health status" of the vehicle, in the most advanced models this becomes a collector for all the latest safety sensors and must be sure that everything is working
tingham, Ningbo in collaboration with China’s iCarForce is developing a smart contract-based (automated software contracts installed on blockchain) insurance system that involves the use of sensors on board the car and a driver’s remuneration system based on its driving mode, a dynamic pricing that does not remain constant but which can decrease and increase depending on the use that is actually made of the car [1].
Instead, there are many proposals for a blockchainifne; based supply chain management system, a unique system that certifies, mathematically, all transactions in • The software, therefore, that manages the elec- the supply chain, from receiving demand, to taking tronics described above, must be updated con- charge from the warehouse, following all logistical transstantly paying attention to bugs that could un- actions up to receiving and installing, ensuring the cusdermine the operation of the car itself, especially tomer that the work is done well. The same approach in critical functions such as safety. One of the is given to raw material, this ensure that all the supply issues experiencing now is managing software chain from mine to factory is guaranteed and traceupdates, knowing which release is installed on able, BMW is creating a blockchain-based platform to a specific car can be a problem; do so. • If the new paradigm does not involve the pur- A team from Cornell University research into the chase of the car, the manufacturers will have all topic of software update and release monitoring, proposthe interest to keep the vehicle in the best possi- ing a blockchain-based system that would ensure the ble way to ensure that it still has market finished traceability of software releases on individual vehicles, the rental ofer. Thanks to connection services their updating and the security of an immutable systhe car company constantly monitors the status tem that therefore would not allow attackers to operof the car remotely and optimizes maintenance. ate vehicle compromise activities.
However, the customer is still not in any way Blockchain can also resolve the problem of payment guaranteed that maintenance is done properly in e-charging stations using traceable transaction in a and with quality parts, unless personally check- unique platform that give the customer the freedom of ing the installed parts; payment old fuel stations give [3].
However, the typical features of blockchain do not • Data collected remotely on cars many times is guarantee useful transaction recording times for IoT redundant and falsified; applications, such as the connected cars we’ve talked about so far. For this reason, another type of DLT has • The e-station for charging vehicles are operated developed over time that still guarantees the characby diferent providers means diferent account teristics of the blockchain but adds in its favor rapid to recharge the car. exchanges of transactions even on high volumes, the TANGLE.
DLT and specifically blockchain fit comfortably into this system becoming an essential tool for this constantly and rapidly evolving industry. In fact, the block- 3. Design of Blockchain Smart chain ensures that the data entered in the ledger, the main transaction’s database is, as well as safe and trace- Contract able, also immutable, ensuring that critical transactions such as those of software installation on the car or the tracking of certified spare parts or the management of litigation by accident are managed, tracked and archived in a simple and searchable way. Each transaction to be modified requires confirmation of more than half of the participants in the blockchain itself, making it perfectly transparent to change attacks.
los and Gavin Wood, “smart contracts are immutable computer programs that run deterministically in the context of an Ethereum Virtual Machine as part of the Ethereum network protocol. The word contract has no legal meaning because the contracts are so defined only because they can control valuable things like ETH or other digital assets. Are immutable because once 4. IOTA for Automotive written and implemented, the smart contract cannot 4.1. Description of IOTA System be modified and requires another smart contract to modify its system logic. Runs deterministically be- IOTA was founded in 2015 by David Sønstebø, Sergey cause implements a series of if-than-else that allow Ivancheglo, Dominik Schiener, and Dr. Serguei Popov. it to function in a deterministic way upon the occur- IOTA refers to the ecosystem which has two main comrence of a specific event. Smart contracts are used ponents: whenever there is a need to automate transactions that require unnecessary human intervention for example • The Tangle represents the architecture of the disare heavily used in logistics. We can summarize the tributed ledger, strengths and drastic changes that the use of this tech- • IOTA cryptocurrency. nology will bring:
Smart contracts can be used in diferent ways and The project was born specifically to create a DLT diferent fields: trade finance, property ownership, in- that could play the role of backbone for data from the surance, peer to peer transaction and a lot others, chan- Internet of Things (IoT) world. ging deeply the concept of transaction. Experts estimate that by 2020 30 billion IoT devices will be active, distributed in every imaginable area.
The problems arising from the need to manage the large amount of data generated by IoT devices could be solved by DLT technologies. In this scenario IOTA is one of the projects that aims to made this come true.
One of the principal goals of IOTA is the Machine-toMachine (M2M) Payments, which consists of an economy managed entirely autonomously by machines. To achieve success some limits ofered by the classic block- Figure 5: Iota transactions. chain architectures have been overcome: several innovations were introduced, and several changes were made to the algorithms normally used in previous DLTs. faster the consent mechanism and the transaction con
The Tangle is a data structure created by IOTA as a firmation is put in place [15]. basis for cryptocurrency. A tangle is a special type of distributed ledger architecture based on a direct acyclic 4.2. Transactions in IOTA graph (DAG). A DAG is a graph in which each node is connected to other nodes via direct connections and The transaction is the basic data structure of any DLT, there are no cycles. In a tangle there is no concept of it describes the transfer of tokens from one address to blocking, of chains or of mining. In order to be able another. Transactions are logged in the DLT database to execute a transaction, each user must first validate and are visible in plaintext within the log. two other transactions, efectively becoming a miner. To create a new transaction on the network, a node
The imposed rule serves to ensure the functioning does the following steps: of the network, since there is no incentive mechanism that remunerates the miners to approve the transac- • prepare the transaction tions. • select two more transactions
Unlike blockchain technologies, IOTA does not create a sequence of synchronized static blocks (each con- • sign the transaction taining a number of transactions) but a single transaction can be associated with itself and in parallel with • calculate Proof of Work other transactions. • transmit across the network.
The IOTA system makes each node part of the validation process, efectively eliminating any scalability When a user tries to execute a transaction, the translimit: as more transactions are created, as more trans- action will be first prepared. This contains the filling actions are validated. The result is a self-sustainable in most of the fields of the transaction subject, such and infinitely scalable system (there is no theoretical as the amount of transactions, the recipient’s address. tps limit). The next step is to select two more transactions. The
In the Bitcoin blockchain (but also in its derivatives) new transaction will validate these two existing transthere is a balance of the dificulty of the PoW in order actions. The transaction can now be signed using the to limit the creation of a block in an average time of user’s private key. Before the transaction can be transten minutes. In IOTA, the absence of blocks implies mitted over the network, the PoW must be calculated. that the waiting time for the validation of transactions After the transaction has been transmitted, the user is very low. Being the consensus parallelized one has will have to wait for other transactions to select this the ability to scale infinitely with the increase in the transaction for validation. Once enough other transnumber of nodes. The more nodes they belong to, the actions directly or indirectly approve the transaction, it will get the “confirmed” status. Usually, when 95% z and y. From the calculation of the and probof new transactions approve a given transaction, this abilities (considering = 1 for simplicity) we obtain: will be enough to have the status “confirmed”.
all nodes to agree on the same state as the DLT. In IOTA the entire network is responsible for the consensus, as opposed to what happens in Bitcoin, where only miners have the right to decide. 4.4. Coordinator suaCnocnespernoscuessisnaInOdTiAtisisoinnetroifntshiceimn athinefteraatnusraecstioofnthisis- jIenctthteo enaurlmyesrtoaugsesatotfacthkes. TAanugslee,rtwhehonectownotrrkolsismsuobs-t ireaaaodpDsetcccfuoLectttdIrraiiirTtttieooollni.imylfinnnnosgewnsoesbidaaartsteyhhisliaidsunegartsaeortdthiahetfdiathettrsasrtherettetaeocoehocwntnfehnblacoyeaeemwitionlbgtlceyopgryhoitaeueghtinantrntholaofirastldtmstfaptiieoociorapepfftenrtditscthPoo.rht(wvanarlweoTytnehaotdhhsaporefa)eeparpn-.cronprTitecinforisuth-otoavdWhmeincveisertesowupievtoralcliieaaknutnptiltlgsisoidyapdvhta.tnieaherhtrArdteeeefpewcroidttastsrtrrelrurmyaapdiaagmnnrimen-ohossdsr----t- IftttteoBCmOeihhhrfoioaaseeatTtnoc,snthAoi.CrIyibeaOdinoBlncftiheTonotryIiaauAwaOvtsncnpotehhTrosedfleieayAreoranarcxiut(getoiteCiensaiodcospsanodniuunocoammteiaaswt)esi.tlias.itoltelnryuTraenraeeTceshnicrtksosioioasssseacpnasnupronuefceirudmrtneocsoianood.dgotptdem,enedeEzcaassotphetmvne.ureaaesaoaeTbtsrgetn-wlsyhtevaasptae-iiaatetcncsrowllhckpehusntifotereealbaoanyclslertmnklduercnwspia,oocinaononhtmwicdgthuisthne.heaeatiotesUcretnctsntnfmnaami,ou,ocllndaontilnikheknneorcssdeees--dt,, ifpnoladrTyitrhsheeecatMlskyea.elreykcotrivoolneChoinafitnthheMetoswencotuertCiiptaysrltooof abtlhegeorresiyftehsrtmeenmicsesdui.nsecIdet ta1hl0le0t%Crao“ncosoainscfirtamiocanetsnioatnrpatplrrueonsvtte”i.tdyTbhiynisittihsaetrhteaetnmrgealaeit.nedreaassohnavwinhgy a protection from double spending attacks comes from a right choice of tips. The idea is to put some ran- 4.5. Real use cases for IoTA in dom walkers in the Tangle area that will be confirmed Automotive transactions, and then let them move towards the tips in a pseudo-random way. The tips so reached are those that are taken to be approved. Along the way, the choice of the next transaction to move depends on the cumulative weight of each one. Starting from anywhere, the set of upcoming transactions is defined by all transactions that directly refer to the current transaction. Assume that the walker is on transaction x.
The next set is indicated with w. A y transaction of the w set has a probability to be selected to continue the path. This probability is given by:
precisely that of mobility so much to participate in the conference of MOBI (mobility open blockchain initiative) a consortium of companies that deal with applying blockchain to the new mobility system.
One of IoTA’s most important partners is Jaguar Land Rover, for which they have developed a car wallet system for their I-Pace car that can, in this way, send and receive payments for physical and digital services and can communicate with parking meters and tolls. The wallet allows the user to make micro-transactions in − ( − ) almost instantaneous time and then collect this infor = ∑ − ( − ) (1) wmiatthiotnhefocirtyfuotfuTrerounsdeh.eIinmatdodciotimonm, utnhiecyatceotlolatbhoeruatseedr The equation indicates that the walker tends to cho- the source of the energy they are using [6]. ose a transaction with the minimum cumulative weight "Smart Wallet" eliminates the need for small coins gradient between the current one and the next poten- or to sign up for multiple accounts to pay for a variety tial transaction. of services. Unlike other similar systems and thanks to
In the figure the walker is located on x and it must its structure, it does not require a commission to operchoose the next transaction on which to move between ate; over time, transactions will become faster across the entire network, which is estimated to reach 75 billion connected devices by 2025. Users will be able to integrate the "Smart Wallet" with conventional payment methods.
Another interesting application of the Tangle is the one described in the previews chapter. IoTA in collaboration with ElaadNL (knowledge and innovation centre in the field of smart charging infrastructure in the Netherlands) created an IOTA-enabled Smart Charger, so the problem of diferent accounts for diferent energy providers is no longer an issue.
When connecting cars to the charging station, these devices will be able to independently resolve transactions and related payments. The technique is safe, reliable, fast and it has a derisory cost [16].
• Applicability, must ensure fast, economic, pri- The cons of this system are undoubtedly the great vacy and automated transactions, complexity of development by new developers as opposed to Ethereum that has now become the standard • Consensus techniques that enable scalability and for industrial applications, plus it does not guarantee applicability, a certain time (average) of reaching consensus, it can happen that your transaction remains stalled for a long • Developability to ensure ease of development of time before being validated. This is why the IoTA foundevices operating on the network itself, dation is working, together with industrial partners, to • Interoperability to work with other blockchain improve the structure and the system in general.
networks without problems.
In the beginning, blockchain technology was not born for IoT purposes but, from Nakamoto’s whitepaper, to build a tax-free, high-speed global money exchange system. Over time, it was realized that the characteristics of the blockchain could be applied to the most diverse applications, especially in the IoT field, and many realities were born in a short time with different protocols, consensus algorithms and network topology, one on all IoTA. The diferences that IoTA brings to the standard blockchain are many and specific: • We are no longer talking about blockchain but about tangles, an acyclic graph composed of nodes in which the individual nodes represent the individual transactions,
The blockhain and the IoTA Systems are two importat decentralized network systems very important. Their implementations in the automotive sector is very interesting due to the involvement of several on-board sensors node and the possibility to enhance their security. In this way, the two systems provide several features in terms of security, eficiency and trusted transactions among the nodes on the basis of common and diferent features analyzed in the paper. The authors also provide a comparison analysis of the two systems. The blockchain is mainly characterized by the decentralized topology, a chain of blocks, the presence of the miner, their corresponding costs and a transaction speed of about 6 minutes. The IoTA system is based
on the tangle, the absence of miners and relative fees and a transaction speed of about 3 minutes.
In the next steps, the authors will perform simulation activities in order to provide numerical results to be analyzed.
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