scholarly journals Article A Review of Blockchain Architecture and Consensus Protocols: Use Cases, Challenges, and Solutions

Symmetry ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail ◽  
Materwala

Over the last decade, blockchain technology has emerged to provide solutions to thecomplexity and privacy challenges of using distributed databases. It reduces cost for customers byeliminating intermediaries and builds trust in peer-to-peer communications. Over this time, theconcept of blockchain has shifted greatly due to its potential in business growth for enterprisesand the rapidly evolving applications in a collaborative smart-city ecosystem, healthcare, andgovernance. Many platforms, with different architectures and consensus protocols, have beenintroduced. Consequently, it becomes challenging for an application developer to choose the rightplatform. Furthermore, blockchain has misaligned with the goals for an efficient green collaborativedigital ecosystem. Therefore, it becomes critical to address this gap and to build new frameworks toalign blockchain with those goals. In this paper, we discuss the evolution of blockchain architectureand consensus protocols, bringing a retrospective analysis and discussing the rationale of theevolution of the various architectures and protocols, as well as capturing the assumptions conduciveto their development and contributions to building collaborative applications. We introduce aclassification of those architectures helping developers to choose a suitable platform for applicationsand providing insights for future research directions in the field to build new frameworks.

2022 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Rafael Belchior ◽  
André Vasconcelos ◽  
Sérgio Guerreiro ◽  
Miguel Correia

Blockchain interoperability is emerging as one of the crucial features of blockchain technology, but the knowledge necessary for achieving it is fragmented. This fact makes it challenging for academics and the industry to achieve interoperability among blockchains seamlessly. Given this new domain’s novelty and potential, we conduct a literature review on blockchain interoperability by collecting 284 papers and 120 grey literature documents, constituting a corpus of 404 documents. From those 404 documents, we systematically analyzed and discussed 102 documents, including peer-reviewed papers and grey literature. Our review classifies studies in three categories: Public Connectors, Blockchain of Blockchains, and Hybrid Connectors. Each category is further divided into sub-categories based on defined criteria. We classify 67 existing solutions in one sub-category using the Blockchain Interoperability Framework, providing a holistic overview of blockchain interoperability. Our findings show that blockchain interoperability has a much broader spectrum than cryptocurrencies and cross-chain asset transfers. Finally, this article discusses supporting technologies, standards, use cases, open challenges, and future research directions, paving the way for research in the area.


Author(s):  
Chao Wang ◽  
Xiaoman Cheng ◽  
Jitong Li ◽  
Yunhua He ◽  
Ke Xiao

AbstractBlockchain technology has completely changed the area of cryptocurrency with a Peer-to-Peer system named Bitcoin. It can provide a distributed, transparent and highly confidential database by recording immutable transactions. Currently, the technique has obtained great research interest on other areas, including the Internet of vehicles (IoVs). In order to solve some centralized problems and improve the architecture of the IoVs, the blockchain technology is utilized to build a decentralized and secure vehicular environment. In this survey, we aim to construct a comprehensive analysis on the applications of blockchain in the IoV. This paper starts with the introduction of the IoVs and the blockchain. Additionally, some existing surveys on the blockchain enabled IoVs are reviewed. Besides, the combination of the blockchain technology and the IoVs is analyzed from seven aspects to describe how the blockchain is implemented in the IoVs. Finally, the future research directions related to the integration are highlighted.


Author(s):  
Leila Ismail ◽  
Huned Materwala

ver the last decade the blockchain technology has emerged to provide solutions to the complexity, performance and privacy challenges of using distributed databases. Over this time, the concept of blockchain has shifted greatly due to the rapidly evolving distributed applications in a collaborative ecosystem such as smart cities, social networking, governance, and smart healthcare, and the ultimate need for green computing, cost reduction for customers, and business growth for enterprises. Consequently, blockchain architecture has misaligned with the goals for a green collaborative digital ecosystem. Therefore, it becomes critical to address this vent and to build new frameworks to align blockchain with those goals. In this paper, we discuss the evolution of blockchain architecture and its consensus protocols, bringing a retrospective analysis and discussing the rationale of the evolution of the various architectures and protocols, as well as capturing the assumptions conducting to their development and contributions to building collaborative applications. We introduce a classification of those architectures and provide insights for future research directions in the field.


Author(s):  
Abderahman Rejeb ◽  
Karim Rejeb ◽  
Steven J. Simske ◽  
John G. Keogh

AbstractBlockchain can function as a foundational technology with numerous applications in smart cities. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, it provides a detailed overview of the extant literature on blockchain applications in smart cities; second, it reveals the trends and suggests future research directions for scholars who wish to contribute to this rapidly growing field. We conducted a bibliometric review using a keyword co-occurrence network and article co-citation analysis. The analysis includes the assessment of 148 articles published between 2016 and 2020 in 76 academic journals. The review results demonstrate that the number of articles devoted to the study of blockchain applications and smart cities has increased exponentially in recent years. More importantly, the research identifies some of the most influential studies in this area. The paper discusses trends and highlights the challenges related to the deployment of blockchain in smart cities. To the authors’ best knowledge, this represents the first study to review the literature from leading journals on blockchain applications in smart cities using bibliometric techniques.


Author(s):  
lamia Chaari Fourati ◽  
Mohamed Fourati ◽  
Bilel Najeh ◽  
Aicha Idriss

During this last decade, the blockchain (BC) paradigm has been required in several use cases and scenarios in particular for security, privacy, and trust provisioning. Accordingly, several studies proposed the use of BC technology to secure and to assure the trustworthiness of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In this context, this chapter highlights several applications and scenarios for the deployment of UAVs within diverse smart systems. In addition, it illustrates the advantages of the integration of the BC within UAVs-based smart systems. This integration reveals new challenges and future research directions that are discussed in this chapter.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guohui Xiao ◽  
Linfang Ding ◽  
Benjamin Cogrel ◽  
Diego Calvanese

In this paper, we present the virtual knowledge graph (VKG) paradigm for data integration and access, also known in the literature as Ontology-based Data Access. Instead of structuring the integration layer as a collection of relational tables, the VKG paradigm replaces the rigid structure of tables with the flexibility of graphs that are kept virtual and embed domain knowledge. We explain the main notions of this paradigm, its tooling ecosystem and significant use cases in a wide range of applications. Finally, we discuss future research directions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne De Keyser ◽  
Sarah Köcher ◽  
Linda Alkire (née Nasr) ◽  
Cédric Verbeeck ◽  
Jay Kandampully

PurposeSmart technologies and connected objects are rapidly changing the organizational frontline. Yet, our understanding of how these technologies infuse service encounters remains limited. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to update existing classifications of Frontline Service Technology (FST) infusion. Moreover, the authors discuss three promising smart and connected technologies – conversational agents, extended reality (XR) and blockchain technology – and their respective implications for customers, frontline employees and service organizations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a conceptual approach integrating existing work on FST infusion with artificial intelligence, robotics, XR and blockchain literature, while also building on insights gathered through expert interviews and focus group conversations with members of two service research centers.FindingsThe authors define FST and propose a set of FST infusion archetypes at the organizational frontline. Additionally, the authors develop future research directions focused on understanding how conversational agents, XR and blockchain technology will impact service.Originality/valueThis paper updates and extends existing classifications of FST, while paving the road for further work on FST infusion.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Fisal Abu Khaled

This chapter intends to document the various ways that the nascent technology, blockchain, and other forms of distributed ledger technology (DLT) can provide both increased and decreased risk as well as offer FinTech industries a fertile environment to pursue key technological advancements that can help shape almost every facet of the financial world. Issues of trust, transparency, and privacy will be explored as it pertains to the execution of blockchain technology within financial sectors. Strengths and weakness will be explored within regulations, legal environments, risk management, and the environment. Based on the findings of a comprehensive literature review, possible solutions and recommendations will be provided for governmental agencies, regulators, and users of financial services with a special focus on Islamic FinTech. Future research directions will also be shared that can assist Islamic FinTech.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pervez Akhtar ◽  
Nora Azima ◽  
Abdul Ghafar ◽  
Shahab Ud Din

Blockchain technology, as a distributed digital ledger technology that ensures traceability, security, and transparency is displaying potential for easing some comprehensive supply chain problems. Scholars have started analyzing systematically the potential benefits and effects of block-chain on numerous activities of an organization. This paper presents the barricades in the adoption of blockchain technology in supply chain management. The potential benefits of blockchain adoption such as quality, cost, speed, transparency, durability, and immutability are also discussed in this paper. We present the early literature discussing the use of blockchain in the field of the supply chain to enhance accountability and transparency. This study explains the several mechanisms by which supply chain managers can prepare their organizational structure to adopt the latest technology. It further highlights the mechanisms to achieve supply chain objectives. Part of this paper also discusses how blockchains, a potentially disruptive solution that is on its early evolution, can overcome several potential barricades. Future research directions are proposed which can further provide insights into overcoming barriers and adoption of blockchain technology in the field of supply chain management.


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