Blockchain-Assisted Adaptive Reconfiguration Method for Trusted UAV Network

Abstract

Due to the high mobility of nodes and the complexity of the mission environment, mission-oriented UAV networks are not only subject to frequent topology changes, but also to the risk of being compromised, hijacked and corrupted. As a result, an operating UAV network is essentially a Byzantine distributed system whose physical structure and node trustworthiness change over time. How to implement the global management of UAV networks to achieve a rational allocation of UAV network resources and reconfiguration of trusted networks is a problem worthy of in-depth study. The method proposed in this paper introduces a lightweight storage blockchain in the UAV network through two-stage consensus, firstly performing data consensus on the local state records of the nodes, then performing decision consensus on the data consensus results using algorithms such as fuzzy K-Modes clustering and global trustworthiness assessment, and finally recording the decision consensus results into a new block as the new configuration information of the UAV network. A lightweight storage blockchain-assisted trusted zone routing protocol (BC_TZRP) is designed to dynamically and adaptively build configurable trusted networks in a way that the blockchain continuously adds new blocks. Using QualNet simulation experimental software, an experimental comparison between the classical routing protocol for mobile self-organizing networks and the traditional consensus algorithm for blockchains is conducted. The results show that the approach has significant advantages in terms of packet delivery rate, routing overhead and average end-to-end delay, and can effectively improve the overall working life and fault tolerance of the UAV network.