Blockchain-driven secure message dissemination in 5G-enabled SDN-IoV using graph-based byzantine consensus and Merkle tree-BLS authentication

Abstract

Internet of Vehicle (IoV) uses heterogeneous access technologies to link automobiles and their surroundings. Effective methods are essential for safeguarding data confidentiality and privacy during communication among the roadside unit (RSU), the control room, and vehicles. Many vehicle-to-infrastructure authentication-based approaches have been developed to secure the IoV environment. However, efficiency and security are challenged by instability, decentralization, and transaction-tracking features. To resolve this, a secure, lightweight, and scalable communication protocol was developed for a 5G-enabled SDN-IoV environment. Efficient block verification is achieved through the Joint-Graph Delegated Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (JtGr-DPBFT) mechanism, in which validators create subgraphs to reduce communication overhead. JtGr-DPBFT is combined with an Improved Gossip Algorithm (IGA) to minimize message redundancy and optimize bandwidth utilization. Moreover, a lightweight hierarchical authentication mechanism, assisted by a Merkle Tree with Boneh-Lynn-Shacham (HAMT-BLS) signatures, enables compact block verification and minimizes computational and communication costs. The proposed model achieves tamper-proof, efficient, and scalable block verification by incorporating hierarchical authentication with consensus optimization. This approach is simulated in the NS3 tool, and performance is evaluated in terms of propagation delay, transaction confirmation latency, throughput, communication cost, and network delay. Thus, secure and tamper-proof communication is developed to ensure integrity, trust, and dependability in the SDN-enabled IoV environment.