BoAT-X-Framework | BoAT-X Blockchain Application Framework for IoT | Blockchain library

IoT or the Internet of Things has now been transformed into infrastructure for typical everyday life. Numerous IoT devices capture data via sensors, sending data to the servers and executing commands, such as a smart lock on a shared bike. The worldwide industries have matured in realization that data surely is valuable, provided that the data is truethful. To be precise, it is the information extracted from the data that is valuable. If we review a typical use case of a commercial data producer (the one who collects the data yet isn’t solely responsible for analyzing the data and extracting the information), it becomes crystal clear that when data is shared with the consumer, a question gets raised about how that data producer can prove the data was captured from actual IoT devices, rather than something randomly generated in a computer. Hence, the main purpose of BoAT-X is to allow IoT devices to access the blockchain services and thus extend the IoT data lifecycle with a blockchain-based credible proof at the very edge closest to where the data is being captured. Blockchain is a decentralized immutable ledger, which is conducive for multiple entities who don't naturally trust each other, to share data in a trusted way. Moreover, once the data is saved on the blockchain, that data becomes tamper-resistant thoughout its lifecycle. However, there is still a missing gap between how data saved on a blockchain can ensure conformity to the data captured by the IoT device. IoT devices capture data and transport it to a database within a cloud IoT platform. Therefore, there are three possible anchor (attestation) points to generate a blockchain-based proof for the data: the cloud, the edge or the device. If the cloud IoT platform generates the data credibility proof on the blockchain, the trusted anchor point is at the IoT platform. The IoT platform itself must be trusted (authority, reputation, etc.). If the anchor point is the edge converging data from part of the IoT devices and relaying it to the cloud while generating the proof, the edge must be trusted. If the IoT device generates the proof, the device is the trust anchor point. It's much more difficult and expensive to tamper with each in-field device than infringing or tampering with the data in the cloud database. Thus, the closer the anchor point is to the data source, the higher trustworthiness the proof will become. The BoAT-X family offers the essential components to establish a trust anchor point at the device side, closest to the data source. That's why BoAT-X’s productiveness with a blockchain contributes to the trustworthy foundation of IoT data.