A Multilayer Distributed Ledger Technology Architecture for Immutable Registry of Mobility and Location Information

Abstract

Movement tracking information can reveal much about the daily operation of companies. Several applications can benefit from recording the physical places a mobile entity visits and how long it stays at each position. This paper discusses the need for an Available, Reliable, Transparent, Immutable, and Irrevocable service for Mobility Records (ARTIIMoR). We present an approach to recording spatio-temporal presence information in a reliable, immutable, and scalable way using a multilayer Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) architecture for storing location information in variable levels of abstraction and aggregation. We implemented this multilayer solution as a middleware service that uses Complex Event Processing on smartphones to efficiently record nearby place-specific beacons in a DLT. We compare the performance of inserting data in the IOTA, Ethereum, and Hyperledger DLTs, the impact that different data aggregation techniques have on insertion performance, and the effect of the multilayer approach on data query performance.