LBLCO: A Lightweight Blockchain with Low Communication Overhead for Internet of Things

With the increasing demand for Internet of things (IOT) applications, more devices need to be added to IOT. IOT system using centralized server mode face great security challenges. Blockchain, based on distributed ledger technology, could be a good solution. In order to combine blockchain technology and IOT applications appropriately, this paper proposes a lightweight blockchain with low communication overhead (LBLCO). A new consensus algorithm named proof of repute score based on hidden block (HBPORS) is proposed in LBLCO. The nodes with higher repute score will be more likely to become winner in HBPORS. The repute score mechanism dynamically update the repute score of the nodes according to the contribution and evil behavior of the node in the blockchain system. When the honest node with high repute score obtains the accounting right, it can trigger the hidden block mechanism. Instead of broadcasting the complete information of the packaged block to all nodes, winners can broadcast the low overhead information to other nodes. Through experimental tests, LBLCO can meet the requirements of large number of nodes and fast response speed in the IOT.