Blockchain in IoT: 

Benefits and use cases

Blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) emerged with maximum public attention in recent years in addition to their implementation in the networks of global financial systems and industrial leaders. This article will explain the concept of the Internet of things and give answers to some essential questions about the convergence of blockchain and IoT, its benefits and future challenges, its use cases of greater cooperation.

What is the IoT in simple words?

Iot, or the Internet of things, is a concept of connecting any possible device to the Internet by creating a network where they could save and exchange each other's data. It should be noted that objects united in an interconnected system do not require human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction to obtain, receive and send data. 

Computers and smartphones are definitely a part of IoT but it also includes a lot of things: 

cars, smart appliances, medical equipment, sensors of all kinds, printers and much more.

IoT devices can be divided into three groups:

• Those who collect the information and send it (for example, different temperature, light, action, etc. sensors);
• Those who receive information and act accordingly (for example, a printer receives a document and prints it, an electric kettle receives a signal and begins to heat the water, etc);
• Those who know how to do both (for example, an irrigation system collects information about the humidity level and automatically turns on if the level is not enough).

What are the weaknesses of the IoT?

Privacy & Security

There have already been several cases of IoT devices that shared private information on the Internet or that have been hacked. Some of these cases threatened the life and health of the people. For example, in 2017 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned 500,000 pacemakers connected to the Internet that had been considered weak for hacker attacks. Another example is from hackers who had found weaknesses in Jeep cars and forced emergency brakes at high speed.

Centralization

Traditional IoT systems are often based on a closed and centralized architecture and this has created many questions. The devices collect the information and send it to the cloud where it will be processed and sent back to the IoT device. This system requires that third parties check and verify each transaction between the devices which entails limited scalability, high prices and many weaknesses in the network security system.

Low compatibility

Interoperability in IoT remains at the low levels of coexistence of various protocols and connectivity standards. Different IoT platforms have different forms of connectivity formats and manufactures must choose only one when producing their equipment. A single IoT platform can't be compatible with many other devices. If the manufacturer produces a device compatible with a platform, it will not be so easy to connect it to a different platform. The given situation does not satisfy either manufactures or users and it would be much more comfortable to have a unique standard.

How can Blockchain help improve IoT?

Improve security

Blockchain treats device message exchanges as transactions verified by smart contracts. Transactions are recorded in blocks, this ensures that they are organized in fair sequences and assigned to the timestamp when they have been added. The cryptographic algorithms used by the blockchain ensure user data making them more private and preventing previous records from being changed.

Enter smart contracts

Blockchain is designed to act as a basic layer for applications that involve transactions and interactions and smart contracts have an important role in it. They work autonomously (and do not need intermediaries to approve or confirm a transaction) when certain conditions are met. What do they give to the IoT? More secure and autonomous operation, faster and cheaper transactions, more data security. 

Smart contracts also make the billing process easier and more convenient: complicated payment systems are not needed. The transaction is made, tokens are transferred and these processes are clear and transparent in the blockchain

Decentralize

Unlike traditional centralized architecture, a decentralized blockchain network could improve the lack of system tolerance. A single error would not deactivate the entire network because it works using millions of individual nodes. In addition, in a decentralized system the information saved and processed is not controlled by a group of powerful companies.

Decrease expenses

Blockchain greatly reduces connection costs by eliminating the need for an infrastructure. Expenditure on additional administration, maintenance or installation disappears.

What are the cases of use of Blockchain and IoT in the industry?

Jaguar Land Rover

The largest UK car manufacturing with IOTA boosted the price of MIOTA (the platform's own token) by 20% in 24 hours on Monday, April 29. Cryptocurrency can be used to drivers for sharing information about traffic jams and potholes. Rewards can be used to automatically pay tolls, parking and electric charges. The head of IOTA cooperation, Holger Köther said: "Our technology goes perfectly with machine-to-machine payments for smart charges, parking lots and tolls, as well as allowing drivers to get their own crypto funds."

Volkswagen

Volkswagen has been actively exploring IOTA and as the result presented the Proof-of-Concept (PoC) that uses the IOTA Tangle system for autonomous cars at the 2018 Cebit Expo in Germany. The new “Connected” car system will use IOTA Tangle to transfer software updates safely and wirelessly.

Fujitsu

The largest information and communication technology company in Japan used IOTA as the new protocol standard for audit trails.It will plan to use IOTA to improve transparency, data security ,trust, etc. Fujitsu's team considered the IOTA protocol as "an immutable data storage medium."

Bosch

The Bosch XDK is a device with the programmed sensor and an IoT prototype platform that can be used as the sensor node solution. The Bosch XDK can be used to collect specific real-time data that can be sold in the IOTA Data Market. Masked Authenticated Messaging (MAM) allows data to be shared P2P through a secure and encrypted channel.

What are the challenges for Blockchain and IoT?

Scalability

Most existing blockchains are not compatible with most of the data produced by IoT devices and this number is only increased. Research shows that the number of devices that will be connected to the IoT will reach at least 20 billion by 2020. Bitcoin and Ethereum have suffered from scalability issues and their current status does not allow them to deal with the amounts of data produced by the IoT devices. Without slowing down.

Security

Blockchain has to make IoT safer as problems arise on the other side. The security of the devices connected to the IoT is complicated and blockchain cannot guarantee that they will not be hacked. This means that any IoT device should, in a perfect world, have the highest level of security but is not cost effective.

Interoperability

All devices are connected by the Internet but the situation is complicated when we add the blockchain. Different blockchains are usually isolated from each other and if the interoperability challenge is not addressed, we will have smart devices connected to numerous decentralized and isolated networks. It could work for certain purposes but it would not become the Internet of everything where all devices are connected to each other and can interact with each other.

Final thoughts

Enthusiasts always say that blockchain improves the industry by revolutionizing many processes. Will it work with the IoT? Perhaps, since blockchain should bring great benefits to IoT but most of the challenges will have to be faced equally. Blockchains known as Blockchain or Ethereum cannot support large volumes of data from IoT devices. IOTA chose another path by creating the Tangle platform with increased scalability and this attitude has been approved by many corporations including Jaguar Land Rover, Bosch, Fujitsu and Volkswagen.