A blockchain-empowered AAA scheme in the large-scale HetNet

• Main Authors: Na Shi, Liang Tan, Wenjuan Li, Xin Qi, Keping Yu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2021-08-01
• Series: Digital Communications and Networks
• Subjects: HetNet; AAA; Privacy preserving; Blockchain; Transaction
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235286482030273X

A Large-Scale Heterogeneous Network (LS-HetNet) integrates different networks into one uniform network system to provide seamless one-world network coverage. In LS-HetNet, various devices use different technologies to access heterogeneous networks and generate a large amount of data. For dealing with a large number of access requirements, these data are usually stored in the HetNet Domain Management Server (HDMS) of the current domain, and HDMS uses a centralized Authentication/Authorization/Auditing (AAA) scheme to protect the data. However, this centralized method easily causes the data to be modified or disclosed. To address this issue, we propose a blockchain-empowered AAA scheme for accessing data of LS-HetNet. Firstly, the account address of the blockchain is used as the identity authentication, and the access control permission of data is redesigned and stored on the blockchain, then processes of AAA are redefined. Finally, the experimental model on Ethereum private chain is built, and the results show that the scheme is not only secure but also decentral, without tampering and trustworthiness.