LRB: Locally Repairable Blockchain for IoT Integration

Recently, blockchain has become a crucial technology for addressing security concerns in the Internet of Things (IoT). However, the substantial storage requirements of blockchain present a major obstacle to integrating IoT with blockchain. This paper introduces a novel coded blockchain architecture called locally repairable blockchain (LRB) to reduce the storage costs for IoT devices. Our architecture employs a node selection allocation algorithm to determine encoding parameters and local repair groups based on the blockchain’s current state, enhancing system availability. We also present a new coding process, GELRC, which combines group coding exchange methods with locally repairable codes, significantly reducing encoding complexity. GELRC facilitates low-cost local repair and improves fault tolerance. Furthermore, we introduce a specialized Vandermonde matrix for designing the local codes of LRB, enhancing the scalability of existing coded blockchains. Experimental results demonstrate that our architecture outperforms previous coded blockchain solutions with greater fault tolerance, improved single-point repair capabilities, lower coding complexity, and particularly, eliminates the need for re-encoding when new nodes are added.