A Blockchain-Based Trustworthy Data Transmission Scheme in UAV Networks

Recent advancements in blockchain technology have been leveraged to enhance security in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) networks. However, due to limited signal coverage and energy constraints, UAVs typically interact with the blockchain via links with ground stations. These UAV-ground links operate as isolated point-to-point connections over unlicensed spectrum. As a result, data transmitted between UAVs and blockchain nodes via these links are susceptible to covert concealment or tampering by intermediate ground stations. Such vulnerabilities jeopardize task allocation fairness and reward distribution mechanisms, which traditionally depend on decentralized consensus across multiple nodes-a condition absent in UAV-ground single-station architectures. To address these challenges, we propose a blockchain-based trustworthy data transmission framework. Our architecture integrates a two-layer multi-chain structure with a synchronized consensus confirmation mechanism, ensuring data consistency and correctness across UAV-ground communication. Additionally, we introduce Hierarchical Verkle Trees to encapsulate command data, ensuring command completeness without transmitting the entire block body when synchronizing blocks. Security analysis and experimental evaluations indicate that the proposed scheme provides data completeness and verifiability while providing great effectiveness in data transmission.