Assessing blockchain technology for Transport Data Logger
(2018) EITM01 20172Department of Electrical and Information Technology
- Abstract
- A proof of concept permissioned blockchain system that holds data from the Transport Data Logger, TDL, was developed. Transport chain actors who hand off TDL-equipped goods between one another use the TDL app to upload a digital handoff containing their identities and log data from and signed by the TDL to a Hyperledger Fabric blockchain network.
The current Transport Data Logger system consists of a sensor-equipped device that interacts with a companion smartphone app using Bluetooth. The device is fastened to goods and will log temperature, humidity and more during transport. Upon delivery the recipient can connect to the TDL device with the smartphone app and retrieve the log data. The TDL system lacks cryptographic data protection... (More) - A proof of concept permissioned blockchain system that holds data from the Transport Data Logger, TDL, was developed. Transport chain actors who hand off TDL-equipped goods between one another use the TDL app to upload a digital handoff containing their identities and log data from and signed by the TDL to a Hyperledger Fabric blockchain network.
The current Transport Data Logger system consists of a sensor-equipped device that interacts with a companion smartphone app using Bluetooth. The device is fastened to goods and will log temperature, humidity and more during transport. Upon delivery the recipient can connect to the TDL device with the smartphone app and retrieve the log data. The TDL system lacks cryptographic data protection and attribution of data points to specific transport chain actors other than in the form of comparing timestamps.
The promise of blockchain is network-distributed, decentralized and immutable data storage and transaction conduction. Many very differing implementations of the blockchain concept exist, with their common factor being the sorting of data into an append-only list of blocks chronologically and cryptographically linked to one another in linear sequence. The greatest divisor of blockchain technology is between permissioned and permissionless blockchains. A permissioned blockchain system limits participation to known and approved entities, allowing much better performance at the cost of increased centralization. Full trust between participants is still not required, which is the great advantage of blockchain technology.
There is potential for a gap in historical truth, what happened, and documental truth, what is documented as having happened. A blockchain is fully capable of protecting its data, or the documental truth, from tampering but closing the gap between the documental and historical truths requires more than just using blockchain technology.
Blockchain technology is still nascent, and mainstream use beyond cryptocurrencies is years off. There is a large reliance on hype and signaling with blockchain technology, which means that much research and development of standards is needed before it can be properly treated as the cryptosystem it should be interpreted as. The thesis recommendation on blockchain adoption is two-fold: start now if getting in on the ground floor and helping to develop the underlying systems and standards is important, otherwise there is everything to gain from waiting until that work has been done, as the blockchain technology sector will be very volatile until then. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Blockchain technology is incredibly young, even the most mature of the blockchain technologies are either functionally complete but very simple or lack important features. The thesis has assessed blockchain technology for implementation with the Bosch Transport Data Logger, TDL.
The TDL is a sensor-equipped logging device with a companion smartphone app. The device is fastened to packages during transportation and logs how the packages have been handled while in the care of post and transport companies. For example, unacceptable temperatures, humidity and manhandling are logged.
The two main types of blockchain technology, permissionless and permissioned, are found to have inherent trade-offs between open/closed participation and... (More) - Blockchain technology is incredibly young, even the most mature of the blockchain technologies are either functionally complete but very simple or lack important features. The thesis has assessed blockchain technology for implementation with the Bosch Transport Data Logger, TDL.
The TDL is a sensor-equipped logging device with a companion smartphone app. The device is fastened to packages during transportation and logs how the packages have been handled while in the care of post and transport companies. For example, unacceptable temperatures, humidity and manhandling are logged.
The two main types of blockchain technology, permissionless and permissioned, are found to have inherent trade-offs between open/closed participation and poor/good performance. Hyperledger Fabric, most mature of the permissioned blockchain systems, was used to build a TDL Blockchain System proof of concept. Log data and other information from and about the TDL devices, transferred by the transport company employees using the companion app, are stored on the blockchain.
Generally, just saving sensor values is not enough to accomplish anything. To give credence to the logged data and to be able confidently to act upon it, the data must be made trustworthy. In an environment where data is generated while the sensor device is in the hands of different organizations, trustworthy connections between each data point and the organization responsible must be made. This to prevent blame-shifting of the type “it was like that when I got it”. To bring historical and documental truth closer to one another, further links between the real world and the data must be made, provided in part by devices needing to digitally sign the data logged by them.
The thesis can be used by Bosch to learn about blockchain technology and its applicability for the TDL. If they or others want to extrapolate they could use the thesis results to draw conclusions for other similar devices and systems. The general thesis recommendation is two-fold. If an organization simply wants to implement blockchain technology applications and not help develop the underlying technology the blockchain technology sector is not yet ready for them, otherwise now is a good time to jump in. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8934190
- author
- Johansson, Björn LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Utvärdering av blockchainteknologi för Transport Data Logger
- course
- EITM01 20172
- year
- 2018
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- blockchain, transport data logger, hyperledger, hyperledger fabric, byzantine fault tolerance, bft, supply chain, transport chain, permissioned, permissionless, documental truth, historical truth, immutability, security, log data
- report number
- LU/LTH-EIT 2018-613
- language
- English
- id
- 8934190
- date added to LUP
- 2018-01-31 10:58:48
- date last changed
- 2018-02-02 04:09:15
@misc{8934190,
abstract = {{A proof of concept permissioned blockchain system that holds data from the Transport Data Logger, TDL, was developed. Transport chain actors who hand off TDL-equipped goods between one another use the TDL app to upload a digital handoff containing their identities and log data from and signed by the TDL to a Hyperledger Fabric blockchain network.
The current Transport Data Logger system consists of a sensor-equipped device that interacts with a companion smartphone app using Bluetooth. The device is fastened to goods and will log temperature, humidity and more during transport. Upon delivery the recipient can connect to the TDL device with the smartphone app and retrieve the log data. The TDL system lacks cryptographic data protection and attribution of data points to specific transport chain actors other than in the form of comparing timestamps.
The promise of blockchain is network-distributed, decentralized and immutable data storage and transaction conduction. Many very differing implementations of the blockchain concept exist, with their common factor being the sorting of data into an append-only list of blocks chronologically and cryptographically linked to one another in linear sequence. The greatest divisor of blockchain technology is between permissioned and permissionless blockchains. A permissioned blockchain system limits participation to known and approved entities, allowing much better performance at the cost of increased centralization. Full trust between participants is still not required, which is the great advantage of blockchain technology.
There is potential for a gap in historical truth, what happened, and documental truth, what is documented as having happened. A blockchain is fully capable of protecting its data, or the documental truth, from tampering but closing the gap between the documental and historical truths requires more than just using blockchain technology.
Blockchain technology is still nascent, and mainstream use beyond cryptocurrencies is years off. There is a large reliance on hype and signaling with blockchain technology, which means that much research and development of standards is needed before it can be properly treated as the cryptosystem it should be interpreted as. The thesis recommendation on blockchain adoption is two-fold: start now if getting in on the ground floor and helping to develop the underlying systems and standards is important, otherwise there is everything to gain from waiting until that work has been done, as the blockchain technology sector will be very volatile until then.}},
author = {{Johansson, Björn}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Assessing blockchain technology for Transport Data Logger}},
year = {{2018}},
}