The earliest application of blockchain was bitcoin. Blockchain is a series of data blocks related by cryptography. It is like a database ledger, which also contains all transaction records since Bitcoin, including multiple block records. Each block corresponds to a part of the transaction, and the hash value of the previous block is recorded to form a chain-like data structure.
Many experts believe that the emergence of blockchain technology has solved the missing links in security, privacy and reliability of the Internet of Things. It can be used to track billions of interconnected devices, facilitate transactions and collaborative processing between devices, and save a lot of costs for the Internet of Things industry. This decentralized approach will eliminate single points of failure and create a more reliable equipment operation ecosystem. At the same time, the encryption algorithm used in blockchain can also bring higher privacy to consumer data.
The advantage of blockchain is that it is open, and every network participant can see blockchain and transaction information stored in it. However, this does not mean that everyone can see your actual transaction content, which is protected by your private key.
The blockchain is decentralized. Therefore, no single organization can approve the transaction or set special rules for the receipt of the transaction, which means that there is great trust among the participants, so all network participants must reach a consensus to receive the transaction.
More importantly, the blockchain is very safe. This kind of data can only be continuously expanded, and the previous records cannot be changed. In addition, the books used in the blockchain are tamper-proof and cannot be manipulated by criminals. This account book is not located in a specific location and cannot attack the middleman because no single communication thread can be intercepted.
Blockchain can be applied to the Internet of Things to ensure information security. For example, manufacturers of equipment and instruments can trace back to the manufacturer, production date, manufacturing batch number and other information of each component manufacturing process with the help of blockchain technology, so as to ensure the transparency and plasticity of the whole production process, effectively improve the availability of the whole system and components, and further ensure the safety of equipment and instruments.
The unique consensus mechanism of blockchain is that all devices are connected in a point-to-point manner, rather than through the central processor, and all devices maintain consensus without central verification, thus ensuring that when a node has problems, it will not affect the overall data security of the network.
Nowadays, with the continuous development and warming of blockchain technology, Shenzhen Beihang Internet of Things Research Institute (www.buaaiot.org) believes that it will also change and integrate into various industries in its own unique way. The birth of blockchain technology makes various algorithms more efficient. Its decentralized principle and distributed computing rules allow everything to be calculated in seconds to prevent hackers from attacking data. All kinds of assets can be registered and traded in the block, and the data can never be tampered with and irreversible. This invisible charm makes all kinds of assets gather in the block.