Blockchain-Enabled Secure and Decentralized Resource Management for Open Radio Access Network Cellular Networks

Dheyaa Marjan Hussein Almuntifeky; Basim  K. J. Al-shammari

doi:10.31185/ejuow.Vol12.Iss3.537

Authors

Dheyaa Marjan Hussein Almuntifeky University of Wasit
Basim K. J. Al-shammari Electrical Engineering, Wasit University, Iraq

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31185/ejuow.Vol12.Iss3.537

Keywords:

Open RAN; resource management; blockchain technology; security; decentralization

Abstract

The rapid growth of Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN) necessitates innovative resource management systems to address security and decentralization challenges. This study proposes the use of blockchain technology for enhancing the security, privacy, and decentralized decision-making in Open RAN cellular networks. The research focuses on secure communication between O-DU (Distributed Units) and O-CU (Centralized Units) using blockchain technology, along with smart contracts for O-DU to O-CU mapping, thereby ensuring data integrity and authenticity in resource management transactions. By leveraging a blockchain network and consensus methods, this study aims to validate resource management transactions securely and transparently. Smart contracts enforce resource management rules and adapt O-DU to O-CU mapping based on real-time network conditions. The experimental framework simulates an Open RAN environment with multiple O-DUs and O-CUs under dynamic network conditions and traffic demands, rigorously testing blockchain's security in O-DU to O-CU transactions. This study demonstrates that the proposed solution can improve transaction security, trust, transparency, smart contract automation, reduce resource allocation delay, and increase flexibility to dynamic network circumstances. The findings contribute to the ongoing efforts in enhancing the efficiency, security, and flexibility of 5G and beyond.

References

Liyanage, M., Braeken, A., Shahabuddin, S., & Ranaweera, P. (2023). Open RAN security: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 214, 103621.‏

Moussaoui, M., Aryal, N., Bertin, E., & Crespi, N. (2022, September). Distributed Ledger Technologies for Cellular Networks and Beyond 5G: a survey. In 2022 4th Conference on Blockchain Research & Applications for Innovative Networks and Services (BRAINS) (pp. 37-44). IEEE.‏

Kaur, U., & Shalu. (2021). Blockchain-and deep learning-empowered resource optimization in future cellular networks, edge computing, and IoT: Open challenges and current solutions. Blockchain for 5G-Enabled IoT: The new wave for Industrial Automation, 441-474.‏

Okon, A. A., Elgendi, I., Sholiyi, O. S., Elmirghani, J. M., Jamalipour, A., & Munasinghe, K. (2020). Blockchain and SDN architecture for spectrum management in cellular networks. Ieee Access, 8, 94415-94428.‏

Tahir, M., Habaebi, M. H., Dabbagh, M., Mughees, A., Ahad, A., & Ahmed, K. I. (2020). A review on application of blockchain in 5G and beyond networks: Taxonomy, field-trials, challenges and opportunities. IEEE Access, 8, 115876-115904.‏

Xu, H., Klaine, P. V., Onireti, O., & I, C. L. (2023). 6 G Resource Management and Sharing: Blockchain and O‐RAN. Blockchains: Empowering Technologies and Industrial Applications, 253-285.

Wilhelmi, F., & Giupponi, L. (2021, December). On the performance of blockchain-enabled RAN-as-a-service in beyond 5G networks. In 2021 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) (pp. 01-06).IEEE.

Giupponi, L., & Wilhelmi, F. (2021). Blockchain-enabled network sharing for o-ran. arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.02005.

Xu, H., Zhang, L., & Sun, Y. (2021). BE-RAN: Blockchain-enabled open RAN with decentralized identity management and privacy-preserving communication. arXiv preprint arXiv:2101.10856.

Xu, H., Klaine, P. V., Onireti, O., Cao, B., Imran, M., & Zhang, L. (2020). Blockchain-enabled resource management and sharing for 6G communications. Digital Communications and Networks, 6(3), 261-269.

H. Xu, L. Zhang, Y. Sun, and C.-L. I, “BE-RAN: Blockchain-enabled Open RAN with Decentralized Identity Management and Privacy-Preserving Communication,” no. May, 2021, [Online]. Available: http://arxiv.org/abs/2101.10856

H. Xu, Z. Li, Z. Li, X. Zhang, Y. Sun, and L. Zhang, “Metaverse Native Communication: A Blockchain and Spectrum Prospective,” 2022 IEEE Int. Conf. Commun. Work. ICC Work. 2022, no. March, pp. 7–12, 2022, doi: 10.1109/ICCWorkshops53468.2022.9814538.

Giupponi, L., & Wilhelmi, F. (2022). Blockchain-enabled network sharing for O-RAN in 5G and beyond. IEEE Network, 36(4), 218-225.

Wang, C., & Feng, J. (2010, October). A study of mutual authentication for P2P trust management. In 2010 Sixth International Conference on Intelligent Information Hiding and Multimedia Signal Processing (pp. 474-477). IEEE.

Tschorsch, F., & Scheuermann, B. (2016). Bitcoin and beyond: A technical survey on decentralized digital currencies. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 18(3), 2084-2123.

Bittorrent Foundation, “BitTorrent ( BTT ) White Paper,” pp. 1–21, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.bittorrent.com/btt/btt-docs/

Era of TLS 1.3: Measuring Deployment and Use with Active and Passive Methods,” jul 2019. [Online]. Available: http://arxiv.org/abs/1907.12762

J. Benet, “IPFS - Content Addressed, Versioned, P2P File System,” jul 2014. [Online]. Available: http://arxiv.org/abs/1407.3561

S. Nakamoto, “Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system,” 2008. [Online]. Available: http://www.bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

S. Troia, L. M. M. Zorello, A. J. Maralit, and G. Maier, “Sd-wan: An open-source implementation for enterprise networking services,” in 2020 22nd International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON), 2020, pp. 1–4.

W. Tong, X. Dong, Y. Shen, and J. Zheng, “BC-RAN: Cloud radio access network enabled by blockchain for 5G,” Computer Communications, vol. 162, pp. 179–186, 2020.

O-RAN Alliance, “O-RAN-WG1.OAM-Architecture-v02.00,” Tech. Rep., 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.o-ran.org/specifications/O-RAN Architecture Description 2.0

P. networks, “What is SASE?” 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia/what-is-sase

D. Yu, W. Li, H. Xu, and L. Zhang, “Low Reliable and Low Latency Communications for Mission Critical Distributed Industrial Internet of Things,” IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 313–317, jan 2021.

R. Zheng and W. Yang, “H-mpls: A lightweight nfv-based mpls solution in access network,” in 2014 IEEE 11th Consumer Communications and Networking Conference (CCNC), 2014, pp. 887–892.

ETSI, “TS 123 501 - V15.9.0 - 5G; System architecture for the 5G System (5GS) (3GPP TS 23.501 version 15.9.0 Release 15),” Tech. Rep., 2020.

O-RAN Alliance, “The O-RAN ALLIANCE Security Task Group Tackles Security Challenges on All O-RAN Interfaces and Components,” 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.o- ran.org/blog/2020/10/24/the-o-ran-alliance-security-task-group-tackles- security-challenges-on-all-o-ran-interfaces-and-components

E. Westerberg, “4G/5G RAN architecture: How a split can make the difference,” Ericsson Review (English Edition), vol. 93, no. 2, pp. 52– 65, 2016.

L. Zhang, H. Xu, O. Onireti, M. A. Imran, and B. Cao, “How Much Communication Resource is Needed to Run a Wireless Blockchain Network?” jan 2021. [Online]. Available: http://arxiv.org/abs/ http://arxiv.org/abs/2101.10852

S. Van Rossem, W. Tavernier, B. Sonkoly, D. Colle, J. Czentye,

M. Pickavet, and P. Demeester, “Deploying elastic routing capability in an SDN/NFV-enabled environment,” in 2015 IEEE Conference on Network Function Virtualization and Software Defined Network (NFV-SDN). IEEE, nov 2015, pp. 22–24. [Online]. Available: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7387398/

W. Li, C. Feng, L. Zhang, H. Xu, B. Cao, and M. A. Imran, “A Scalable Multi-Layer PBFT Consensus for Blockchain,” IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 1146–1160, may 2021. [Online]. Available: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9279277/

D. Ongaro and J. Ousterhout, “In Search of an Understandable Consen- sus Algorithm,” in Proceedings of the 2014 USENIX Annual Technical Conference, USENIX ATC 2014, vol. 22, no. 2, 2014, pp. 305–320.

3GPP, “NG-RAN; Architecture description (Release 15),” Tech. Rep., 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.3gpp.org/DynaReport/38401.htm

X. Ling, J. Wang, Y. Le, Z. Ding, and X. Gao, “Blockchain Radio Access Network Beyond 5G,” IEEE Wireless Communications, vol. 27, no. 6,

pp. 160–168, 2020.