ReVo: A Hybrid Consensus Protocol for Blockchain in the Internet of Things through Reputation and Voting Mechanisms

In the realm of the Internet of Things (IoT), integrating blockchain technology has brought about significant enhancements in security and transparency. Nevertheless, the union of these two domains grapples with persistent challenges in performance and scalability. A dilemma confronts developers and researchers: the intricate interplay between security, scalability, and performance in various consensus protocols tailored for implementing blockchain within IoT ecosystems. This research paper proposes an innovative consensus protocol to tackle these challenges while striking an optimal equilibrium among these tripartite factors. Central to this proposal is introducing a hybrid architectural framework that bridges the world of IoT devices and cloud service providers via distinct regional entities, all united in the objective of consensus through a novel voting mechanism hinged on reputation-based mechanisms. The core of this voting mechanism is a dynamic ensemble of nodes, each endowed with unique roles - encompassing ordinary nodes, verifiers, and assemblers. The protocol employs a random selection mechanism through a verifiable random function (VRF) to designate assemblers, ensuring a level playing field. At the heart of the reputation model lies an analysis of region-specific traffic patterns, granting privileges to nodes that demonstrate trustworthy behaviour and high rates of request fulfillment. Extending this framework is an incentive mechanism designed to maintain the network's organic and dynamic allocation of roles. Simulation results benchmarked against Ethereum provide results of the ReVo consensus protocol for latency and transaction throughput. This paper also analyses the protocol working through a novel use case of Taxi Providers and Taxi Ride Consumer Services.