Proof of Sense: A Novel Consensus Mechanism for Spectrum Misuse Detection

Optimal use of scarce radio spectrum is essential in the proliferation of beyond 5G networks, and promising blockchain technology offers various benefits for the spectrum management. However, existing blockchain-based solutions are expensive, nonoptimized, and lack spectrum fraud detection. This article proposes a novel consensus mechanism for a blockchain-based dynamic spectrum access (DSA) system. The proposed "Proof-of-Sense" consensus mechanism operates based on spectrum sensing procedures rather than cryptographic calculations. It is specially designed to address fraudulent/unauthorized access to the spectrum by analyzing the sensed spectrum data. The core of the consensus mechanism is a cryptographic key sharing mechanism inspired by Shamir's secret sharing scheme. Moreover, the proposed DSA system can enable different microservices, such as automated spectrum auctions, payment and penalty handling, and spectrum fraud detection. A proof of concept based on experimental approaches coupled with Matlab simulations is presented to analyze the performance of the proposed consensus mechanism.