Blockchain for Managing Heterogeneous Internet of Things: A Perspective Architecture

IoT has the potential to transform the way we think about information and communication technology. IoT has been studied extensively across many disciplines such as the networking, communication, security, business, and management communities. However, many unsolved challenges, especially in managing heterogeneous IoTs, remain to be discussed. Recent studies propose using blockchain, an emerging technology that enables decentralized coordination, to address inherent challenges in IoT. This article presents a preliminary study on an architecture that implements blockchain in managing heterogeneous IoT systems. We start by pointing out the limitations of prior IoT systems and the difficulties of integrating IoT and blockchain. Then we outline an architecture to manage a large-scale heterogeneous IoT system. Our main goal is to stimulate further effort and cross-disciplinary collaboration by providing guidance and reference for future studies.