Development of Efficient Blockchain Protocols for Applications in Public Health

Context & Background

The Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly used in public health to collect real-time data from wearable sensors. However, security vulnerabilities and scalability issues hinder large-scale deployments. Blockchain can provide secure, tamper-proof logs, but traditional protocols are too slow and resource-intensive for health systems.

Problems to be Addressed

Proof-of-work consensus is slow and consumes extreme energy. Blockchains also require massive storage and communication bandwidth, making them unsuitable for low-power edge nodes.

Aims and Objectives

1. Optimize blockchain protocols for throughput, latency, and energy efficiency.
2. Apply coding theory and sharding to minimize storage costs.
3. Design secure protocols that allow nodes to easily join and synchronize.

Methodology

The team researches sharded blockchain architectures to distribute database loads. Algebraic coding theory and node-repair algorithms reduce bootstrap sync times. Multi-agent reinforcement learning optimizes block verification decisions based on stochastics and queueing theory.

Expected Outcomes

Scalable sharded blockchain protocols, simulation testbeds showing 2000+ transactions per second on IoT networks, and peer-reviewed journals.