The Impact of Blockchain Technology on Wireless Mobile Networks

We have shifted from wired earphones to earbuds and wireless headphones. We are also witnessing a shift from traditional methods of transactions and functions to a decentralized and secure way, apart from the prying interference of the government and other central figures.

What if both of these innovative technologies came together? Well, it has.

5G networks have grown tremendously in the past decade, with thousands of wireless devices. But right now, research and development of 6G wireless communication is happening to address the faults in 5G while also incorporating newer technologies.

In this blog, let’s delve into the realm of wireless networks and how blockchain technology plays a role in their development.

Wireless Network Overview

As the name suggests, wireless networks connect computers or systems without the use of hardware network cables. These systems, or nodes, use radio waves as their medium of communication to send and receive data.

Wi-fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, LTE, and 5G are all examples of wireless networks.

Wireless networks allow freedom of movement and free range of motion, unlike their wired counterparts, which require a stationary setup. Wireless networks are usually half-duplex, meaning that they can only listen, send, or receive data one at a time. This made way for various security measures to be implemented over time to protect the privacy of users.

There are various types of wireless networks.

A LAN (local area network) is a computer network that resides in a single area, such as an office building. It has multiple systems connected to it, like the computer, printers, and other data storage devices. Wi-Fi is a chief example of LAN.
PAN: A personal area network consists of a network centralized that stays around the devices of a single person, confined to a single location. A PAN could have peripheral devices such as computers, mobile technology, video game consoles, etc. Bluetooth is an easy example of a PAN.
A metropolitan area network is a vast network that encompasses a city, a geographical area, businesses, or a campus. The primary differentiation between LAN and MAN is their size.
WAN (wide area) A network covers a large city, area, or even country. The Internet is WAN. Cellular networks are WANs. A WAN usually contains smaller networks like LANs and MANs connected to it.

Wireless Mobile Networks: Current Challenges

Although wireless networks solved the challenges that wired networks put forward, they still come with a band of challenges.

First on the list is signal loss, or attenuation. The farther you travel from the wireless network source, you lose signal strength, also called weakening signals. This happens outdoors due to various barriers that block the signals, like glass, steel, trees, hills, mountains, and a higher number of users.

Movement restriction is the second commonly faced challenge of wireless communication, which restricts the user to a set boundary. The intention of wireless communication is free range of movement, which becomes questionable when you can access the network in a pre-set area.

To follow, the reach of the wireless networks declines when there’s an increase in bandwidth to meet the current demand, like streaming a high-quality video. Higher frequencies result in short-range and become suitable for indoor connectivity.

A surge in new users causes network congestion and collisions, which happen due to multiple people trying to transfer data at the same time.

Network interference caused by signals bouncing off objects leads to signal deterioration, which causes a delay in the carrying of information.

The Role of Blockchain in Mobile Networks

Among the challenges faced in wireless communication, storage, resource management, security, and privacy protection pose more threats than physical challenges.

Here is where blockchain comes into the spotlight, with promising solutions to solve the problems in 5G and 6G networks.

Various communication giants like AT&T, T-Mobile, Alibaba, and Tencent have incorporated blockchain technology for various purposes like identity and access management, digitally tracking business processes, communication, data storage, and computation.

Blockchain has the ultimate potential to tackle security issues that arise in the communications scenario. This strengthens data integrity, access control, privacy protection, tracing, and supervision functionalities for 5G and 6G.

Blockchain, with its cryptographic algorithms, supports safe resource sharing in 5G and 6G systems by promoting collaboration between network resources. Additionally, BCT can efficiently manage large volumes of data in collaboration with cloud computing and MEC technologies.

Furthermore, BCT provides solutions to network slicing, data interaction, infrastructure, identity credibility, and data authenticity.

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Future trends and potential advancements in the field

As a future technology, blockchain in wireless communication is promising with various innovative solutions to the existing challenges. IoT integration is one aspect where blockchain can enhance security, reliability, and communication between devices.

Blockchain can be designed to support infrastructure sharing in a secure and efficient way, which eventually reduces costs and enhances coverage.

Besides a couple of examples, blockchain has the potential to uplift and revolutionize the communication world by enabling decentralized network management, improving spectrum utilization, and fostering innovation in IoT and other areas.

Conclusion

With the advent of 6G networks, security, privacy, and resource management are the chief concerns that require innovative solutions. Blockchain, a decentralized ledger technology with immutability and security through cryptography, holds the potential to address the current challenges faced in wireless communication.

As the BCT matures and overcomes current challenges, its adoption in wireless communication is likely to increase, leading to more efficient, secure, and versatile networks.

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