A secure cross-domain interaction scheme for blockchain-based intelligent transportation systems

In the intelligent transportation system (ITS), secure and efficient data communication among vehicles, road testing equipment, computing nodes, and transportation agencies is important for building a smart city-integrated transportation system. However, the traditional centralized processing approach may face threats in terms of data leakage and trust. The use of distributed, tamper-proof blockchain technology can improve the decentralized storage and security of data in the ITS network. However, the cross-trust domain devices, terminals, and transportation agencies in the heterogeneous blockchain network of the ITS still face great challenges in trusted data communication and interoperability. In this article, we propose a heterogeneous cross-chain interaction mechanism based on relay nodes and identity encryption to solve the problem of data cross-domain interaction between devices and agencies in the ITS. First, we propose the ITS cross-chain communication framework and improve the cross-chain interaction model. The relay nodes are interconnected through libP2P to form a relay node chain, which is used for cross-chain information verification and transmission. Secondly, we propose a relay node secure access scheme based on identity-based encryption to provide reliable identity authentication for relay nodes. Finally, we build a standard cross-chain communication protocol and cross-chain transaction lifecycle for this mechanism. We use Hyperledger Fabric and FISCO BCOS blockchain to design and implement this solution, and verify the feasibility of this cross-chain interaction mechanism. The experimental results show that the mechanism can achieve a stable data cross-chain read throughput of 2,000 transactions per second, which can meet the requirements of secure and efficient cross-chain communication and interaction among heterogeneous blockchains in the ITS, and has high application value.