Timely Update Probability Analysis of Blockchain Ledger in UAV-assisted Data Collection Networks

Abstract

In recent years, blockchain technology has been frequently exploited to address new security requirements for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted data collection (U-DC). However, the new latency to commit data to the blockchain ledger has emerged as a new issue. In this paper, therefore, we analyze the timely update probability (TUP) of the blockchain ledger, which is the probability that collected data from a UAV is updated in the blockchain within a given target latency. For analysis, we first define the TUP of the blockchain ledger in U-DC networks, using both the UAV communication and blockchain latencies. We then derive a closed-form expression of the TUP, and then validate our analysis. We conclude by exploring the impacts of some UAV communication and blockchain parameters on the TUP for their optimal deployment. © 2022 IEEE.