Skip to main content
Log in

Cloud-based vs. blockchain-based IoT: a comparative survey and way forward

  • Review
  • Published:
Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been evolving for more than a decade. Technological advancements have increased its popularity, but concerns and risks related to IoT are growing considerably along with the increased number of connected devices. In 2013, a new cryptography-based infrastructure called blockchain emerged with the potential to replace the existing cloud-based infrastructure of IoT through decentralization. In this article, we provide a taxonomy of the challenges in the current IoT infrastructure, and a literature survey with a taxonomy of the issues to expect in the future of the IoT after adopting blockchain as an infrastructure. The two architectures are compared based on their strengths and weaknesses. Then a brief survey of ongoing key research activities in blockchain is presented, which will have considerable impact on overcoming the challenges encountered in the applicability of blockchain in IoT. Finally, considering the challenges and issues in both infrastructures and the latest research activities, we propose a high-level hybrid IoT approach that uses the cloud, edge/fog, and blockchain together to avoid the limitations of each infrastructure.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Raheel Ahmed MEMON, Junaid AHMED, and Muhammad ISMAIL performed literature survey and processed the collected information. Raheel Ahmed MEMON and Junaid AHMED drafted the manuscript. Muhammad Irshad NAZEER and Khursheed ALI helped organize the manuscript. Jian Ping LI supervised the overall work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jian Ping Li.

Additional information

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Raheel Ahmed MEMON, Jian Ping LI, Junaid AHMED, Muhammad Irshad NAZEER, Muhammad ISMAIL, and Khursheed ALI declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61370073), the National High-Tech R&D Program of China (No. 2007AA01Z423), and the Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province, China

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Memon, R.A., Li, J.P., Ahmed, J. et al. Cloud-based vs. blockchain-based IoT: a comparative survey and way forward. Front Inform Technol Electron Eng 21, 563–586 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1631/FITEE.1800343

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/FITEE.1800343

Key words

CLC number

Navigation