DistB-VNET: Distributed Cluster-based Blockchain Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks through SDN-NFV for Smart City
Anichur Rahman, MD. Zunead Abedin Eidmum, Dipanjali Kundu, Mahir Hossain, MD Tanjum An Tashrif, Md Ahsan Karim, Md. Jahidul Islam
TL;DR
This work tackles security, privacy, and scalability challenges in VANETs for smart cities by introducing DistB-VNET, a distributed blockchain-based VANET architecture that fuses SDN, NFV, dual-layer blockchain, and an unsupervised Isolation Forest IDS to detect and block malicious traffic at the edge while enabling dynamic network management. The proposed design combines cluster-based vehicle organization, cryptographic key management with PKI, IPFS storage for original data, and blockchain-backed verification, all orchestrated by SDN controllers and NFV-enabled resource allocation. Key contributions include the integrated architecture, a secure clustering and data-path approach, edge-level IDS, and empirical results showing improved throughput, reduced latency, and enhanced security over baselines. The framework supports secure vehicle-to-vehicle communication, scalable traffic management, and privacy-preserving data sharing in urban deployments, offering a practical blueprint for deploying blockchain-enabled VANETs in smart cities. Overall, DistB-VNET demonstrates how edge-oriented IDS, blockchain, and programmable networks can synergistically enhance the reliability and security of future urban mobility systems.
Abstract
In the developing topic of smart cities, Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs) are crucial for providing successful interaction between vehicles and infrastructure. This research proposes a distributed Blockchain-based Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (DistB-VNET) architecture that includes binary malicious traffic classification, Software Defined Networking (SDN), and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) to ensure safe, scalable, and reliable vehicular networks in smart cities. The suggested framework is the decentralized blockchain for safe data management and SDN-NFV for dynamic network management and resource efficiency and a noble isolation forest algorithm works as an IDS (Intrusion Detection System). Further, "DistB-VNET" offers a dual-layer blockchain system, where a distributed blockchain provides safe communication between vehicles, while a centralized blockchain in the cloud is in charge of data verification and storage. This improves security, scalability, and adaptability, ensuring better traffic management, data security, and privacy in VANETs. Furthermore, the unsupervised isolation forest model achieves a high accuracy of 99.23% for detecting malicious traffic. Additionally, reveals that our method greatly improves network performance, offering decreased latency, increased security, and reduced congestion, an effective alternative for existing smart city infrastructures.