This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this magazine.
Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.
ACCEPTED FROM OPEN CALL
Blockchain for 5G: A Prelude to Future Telecommunication
Gorla Praveen, Vinay Chamola, Vikas Hassija, and Neeraj Kumar
ABSTRACT
5G and Blockchain are potentially revolution-
izing future technologies. 5G promises high rates
and QoS to the users and blockchain guaran-
tees a high level of trust and security among the
peers. Applications that would be using 5G have
varying needs in terms of speed, bandwidth,
latency and various other factors. Augmented
reality, self-driving vehicles and other IoT appli-
cations tend to use 5G for reliable and fast com-
munication. To work seamlessly and securely in
such scenarios a more specialized and efficient
approach would be required. In this article, we
have identified the specific areas where block-
chain could be utilized to enhance the securi-
ty and privacy of the 5G services offered to the
users. The current challenges faced in deploy-
ment and upliftment of 5G and their related
solutions based on blockchain are discussed. A
model for Multi-Operator Network Slicing in 5G
using blockchain is also presented along with 5G
blockchain implementation.
INTRODUCTION
Fifth-generation cellular network technology
(5G) aims at provisioning high data rate mobile
services with QoS (Quality of Service) guaran-
tee. Real-time services like Augmented Reality,
Virtual Reality, autonomous driving, real-time
gaming, and so on, are highly delay-sensitive.
5G provides a low latency in the order of 1 ms
and less, which is very much needed for such
services. Other applications such as video con-
ferencing require high bandwidth and data trans-
fer rate. 5G technology can readily facilitate
such stringent requirements due to its advanced
features as compared to previous cellular tech-
nologies (i.e., 2G, 3G, and 4G). To cater to spe-
cific demands of the various devices and services
supported by the cellular network, 5G uses a
concept called network slicing. Network slicing
involves creating numerous virtual connections
with a single network. The network resources are
distributed among different virtual networks and
are utilized according to their specific require-
ments [1]. For example, an autonomous car
requires very fast, low latency connections for
real time operations, whereas many IoT sensing
applications/devices might require comparative-
ly less bandwidth. This is because autonomous
cars generate a large amount of data which is
computationally intensive, which needs to be
fed back within real-time deadlines for the auton-
Digital Object Identifier: Gorla Praveen and Vinay Chamola are with BITS-Pilani; Vikas Hassija is with JIIT Noida; Neeraj Kumar is with Thapar University ,
10.1109/MNET.001.2000005
1 0890-8044/20/$25.00 © 2020 IEEE
Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Canberra. Downloaded on May 01,2020 at 10:07:31 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
omous vehicle to operate correctly. However,
most of the IoT sensing applications involve the
generation and relaying of sensor data which is
small in size, and thus these applications do not
need much bandwidth.
5G incorporates various technologies like mas-
sive MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output), small cell,
full duplex and beam-forming [3]. 5G technolo-
gy uses the millimetre spectrum for data transfer.
These low energy millimeter waves cannot propa-
gate to significant distance and also get interfered
by the buildings, trees, and so on. Hence, a dense
network of small cells is deployed to act as repeat-
ers and boost the degraded signal [4]. These small
cells have a short range of 10 to 100m. The spe-
cific characteristics of 5G are:
• Allotting high bandwidth (2GHz) to each
device
• Use of same channels for many devices
• Considering the low latency requirements of
various new devices/services [5, 6].
Blockchain is digital ledger technology (DLT)
which has become popular in recent years due
to its various advantages such as security, trans-
parency, immutability, and so on, [7]. Data that
is stored in a blockchain cannot easily be tam-
pered. Each data block in the blockchain consists
of the data, its hash value, hash of the preced-
ing block, timestamp and a random nonce. Each
block also has a unique hash value to identify
it and all of its contents. The hash is calculated
when a block is created and will change if the
content of the block is tampered. Thus, if at any
point of time someone tries to tamper with the
data stored in a block, then the successor block
which stores the hash value of its previous block
invalidates it due to a mismatch of the hashes.
Apart from the hash, there is another mecha-
nism called proof-of-work (POW) to increase the
security. The POW mechanism provisions each
miner to solve some problematic mathematical
puzzle to be able to add a new block to the
chain. Miners are the specialized users in the
blockchain network that play the role of validat-
ing and adding new blocks to the chain [8]. The
working of blockchain is pictorially represent-
ed in Fig. 1 indicating the different levels from
transaction initiation to final block validation and
then appending it to the existing main chain.
As depicted in Fig. 1, a transaction is initiated
from the user end, and the information such as
timestamp, user details and operators (and other
transaction-related details) are hashed as a block
and sent for validation by the blockchain net-
King Abdulaziz University and Asia University.
IEEE Network • Accepted for Publication
This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this magazine. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.
work. Once nodes in all the blockchain network
approve the block, it is deployed on to the exist-
ing blockchain after processing the user transac-
tion. The applications of blockchain is actively
explored in various industries like health-care,
power and governance. Several uses of block-
chain can be leveraged by CSPs (cellular service
providers) to provide future services of telecom
industries [9–11]. Blockchain can provide a dis-
tributed ledger for a core network of different
CSPs to be used in an insecure manner. Smart
contracts can enable sharing of infrastructure by
automatically handling the transaction charges
among the CSPs. Smart contracts are the self-ex-
ecutable agreements that can be deployed on
the blockchain and can trigger differently in dif-
ferent circumstances without any human inter-
vention. The application of blockchain for CSPs
can also be extended to fraud detection applica-
tions. Blockchain can facilitate the eSIM solution
and services like identity authentication.
In this article, the use of blockchain in 5G
is the main emphasis. In the following section,
various existing and proposed blockchain appli-
cations in 5G are presented. Implementation of
blockchain for 5G is discussed then and final con-
clusions are drawn in the final section.
APPLICATIONS OF BLOCKCHAIN IN 5G
In this section, various key areas of 5G in which
blockchain can be applied are discussed. Major
areas discussed in this section are as follows:
• Enabling 5G
• Blockchain-based Network Slice Broker in
5G
• Fraud prevention
• Blockchain-based physical infrastructure shar-
ing in 5G small-cell networks
• Blockchain-based 5G spectrum allocation,
sharing and management
• Managing data and providing service through
establishing identity.
ENABLING 5G USING BLOCKCHAIN
As soon as any device enters the cellular network,
it has different options through which it can con-
nect to the network (e.g., cellular/WiFi/ WiMax).
In the existing system, as shown in Fig. 2a, Evolved
Packet Core (EPC) of the network provisions the
use of IP based packet-only for all the services
within the 3GPP compliant networks. Access Net-
work Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF),
which is a part of EPC, assists the User Equip-
ment (UE) in discovery, selection and connect-
ing to non-3GPP access networks such as WiFi
or WiMax [12]. ANDSF also helps in offloading
data traffic from the mobile network and provides
them with rules that are mandatory for connect-
ing with these networks. It has information about
the device and a record of access networks based
on the device request which needs connection. It
also contains data about the interfaces supported
among the nodes for different access technolo-
gies such as WiMax, WiFi and so on.
Access to various networks, which is a core
feature of 5G technology, can be realized if and
only if the CSPs can take care of all diverse access
nodes and mechanisms [13. The main challenge
in this is to select the quickest access node for
every user. 5G networks can be improvised by
IEEE Network • Accepted for Publication
Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Canberra. Downloaded on May 01,2020 at 10:07:31 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
A block with timestamp,
A new The block is delivered to
user, operator and other
transaction all the nodes in the
transaction related
is initiated network
information is created
Next, block is verified and approved
by all the nodes in the network
Previous Hash Timestamp Previous Hash Timestamp
User Data Other details User Data Other details
The block is added in the blockchain and linked with
the previously existing blocks
FIGURE 1. Basic workflow of blockchain.
incorporating a new model of access technolo-
gy mechanisms where blockchain can assist the
device for establishing a connection to the vari-
ous networks.
Current Problem: In this current client-serv-
er model, a centralized server (ANDSF) stores
the rules which are sent to the devices (i.e.,
clients). Some of the problems it causes are
delays due to centralization of ANDSF; no sup-
port by the device for continuous provisioning
among the access network; and no provision
for real-time operations with dynamic change
of rules.
Blockchain Based Solution: The distributed
blockchain network can be used to connect the
3GPP access networks such as GPRS, LTE and
so on, and non-3GPP access networks such as
Wi-Max, WiFi and so on, in a particular area.
In the setup, as shown in Fig. 2b, each access
point (e.g., cell tower, WiFi router) at a node
of the network will monitor the end devices. It
will help in deciding which access nodes will be
provisioned for a given end device. For exam-
ple, if there are more than one access nodes in
the vicinity of the end device, multiple param-
eters from the smart contract will weigh the
merit of each access node and assign the best
possible one for the device. The smart contract
contains the rules and agreements between the
various network carriers, which provides access.
Whenever any policy or rule is to be changed,
these contracts can be changed accordingly.
Whenever a change of rule is required a new
contract through automatic generation of smart
rules ( based on required change) is formed
and deployed the blockchain network. The
change of rule is applicable to the future trans-
actions based on the newly deployed instance
of contract. Let us say that the parameters judg-
ing the best access nodes need some change
in weights; this can be done efficiently using
blockchain by forming a new contract. The CSP
cell accepts the device, which then transmits
its identity. Then the access node provides the
service to the device as soon as it broadcasts
its location. Also, as shown in Fig. 2b, loca-
tion-based services using blockchain access are
2
This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this magazine. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.
Radio Access
Networks
(7) Application
Server
Mobile core network
(5) ANDSF server
(4) P-GW
(2) LTE eNB (8) DNS server
(1) UE
(with ANDSF
Client)
External Data
(3) Wi-Fi AP
network
(6) Legacy
switch
(a)
FIGURE 2. a) Traditional model for Access Point selection; b) blockchain based Access Point selection in 5G.
provided through Public WLAN, Car WLAN and
Private WLAN. Charges for the services used by
the various nodes will be continuously calculat-
ed by the smart contract.
BLOCKCHAIN NETWORK SLICE (NS) BROKER IN 5G
In 5G, the concept of network slicing is to pro-
vide many virtual network connections from a
single physical backbone network using Net-
work Function Virtualization [14]. The band-
width of the network can be customized
according to the service requirements. The
use of network virtualization reduces infra-
structure cost. For example, if there are three
types of services, traditional services (like voice
call, SMS and so on), video services and IoT
services, where each service requires diff erent
bandwidth, a single physical network can be
used to serve these requirements.
Use of Slice Broker: The slice broker has three
main tasks, dynamic allocation of resources like
bandwidth and data rate; supervision of the net-
work traffic and forecasting data flow in the net-
work; allocating the resources for the user based
on the Radio Access Network (RAN) scheduler
configuration.
The 5G NS broker accesses the current
resource availability from the infrastructure pro-
vider (operator) and allocates network slice to
UE as per request and Service Level Agreement
(SLA) for each user [14]. Figure 3a shows the
process of network slicing in a pictorial manner.
For NS operations between multiple operators,
there should be a mutual trust between the oper-
ators for multi-operator slice creation. For this,
the NS brokers should not always be centralized,
and it is feasible to have a distributed network
of slice brokers. A blockchain-based multi-opera-
tor network slice creation model is proposed, as
shown in Fig. 3b.
How Blockchain Helps in Network Slicing:
Blockchain provides the solution for the prob-
lem discussed above. It can act as a distributed
ledger in the NS broker system, and the transac-
tions are verifi ed using the unique digital keys
of the users. Smart contracts in the blockchain
are used for the automation of the repetitious
and straightforward negotiations. They are also
used to execute direct agreements which are
related to slice-brokering operations. The main
advantage of using blockchain by deploying
smart contract as a slice broker can signifi-
cantly reduce the coordination complexity and
3 IEEE Network • Accepted for Publication
Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Canberra. Downloaded on May 01,2020 at 10:07:31 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Car WLAN
Private WLAN
UE(1)
3GPP station
UE(2)
Public WLAN
User WLAN
UE(3)
Location broadcast Smart contract P2P payment Connectivity provision
(b)
transaction costs. Since the Quality of Service
(QoS) and price work are also parameters for
the smart contract, the efficiency of the negoti-
ations on the Service Level Agreements are also
improved.
Smart contracts handle the network resource
allocation with the help of Master Operated Net-
work Management (MONM). The blockchain
saves the contract agreement only after both
negotiators accept the conditions. The contracts
are deployed with time stamps and verified signa-
tures to prevent the problem of non-repudiation.
Since storing all the data in the distributed block-
chain is very expensive, only the important param-
eters such as time of starting or terminating the
service, negotiated QoS parameters and charging
evidence can be stored on the chain. The storage
of all the important parameters in one block helps
in fast authentication.
Multi-Operator NS Allocation Procedure
Using Blockchain: Using the operator and the
user details from multiple operators, a smart con-
tract for Standard Network slice is created, which
is a Global Multi-Operator Standard Network
Slice (GMOSNS) or simply Standard Network
Slice (SNS). Upon adding these smart contract
details to the blockchain, a foreign user is served
according to smart contract for the network slice
allocation. The suggestive working of multi-opera-
tor Network Slicing with blockchain, as shown in
Fig. 3b, is as follows.
• Step 1: After approving the smart contract,
Global Multi-Operator Standardized Net-
work Slice information is distributed to all
the operators participating in the blockchain.
• Step 2: A Standard Network Slice is initially
allocated to UE by the Home Network.
• Step 3: When the UE moves to the Visited
Network, a copy of the user information is
requested by the Visited Network from the
blockchain. The blockchain provides the
same by sending a service Acknowledgment
request to the UE’s Home Network.
• Step 4: Permission is granted by the block-
chain to access the Visited Network resourc-
es according to the smart contract.
• Step 5: Home Network controls the UE’s Vis-
ited Network resources for allocating further
Custom Network Slice upon UE’s request.
Further, infrastructure sharing among multi-
ple operators using blockchain is discussed later,
where multi-operator network slice can be a part
of it. Furthermore, to prevent fraudulent activities
This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this magazine. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.

when a user is in the Visited Network, another

blockchain model is presented below.

FRAUD PREVENTION
In the existing system, when a user places a call or
event, the Visited Public Mobile Network (VPMN)
inquiries the Host Public Mobile Network
(HPMN) to find the services subscribed by the
user who is out of their home network. It queries
the Home Location Register (HLR) to receive the
Call Detail Records (CDRs). The HPMN receives
the CDR information from the VPMN as a Trans-
fer Account Procedure (TAP) file, as shown in Fig.
4a. There are companies acting like a Data Clear-
ing House (DCH) for these files. They transmit
and convert the TAP files on behalf of the host
Consumer Service provider. The HPMN settles
the cost with VPMN according to their tariff rates.
Current Challenges: In general, when a user
goes out of the HPMN and connects to the (a)
VPMN, the VPMN charges the HPMN and then
the host network charges the user. A fraudulent Operator Operator
activity is comprised of such acts where the user and user(s)
information
and user(s)
information
bypasses the system by not paying the roaming
charge incurred through using the VPMN. These Smart contract
malicious users need to be identified, and fraud
prevention must be done in real-time. Anticipating Multi Operator details
these frauds and preventing them is a major con- Multi Operator
Step 1
cern for the telecom operators.
Standardised slice details
Contract details
Blockchain-Based Solution: A roaming agree-
ment can be formulated between the operators
with the permissioned blockchain, where a few
registered entities (Operators) are given the priv- Global Multi-Operator Standardised
Network Slice information
ilege to validate the data. The designated nodes
from both operators verify the originality of each Standard
transaction broadcasted on the network. A smart Network Step 2
contract is used to implement a roaming agree- Slice
ment between the HPMN and the VPMN, which
is invoked when a transaction is broadcasted on UE
the blockchain network, which contains the CDR Home Network Blockchain Network Visited Network
data. As shown in Fig. 4b, whenever a user ini-
tiates an event in a network, the CDR informa-
tion is broadcasted by the VPMN as a transaction Step 3 UE
to the HPMN. The smart contract is initiated by Standard
this data, and the conditions of the contract are Service
 User info req  Network
executed. Based on the services rendered, the acknowledgement
 User info  slice
assigned
billing amount is calculated by the HPMN and is
returned to the VPMN. This advocates settlement Permission grant to Permission UE
on the spot and confirms authorization to prevent Step 4 access Visted Network acknowledgement Custom
any fraudulent activity. The settlements also occur Network
slice
according to the blockchain-based smart contract Step 5
Controlling Visted Network resources allocated
terms which eliminate the need for DCH, result-
ing in an additional reduction in cost. UE
(b)
BLOCKCHAIN-BASED PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SHARING IN
5G C ELLULAR NETWORKS FIGURE 3. a) Network Slice structure; b) blockchain based multi-operator Net-
work Slice assignment in 5G.
Infrastructure in 5G: In the conventional com-
munication networks, each network operator
owns its infrastructure, which spans across the offer services to the subscribers of other opera-
large geographical area. For 5G, a dense network tors. A consortium of multiple operators can be
of small cells should be deployed, which increases formed with administrative privileges to approve
the cost for each operator to have their infrastruc- the associated nodes within the chain. Due to this
ture. So sharing of resources between the opera- selective addition of nodes, consortium block-
tors is the best possible way to cut down the cost. chain is more secure than a public chain for
Blockchain as a Solution: In a traditional sys- this scenario. Consortium blockchain and pub-
tem, infrastructure sharing is a complex issue lic blockchain are different from each other in
because of data being stored in a more central- terms of the permissible access. In consortium
ized way. Therefore, the use of blockchain can blockchain, only consortium group members have
provision to store the data in a distributed manner access to participate in the blockchain network,
where multiple operators can access this data to whereas in public blockchain, any blockchain

IEEE Network • Accepted for Publication 4

Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Canberra. Downloaded on May 01,2020 at 10:07:31 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this magazine. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.
CDR CDR
e rin   • Step 6: Finally, the UE is wholly detached,
house
Pay for service
  o e o er User
o in
  is or o er
(a)
o e o in r on r   
CDR-broadcast on Blockchain
ri ers on r   unused bands with the other operators. DSS in 5G
o e
User
istor
o er o er
Pay for service
(b)
FIGURE 4. a) Traditional system for roaming pact when user is in VPMN;
b) proposed blockchain based system for 5G roaming pact when user is in
VPMN.
node has access to blockchain data and can also
participate in the blockchain process. Figures 5a(i)
and 5a(ii) depict the infrastructure sharing meth-
odology using blockchain for 5G.
Blockchain Implementation Model for 5G
Infra Sharing: A new block is created in the
chain whenever an operator configures a new
SIM. Blocks with the SIM card and user subscrip-
tion offer details are distributed to all the nodes
for verification and is added to the chain upon
approval. The suggestive working of attachment
and detachment of the UE with eNodeB as shown
in Fig. 5a is as follows.
• Step 1: After performing a smart contract,
When the client buys a SIM card, the oper-
ator validates the client. Then, an encrypted
digital proof of client validity is sent to the
blockchain.
• Step 2: When the UE sends an attach request to
the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) of the network,
EPC gets the International Mobile Subscriber
Identity (IMSI) information from the message.
If the UE belongs to the serving network, a null
transaction is performed by the smart contract;
else the smart contract sends the authentication
keys of the UE to the Mobile Management Enti-
ty (MME) for authentication and security mech-
anisms toward the UE.
• Step 3: Once the authentication process is
complete, MME requests and receives sub-
scriber information from the distributed
ledger. After receiving the subscriber infor-
mation, the UE is provided service by the
MME.
• Step 4: When the UE terminates the service,
the UE session is ended while notifying the
same to the distributed ledger.
• Step 5: Smart contract receives the UE user’s
subscription offer information, and their IMSI
5 IEEE Network • Accepted for Publication
Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Canberra. Downloaded on May 01,2020 at 10:07:31 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
to perform a peer to peer transaction involv-
ing the guest operator account and serving
operator account, based on the user’s data
consumption and the smart contract contents.
and a copy of the updated information is
added to the Blockchain.
BLOCKCHAIN-BASED 5G SPECTRUM ALLOCATION,
S HARING AND MANAGEMENT
With the advancement in technology and new
User emerging devices, the need for spectrum alloca-
tion for high-speed data rates is indeed neces-
sary. Allocating new frequency bands is often a
critical task both in terms of technological and
economic feasibility. To avoid this, CSPs can
make use of existing frequency bands by sharing
o e
them between multiple operators. In this way, it
can help the operators to meet the rising traffic
demand. Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) helps
in reducing the network bottlenecks by sharing the
User is a promising solution for accommodating a high-
er number of devices/services within the existing
spectrum. However, spectrum sharing in 5G has
potential risks of affecting its core characteristics if
proper care is not taken for its inception.
Challenges of Spectrum Sharing in 5G: The
following are some of the challenges of Spectrum
sharing in 5G:
Regulations: Most telecommunication regu-
latory authorities across the world do not allow
spectrum sharing between multiple operators.
Most often, operators are prohibited from the
voluntary sharing of their spectrum. One of the
factors for this is ineffi cient spectrum manage-
ment practices that result in network degrada-
tion.
Centralization: Existing telecommunication
networks are centralized systems and cannot
handle the efficient spectrum sharing practices.
Due to centralization, there is no sharing of data
between multiple operators’ network systems for
provisioning spectrum sharing.
Heterogeneity: Spectrum sharing between het-
erogeneous networks such as macro, micro, pico,
and femtocells, often called HetNets, is a critical
task. Spectrum sharing between these cells may
cause interference which also degrades the over-
all performance of the network.
Blockchain-Based Solution: Blockchain can
be used for efficiently enabling Dynamic Spec-
trum sharing in 5G as discussed in [2]. A con-
sortium blockchain-based Spectrum sharing
framework is formed with a smart contract. The
network consists of both the CSP’s and telecom
regulatory authorities as multi-stakeholders. The
smart contract contains the spectrum allocation,
sharing and management strategies along with
the spectrum sharing the rental cost. The sugges-
tive procedure for the basic Dynamic Spectrum
Sharing between multi-operators using block-
chain is as follows:
• Step 1: Multiple operators broadcast their
status about the usage of frequency bands
and their respective locations to the nodes in
the distributed ledger. Blockchain maintains
the record of this status in its blocks. This is
a periodic process to provision for Dynamic
Spectral Sharing between the operators.
This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this magazine. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.

Distributed ledger Distributed ledger

Node 1 Node 2
Node 1 Node 2
EPC (Op. 1) EPC (Op.2)
EPC (Op. 1) EPC (Op.2)

Step 1

Smart contract
- Operator details Smart contract
on r er s
- Event details - Operator details
- Standard services on r er s
- Event details
UE eNodeB - Standard services
UE eNodeB
Attach Request
Authentication
request
Dettach Request
If IMSI:
Step 4
Delete GTP
   U e s Session Notify request
Else: Step 2
o U e s If IMSI belong Op1:
  1. Create new block
  2. Update subscriber
   
Authentication
response If IMSI belong Op2:
NAS Security Setup Step 5
  1. Create new block for
  U e s s ri er
Location update  
req   e e n n i  
NAS Security Setup r ns ion  fro o 
If subscription: Op.1
   s ri ion Notify response
data Step 3 Detach
Accept
Else:
Step 6
EPS Session    ee se
s is en Location
Procedure update Resp

i en eq en e i r sin o in ii e en eq en e i r sin o in

(a)

Saftey Verifier
1. Opens CPS provided ID er i e sen for
stored User
New user App on phone eri ion
on eSIM Digital
Private key Challenge
solved using er i e
4. Encrypted challenges 2. App is er i e to the
private key connected
Te e o sent to assigned after ID   
Blockchain
Public key to
Virtual ID verify authenticity authentication Blockchain
Virtual Identity Stored on en e Blockchain
User
created Blockchain authenticated
irtual identity info CSP
Partner sent to partner
CSP
application

(i) ID Creation (ii) ID Authentication iii n e en

(b)

FIGURE 5. a) Blockchain based UE attachment and detachment procedure for Infrastructure sharing in 5G;
b) Blockchain based Data Management services in 5G.

• Step 2: When a primary operator’s spectrum Through blockchain, telecom regulatory

is wholly occupied, and there is a need for authorities can perform Dynamic Spectrum Allo-
more spectrum resources to provide services cation (DSA) for multiple operators based on
to the primary users, the primary operator’s immediate needs of service (such as Network Slic-
Base Station (BS) sends a request to the ing as discussed above) and region of demand.
blockchain network. This provisions the regulatory authorities to
• Step 3: Blockchain then sends the spectrum continuously monitor the spectrum allocation,
sharing requests to the secondary operator’s spectrum sharing and network parameters, thus
BS near the primary operator’s BS, to allo- increasing the trust in operators and security of
cate the available spectrum. the regional telecommunication network, and the
• Step 4: The secondary operator sends enabling of blockchain in 5G also provisions for
Acknowledgment (ACK) to the blockchain spectrum sharing between Heterogeneous 5G
and allocates unused spectrum (Overlay networks by reducing the interference between
Spectrum) for the primary operator, while them with ease of management.
continuously monitoring its own spectrum
demand. A specific period is allocated for MANAGING DATA AND PROVIDING SERVICE THROUGH
spectrum sharing. As soon as the allocation ESTABLISHING IDENTITY
time is completed or the secondary operator In addition to user data management, CSPs can
has its own spectrum demand to serve its generate additional revenue with the help of
users, spectrum sharing is terminated. The blockchain by providing user identity authentica-
same is notified in the blockchain network. tion services to their partners.
• Step 5: Financial transactions are performed The CSP creates a digital identity for the new
between the operators through smart con- subscriber. This digital identity consisting of pub-
tracts. Finally, spectrum sharing is completely lic identity with subscriber details is added to the
terminated between operators for this ses- blockchain, and the private key associated with this
sion and information is updated and stored identity is stored in eSIM, as shown in Fig. 5b(i).
in the blockchain. When a subscriber needs to authenticate their iden-

IEEE Network • Accepted for Publication 6

Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Canberra. Downloaded on May 01,2020 at 10:07:31 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this magazine. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.
Median Block Propogation Time ( msec )
Old nodes New nodes
(a)
FIGURE 6. a) Multi-Operator 5G Blockchain network map; b) Block propagation time analysis for multi-operator based 5G Blockchain.
tity on any of the CSPs partners’ services, the sub-
scriber’s virtual identity created on the blockchain
can be used to authenticate the subscriber, that
is, any CSP’s partner who would like to validate a
subscriber for any purpose can use the subscriber’s
public virtual identity available on the blockchain to
do the same. Here, the subscriber uses their private
key to sign this authentication process digitally, as
shown in Fig. 5b(ii). During the process of comple-
tion, in every step, the blockchain is updated with
the pointer pointing to the created virtual identity
with the required descriptors.
IMPLEMENTATION OF BLOCKCHAIN FOR 5G
In this section, the specifications of 5G are incor-
porated in blockchain to observe the median block
propagation time concerning the total number of
nodes. As shown in Fig. 6a, a multi-operator based
5G blockchain is simulated across the different
geographic regions. Blockchain nodes from North
America, Europe, South America, Asia, Japan and
Australia are considered for this implementation.
The distribution density of nodes is based on rela-
tive currently available nodes in those regions. The
probability of distribution of the nodes across these
regions is 0.3869, 0.5159, 0.011, 0.0574, 0.0119
and 0.0166, respectively. Based on the region,
forecasted average 5G bandwidth (average highest
being 2Gb/s) and latency are estimated and incor-
porated in this simulation. Figure 6a represents a
5G blockchain network connectivity model at a
time instant of block propagating between nodes
across these regions. In this figure, a circle denotes
a blockchain node, and its color is associated with
the latest block of the node while a large circle
is a miner corresponding to it. Moreover, link (b)
is propagation from node to another node at the
timestamp, and its color is associated with the flow-
ing block while indicating the newly received block
in bold at the timestamp.
Figure 6b is a graph between median prop-
agation time of a block in a blockchain and the
number of multi-operator blockchain nodes it is
propagating. The median propagation time of a
block is the total time that a block takes to prop-
agate between all the designated network nodes.
As observed from the graph, the propagation time
of the block is approximately the same, irrespective
7 IEEE Network • Accepted for Publication
Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Canberra. Downloaded on May 01,2020 at 10:07:31 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
450
End block height = 100
End block height = 1000
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Number of multi-operator nodes # 10 4
(b)
of the number of blocks in a blockchain for the
same number of blockchain nodes. The median
block propagation time for 1000 (one thousand)
multi-operator blockchain nodes is less than 100
ms, and for 60,000 (sixty thousand) multi-operator
blockchain nodes it is less than 450 ms. On evalua-
tion (Fig. 6b), block propagation in a 5G blockchain
network is more than 20 times faster than existing
blockchain networks [15]. That is, median block
propagation time between 10000 multi-operator
nodes in this implementation is 339.5 ms against
the current value of 8849.5 ms in the existing net-
work. Therefore, 5G can significantly increase the
scalability and the performance of the blockchain
network. Moreover, approach to improving the
performance of blockchain networks can be used
in deploying it for providing and enhancing various
application-based services in 5G, such as Block-
chain-based multi-operator infrastructure sharing;
Blockchain-based multi-operator Network Slicing;
and fraud prevention and to increase the security
of the network.
In the future, realistic implementation of block-
chain has several challenges. Some of them are:
• Synchronization issues of UE association and
dissociation with block validation timing
• Reducing power consumption of the block-
chain nodes for achieving low power mode
• Latency aware operations of the blockchain
nodes to validate a block for achieving actu-
al 5G specified latencies.
CONCLUSION
The implementation of 5G networks is still in the
testbed stage and standards are being formulat-
ed. We present an array of possibilities such as
multi-operator network slicing, fraud prevention,
physical infrastructure sharing, spectrum manage-
ment, user identity authentication and data man-
agement services using blockchain in 5G cellular
networks. We also evaluated a multi-operator 5G
blockchain network, which has increased the per-
formance of 5G blockchain network.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is supported by DST-SERB (Science
and Engineering Research Board (SERB)) funding
under Project Grant File no. ECR/2018/001479.
This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this magazine. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.
REFERENCES
[1] X. Li et al., “Network Slicing for 5G: Challenges and Oppor-
tunities,” IEEE Internet Computing, vol. 21, no. 5, 2017, pp.
20–27.
[2] B. Mafakheri et al., “Blockchainbased Infrastructure Sharing
in 5G Small Cell Networks,” Proc. IEEE CNSM, Nov. 2018,
Rome, Italy, pp. 1-8.
[3] B. Zhou, A. Liu, and V. Lau, “Successive Localization and
Beamforming in 5G mmWave MIMO Communication
Systems,” IEEE Trans. Signal Processing, vol. 67, no. 6, Mar.
2019, pp. 1620–35.
[4] Z. Chen et al., “A Security Authentication Scheme of 5G
Ultra-Dense Network Based on Block Chain,” IEEE Access,
vol. 6, 2018, pp. 55 372–79.
[5] M. A. Rahman et al., “Blockchain-Based Mobile Edge Com-
puting Framework for Secure Therapy Applications,” IEEE
Access, vol. 6, 2018, pp. 72 469–78.
[6] J. Sachs et al., “Adaptive 5G Low-Latency Communication
for Tactile Internet Services,” Proc. IEEE, vol. 107, no. 2, Feb.
2019, pp. 325–49.
[7] M. Crosby et al., “BlockChain Technology Beyond Bitcoin,”
Tech. Rep., Oct. 2015, last accessed on 15-Aug.-2019; avail-
able: http: //scet.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/Block-
chainPaper.pdf.
[8] Y. Xu and Y. Huang, “MWPoW — Multi-Winner Proof of
Work Consensus Protocol: An Immediate Block-Confirm
Solution and an Incentive for Common Devices to Join
Blockchain,” Proc. 2018 IEEE Intl. Conf. Parallel Distributed
Processing with Applications, Ubiquitous Computing Com-
mun., Big Data Cloud Computing, Social Computing Net-
working, Sustainable Computing Commun. (ISPA/IUCC/
BDCloud/SocialCom/SustainCom), Dec. 2018, pp. 964–71.
[9] M. R. Gramatke and M. Sallaba, “How Blockchain Can
Impact Telecommunication Industry,” Tech. Rep., last
accessed on 2-Aug.- 2019; available: https://www2.deloitte.
com/za/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunica-
tions/articles/blockchain_telco.pdf.
[10] K. Valtanen, J. Backman, and S. Yrjola, “Blockchain-Pow-
ered Value Creation in the 5G and Smart Grid Use Cases,”
IEEE Access, vol. 7, Feb. 2019, pp. 25 690–25 707.
[11] Z. Xiong et al., “When Mobile Blockchain Meets Edge Comput-
ing,” IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 56, no. 8, Aug. 2018, pp. 33–39.
[12] A. Pérez, Network Discovery and Selection, Wiley, 2018,
pp. 183–99; available: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/docu-
ment/8607872
[13] H. Klessig et al., “From Immune Cells to Self-Organizing
Ultra-Dense Small Cell Networks,” IEEE JSAC, vol. 34, no. 4,
Apr. 2016, pp. 800–11.
IEEE Network • Accepted for Publication
Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Canberra. Downloaded on May 01,2020 at 10:07:31 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
[14] K. Samdanis, X. Costa-Perez, and V. Sciancalepore, “From
Network Sharing to Multi-Tenancy: The 5G Network Slice
Broker,” IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 54, no. 7, July 2016, pp.
32–39.
[15] C. Decker and R. Wattenhofer, “Information Propagation
in the Bitcoin Network,” Proc. IEEE P2P 2013, Sept. 2013,
pp. 1–10.
BIOGRAPHIES
G ORLA P RAVEEN is a research student at the Birla Institute of
Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani, India. He received his
B.Tech in electronics and communication engineering and M.En-
gg with specialization in telecommunication engineering from
the College of Engineering Hyderabad, Jawaharlal Nehru Tech-
nological University Hyderabad, India, and the Asian Institute
of Technology, Thailand, respectively, in 2019. His research
interests include indoor localization, wireless communications,
5G and quantum-assistive communications
VINAY CHAMOLA is an assistant professor at the Birla Institute
of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani, India. He received his
B.E. (2010) and M.E. (2013) degrees from BITS, Pilani, and the
Ph.D. degree (2016) from the National University of Singpaore
(NUS), Singapore. He has co-authored more than 45 papers in
respected journals and magazines like IEEE TCOM, IEEE TVT,
IEEE IoTJ, IEEE TSE, IEEE JSAC, IEEE Communications Magazine,
etc., and serves as a guest editor for Computer Communication
and other journals. His research interests include IoT security,
Blockchain, 5G network management, VANETs, UAV Nets,
and BCI.
VIKAS HASSIJA is an assistant professor at the Jaypee Institute
of Information and Technology, Noida, India. He received his
B.Tech degree from M.D.U University, Rohtak, India, in 2010
and the M.S. degree in telecommunications and software engi-
neering from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani,
India in 2014. His research interests include 5G network provi-
sioning, Blockchain and network security.
NEERAJ KUMAR is an associate professor in the Computer Sci-
ence & Engineering Department, Thapar Institute of Engineering
& Technology, Patiala. He is also an adjunct professor at King
Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and at Asia Universi-
ty, Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. in CSE from SMVD University,
Katra (J & K), India, and was a postdoctoral research fellow
at Coventry University, Coventry, UK. He is an internationally
renowned researcher in the areas of VANET, CPS smart grid, IoT
mobile cloud computing, big data, and cryptography.
8