IONCHAIN; A revoluntonary infrastructure of Internet of Things Via Blockchain and edge computing technology

Introduction

There has been a noticeable and rapid increase in the adoption of the cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology with bitcoin marking its tenth long years of existence on earth. With these positive development in the cryptosphere and blockchain technology, it is believed to take us to the new era of internet, where we can experience the internet of value. The blockchain technology has been adopted by different sectors, these sectors who have versalify it into different fields and application. IONChain from the word ION, which means the key substance required to form an elements, compounds and substances. The IONChain poses to be the key element in aggregating IoT (Acronym for Internet of Things) devices and also fascilitates the decentralized Peer-to-Peer transactions and communication that would occur on the platform.
IONChain uses the concept of “One Device, One Coin, One Code” which aids in the aggregation of these IoT devices with the IONChain blockchain network. It solves major problems on the IoT networks. Problems of data sharing, data communication, data circulation and data transaction. All devices on the IoT netwoek will be used as a mining machine that would fascilitas mining of results via the IONChain with the use of computing technology.

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The concept and name of IONChain is from the theroy of ionization by Arrhenius, a swedish physicist (1887) which states that, similar to molecules and atoms, ions are the key particle in the formation of elements and substgances. The IONChain will act as a key link betwwen IoT devices, which are designed to support the decentralized peer to peer transactions and communication that will occur amongst these IoT devices on the IONChain.
The IoT network is the fundamental element in the creation of information technology.. The annual growth rate of the IoT market is a decent rate of 15.2%. Statistics of IDC shows that alot of money (736.9 billion dollas) has been invested in the global IoT market and its speculated that more money would be invested in the IoT market with thwe amount of money raising to 1289,9 billion dollars in 2020. There have been very positive growth in the IoT market since its inception in 1998.

Problem definition

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The weak point of the IoT network
• No existing business model
• Weak Data security and privacy protection
• No Interoperability between platforms
• The shackles of cloud computing architecture

No existing business model:

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unlike other existing technology companies and industries like the Samsung company, Apple company, Internet Protocol IP who have a well defined business model and a clear standard of the use of their resources and data, the IoT does not have a well defined business model. It is difficult to find large scale application of the IoT technology on businesses affiliated with revolutionary technology and computers.

Weak Data Security and Privacy Protection

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The IoT network have centralized servers which makes it somewhat prone to hackers and cyber thieves unlike the decentralized servers that the IONChain is offering. A good example of this vulnerability was the hacking of Hilary Clinton’s emails and the hacking of different social media accounts to create votes for competitions. Also, the IoT networks have problem of privacy protection. An example, is Zuckerberg’s Facebook scandal of using people’s private information without these people’s knowledge for their own purposes.

No interoperability between platforms

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On the IoT networks, devices are usually incompatible causing a fault in data sharing activities and automated task performances of these devices. There seems to be a barrier between IoT devices in data sharing like in the case of Microsoft and apple devices which are designed differently and structured to be incompatible to either create supremacy or uniqueness in production not minding the effects of restricted data sharing and also ignoring the the importance of proper data sharing to the IoT network technology.

The shackles of cloud computing architecture

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IoT network rely on cloud computing and speed is on of the problems and issue that comes with this reliance. IoT devices create large volumes of data per second and most IoT devices can not retrieve data that requires less than a second of retrieval, efficiently as it may rather take forever to retrieve or execute some processes from inception to end.
These problems of IoT network and devices has made it very hard to implement the technology in real life. For example having an airplane that can self-pilot itself would require a lot of speed, accuracy and top-notch data storage system which IoT network and devices do not offer at this time of writing this article. For futuristic progress to be made in the IoT network industry, these problems listed above have to be sufficiently tackled and solved. This is where the IONChain comes in, which is taking advantage of the blockchain technology to provide feasible and credible solution to the problems listed above and also introduce a revolutionary technology and the new edge of computing.

IONChain and the Solutions they provide to IoT network problems

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IONChain is a blockchain solution with the goal to eliminate the existing problems affiliated with the current use of IoT network. From the word ION, which is the key particle in substance formation, IONChain poses to be the key element in the linking of IoT devices and fascination of a decentralized peer-to-peer communication on the IoT network through the use of blockchain technology. This alone solves the problem of interoperability and incompatibility amongst IoT devices, as all IoT devices are unified to form a globalized chain of IoT devices with characteristics wide application, hence enabling data sharing, data transfer, communication etc between devices is made to be very efficient. Also the IONChain solves the problem of data insecurity and privacy protection by adopting edge computing and Blockchain technology which support easy connectivity amongst devices , privacy management by individual users and complete decentralization, making almost impossible for cyber thieves to have their way. A system called “Inter Planetary File System (IPFS)” is integrated into the IONChain to enable top-notch security by granting access to the platform to users who own appropriate private keys. The IPFS is a top-notch decentralized system for P2P data/file sharing and circulation, which it’s integration into the IONChain aids in top-notch security and speedy data transfer and communication.

The new edge computing technology and the traditional IoT industry

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Edge computing is a data processing architecture, where data are processed with a smart device which represents the edge of the network, which is also very close to the source of data generated by a user. The need for Edge computing is seen in the delayed data transactions and communication in the existing traditional IoT industry. With Edge computing processing of time-sensitive data is made efficient as these data are processed closed to the user ( giving the user control over his data) and can be processed at the point of generation via smart devices. Since a user is given control over his privacy and data generated, the IONChain makes data generation more exciting by monetizing this user-data generated. This is done
by allowing every device on the IONChain network to be a miner through the IONChain’s ionization algorithm. Also, the reward generated from this concept would be based on the value of information generated by the user and this value would be accurately disbursed in form of the IONC token which would be traded for local currency.

One Device, One Coin, One Code

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The IONChain’s goal is to serve as an underlying link in the unifying of IoT devices on the IOT network platform and have decided to use the “One Device, One Coin, One Code” concept to achieve this goal. The “One Device, One Coin, One Code” concept proposes that one IoT device in alliance with one coin (the IONC token) will require one code to complete the communication and data transaction on the platform. This concept fixes the fragmentization in the IoT industries and aggregates them into appreciating unison of IoT devices and its effects on the IoT network.

This concept alone would encourage learned individuals to build functional dAPPs for the IONChain ecosystem that would result in the proper syncing of IoT devices to the IONChain.
As productive users and developers troop into the network because of the ease and simplicity in the building of protocols, growth of the IONChain ecosystem is fascinated, which is an integral criteria of a vibrant ecosystem, productivity is increased. A global standard for the creation of dAPPs is also made available in the IoT industry which would push the IoT industry much further into progress and productivity as many productive developers who are able to meet these standards develop functional dAPPs on the IONChain ecosystem that is posed to be self-sustainable.

IONChain Value Creation Processes

The creation of value on the IONChain Involces four unique processes.

Value Generation
Value Verification
Value Evaluation
Value Confirmation

Value Generation

Value is generated is the first step and this value generation process is carried out using smart devices. Value is this case is generated using edge computing via smart devices that are connected to the IONChain network which also serve as a mining machine to mine the unique IONC tokens. A customized IMQTT protocol is used to aid in the efficiency of this process by enabling IOT devices to exchange data efficiently and also transfer value amongst themselves. Also, the Blockchain technology adopted will help in the security and authentication of this value transferred through the IONC token. Value generated is processed at the “Edge Computing Centers” and then move forward to the next (Value Verification) stage of value creation on the IONChain network. Source

Value Verification

A test of value of the data generated and shared with the network is carried out as other devices verify the authenticity and real value of the data. This process is done through the use of Blockchain technology in a totally decentralized method. Data is required to be accurately verified in this stage before it can move on to the next stage of value creation on the IONChain. Source

Value Evaluation

Double spending is the key reason for value evaluation. Here the value of the data is evaluated and a conclusion is drawn by all parties involved if the value is valid or invalid before it can proceed to the next stage of value creation on the IONChain. Source

Value Confirmation

This is the stage where the overall process are checked an confirmed to be authentic before transferring the verified value to the value transfer department in order to covert the value generated to the IONChain local currency, the IONC token . Source

Value transfer on the IONChain Ecosystem

The Value transfer process is divided into six unique parts.

Application layer
The Application layer is the user interface of the IONChain ecosystem that lets users interact and also adopts the REST API interfaces that is affiliated with the HTTP protocol. Data Query, Wallet Query, Device Registration, Vendor Query etc are built-in services that would be made available at the initial stages of the system development. Source
Service layer
This is the key element in the management of internal components of the IONChain ecosystem, made only available for these internal components, which helps the system to run efficiently via a binary-based GPRC protocol.Source
Protocol layer
This is the stage where IONChain makes available a unified access protocol to enable global compatibility of devices and also serve as a standardized protocol for third party applications.
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Smart contract layer
This is where smart contract issues are handled. This layer serve as a link between Blockchain and applications and helps in the security and a the authenticity in the value and use of data on the Blockchain.Source
Blockchain layer
This is the integral layer of the IONChain ecosystem. A functional customized algorithm ( IPOS) which is an upgrade of POS and POW algorithm, is developed for the efficient working of this layer of value transfer. had to be formed for operation in the blockchain layer. Source
Data storage layer
IPFS and BigChainDB are the two ways used utilized in data storage in the IONChain ecosystem. This is achieved by the storing data on multiple devices, meanwhile the storage process and transaction processes of data are different.Source

IONChain Use Case

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Flora is a farmer who owns a big mechanized farm. She is quick to adopt promising innovative technologies on her farm. She generates day to day data on her farm and carries out research all in a bid to improve her farming activities and environment. She has also been filling agricultural related survey that she wasn’t paid for, it got tiring for her placed no interest in filling surveys and letting out valuable information. One day, she was invited by her friend to a crypto-currency meet-up and Blockchain seminar (Blockchain Saturday) just around her locale.

Different cryptocurrencies and Blockchain projects were discussed in the seminar
and IONChain was that which she picked interest in. She was so excited and thought it, to b too surreal to be true, as she couldn’t believe that there exist a network that would pay you for your valuable data. She went home and started making research on the project and finally made a decision to become a user on the IONChain. Flora has been earning IONChain tokens from her valuable data that she generated just from her smart devices and has never been so happy, as she does what she likes and also earn at the same time.