A Blockchain Framework for Secure Task Sharing in Multi-access Edge Computing

In the context of Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC), the task sharing mechanism among edge servers is an activity of vital importance for speeding up the computing process and thereby improve user experience. The distributed resources in the form of edge servers are expected to collaborate with each other in order to boost overall performance of a MEC system. However, there are many challenges to adopt global collaboration among the edge computing server entities among which the following two are significant: ensuring trust among the servers and developing a unified scheme to enable real-time collaboration and task sharing. In this article, a blockchain framework is proposed to provide a trusted collaboration mechanism between edge servers in a MEC environment. In particular, a permissioned blockchain scheme is investigated to support a trusted design that also provides incentives for collaboration. Finally, Caliper tool and Hyperledger Fabric benchmarks are used to conduct an experimental evaluation of the proposed blockchain scheme embedded in a MEC framework.