Author: Edgar Miadzieles
Supervisor: Mubashar Iqbal
Abstract: Blockchain has gained significant attention as a technology to provide decentralized solutions in various fields. It provides assurances of integrity, authentication, immutability, and transparency through a decentralized framework, instilling trust and security. The recent adoption of Digital Twins (DT) has enabled the simulation and testing in a virtual environment by mirroring the physical entities, their environment, and processes. This thesis aims to review the Over-the-Air (OTA) firmware update process in the context of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and, more specifically, the Internet of Vehicles (IoV). Current OTA updates depend on client-server architecture, whereas IoV and ITS benefit from a decentralized solution to remove a single point of failure in terms of various attacks and network congestion issues. We are using blockchain and DT technologies to meet the criteria of ITS and IoV of OTA firmware updates for vehicles in an IoV environment. This thesis presents a systematic literature review of existing OTA firmware update literature that uses blockchain and DT technologies. Furthermore, a solution is proposed for the OTA firmware updates, realized using Ethereum and Microsoft Azure DTs to satisfy the requirements of secure firmware updates for vehicles in an IoV environment. The proposed solution smart contract is evaluated based on gas consumption and unit tests. The proposed solution is developed as a console application and evaluated based on design criteria derived from a systematic literature review and contextual analysis of the IoV and ITS.