IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO.

4, APRIL 2023 4651

A Secure Blockchain Enabled V2V Communication

System Using Smart Contracts
Debashis Das , Sourav Banerjee , Senior Member, IEEE, Pushpita Chatterjee, Senior Member, IEEE,
Uttam Ghosh , Senior Member, IEEE, and Utpal Biswas
Abstract— In recent years, the corporate and industrial sectors and Cellular-Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) can provide
have been experiencing significant transformations in vehicle-to- V2V communication facilities with a quick response time.
vehicle (V2V) communication. It can improve vehicle safety by Thus, vehicles can share information with others in dangerous
giving signals to other vehicles wirelessly. The latest software,
situations on the road. V2V also enables vehicle safety and
hardware, and technologies are applied to develop trusted appli-
cations that make V2V communication more believable. Today, reduces traffic congestion. In short, V2V can provide dedicated
various technologies are incorporated into vehicles to remove the and constant communication services with or without internet
barrier to existing challenges. The connected vehicles in V2V facilities [2].
communication use sensors, data storage, and communication The communication platform of V2V can convey various
devices. Vehicles can communicate using the latest secure and threats as there has no such protocol that can secure the data
trusted Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) technology using transmission between vehicles. V2V communication needs to
direct and network communication modes. Even connected vehi-
share more information concerning traditional ones. All the
cles suffer from data security, user privacy, reliable environment,
and vehicle security. Blockchain can help to eliminate those issues sensitive data, firmware updates, and safety-related data are
in V2V communication systems. Herein, a secure blockchain- sent through the network [3]. Thus, different types of attacks in
enabled V2V communication system (BVCS) is proposed to cyber-physical systems can harm the system and vehicles [4].
enhance the security of vehicles and secure data sharing and So, cyberattacks are primary issues in V2V communication for
communication among vehicles. The developed smart contracts in keeping safe data [5]. Attackers can manipulate the system
this paper can authenticate users and their vehicles automatically. data such as user data, vehicle data, and transaction data.
In this paper, the proposed algorithms can authenticate users,
detect unauthorized access, and establish secure communication
Therefore, a secure communication system is required to
between vehicles. The proposed system can enhance data secu- overcome those issues. So, data can be exchanged securely
rity, user privacy, and vehicle security and provide a trusted and shared with the correct information [6].
environment in V2V communication systems. The corporate and industrial sectors have been trying to
Index Terms— Blockchain technology, blockchain in C-V2X, incorporate reliable and low-risk technology for secure and
smart contracts, V2V communication, vehicle security. trusted V2V communication. Meanwhile, Blockchain, a decen-
tralized and reliable technology, [7] has taken a position as
I. I NTRODUCTION the fastest-growing technology for its intrinsic features. It can
secure the data using cryptographic hash functions. Also,
V 2V communication is one of the information-sharing
technology to facilitate crash avoidance, vehicle speed
detection, location tracking, and vehicle movement [1]. It is
Blockchain has immutable data storage. Thus, Blockchain can
fulfill the security requirements of V2V communication with
its beneficial features such as data immutability, transparency,
a wireless transmission of information between vehicles to
data security, and privacy of its users [8].
prevent accidents by sharing their positions, speed, and head-
In this paper, a blockchain-enabled V2V communication
ing. Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication can help to
system (BVCS) is proposed to facilitate significant features
design various vehicle applications in the Intelligent Trans-
like data security, vehicle security, and user privacy. Vehicles
port System (ITS). Different existing communication tech-
can share verified and trusted data with others without con-
nologies such as Dedicated Short-Range Communications
cerning security aspects in V2V communication. The proposed
(DSRC), Fourth Generation Long-Term Evolution (4G-LTE),
system is divided into various components such as user authen-
Manuscript received 10 December 2021; revised 6 May 2022 and tication, vehicle authentication, unauthorized access detection
19 August 2022; accepted 11 November 2022. Date of publication to the user application and vehicle, and V2V communication.
16 December 2022; date of current version 29 March 2023. This work So, the proposed system can provide user privacy, vehicle
was supported by University Research Scholar (URS-SRF), through the
University of Kalyani, Kalyani, India. The Associate Editor for this article security, data security, transparency of transactions, and a
was J. C.-W. Lin. (Corresponding author: Uttam Ghosh.) secure communication environment.
Debashis Das and Utpal Biswas are with the Department of CSE, University
of Kalyani, Kalyani 741235, India (e-mail: debashisdascse21@klyuniv.ac.in; A. Main Contributions of This Paper
utpalbiswas@klyuniv.ac.in). This paper presents a V2V communication system using
Sourav Banerjee is with the Department of CSE, Kalyani Government
Engineering College, Kalyani 741235, India (e-mail: mr.sourav.banerjee@ blockchain and smart contracts. The main contributions of the
ieee.org). proposed work are stated in the following:
Pushpita Chatterjee is with the Department of EE and CS, Howard Univer- • A secure BVCS is designed and implemented in detail
sity, Washington, DC 20059 USA (e-mail: pushpita.c@ieee.org). step by step.
Uttam Ghosh is with the Department of CS and DS, Meharry Medical
College (MMC), Nashville, TN 37208 USA (e-mail: ghosh.uttam@ieee.org). • User authentication, vehicle validation, and secure V2V
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TITS.2022.3226626 communication algorithms are described.
1558-0016 © 2022 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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4652 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO. 4, APRIL 2023

• All the designed algorithms are implemented and tested TABLE I

using smart contracts. S ECURITY R EQUIREMENTS OF THE V2V C OMMUNICATION
• The performance analysis of the proposed system is dis-
cussed in detail and a theoretical comparison is presented
in a tabular form.

B. Organization of the Paper

Section II explains the fundamentals of C-V2X technology
and its limitations and solutions, blockchain technology, and
smart contracts. In section III, the related existing works are
discussed. Section IV presents the proposed system’s archi-
tecture and its implementation procedure. In section V, tested
results are given with a clear discussion. Section VI analyzes
the security achievements of the proposed system with a
detailed discussion. Finally, section VII concludes the paper
by providing related information on future works.
protocols to communicate with each other. It is a cryp-
II. BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
tographically linked and secured ever-expanding record list
A. V2V Communication known as blocks. The blockchain has the longest chain of
V2V communication can use many wireless access meth- blocks that store transactions. Transactions can be created by
ods to establish communications between vehicles. These different nodes connected from several geographical locations.
communications technologies can enhance road safety and Consensus mechanisms take the role of establishing a trusted
traffic efficiency and provide passenger and driver com- relation between various nodes. Blockchain has recorded and
fort through conferring security and safety applications. transmitted data across thousands of nodes. Each user in
A few such technologies are C-V2X [9], DSRC [10], the blockchain network has a private and public key to
4G-LTE [10], Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)/ Wire- make transactions securely and anonymously. Using Proof
less Fidelity (WI-FI) [11], ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) [11], of Work (PoW), Proof of Stake (PoS), and other consensus
Ultra-Wide Band (IEEE 802.15.3a) [11], and BLUETOOTH techniques [15], blockchain provides a trustworthy network
(IEEE 802.15.1) [11]. C-V2X is a communication technology in which any member may acquire block information without
that can share information (i.e., road conditions, movement relying on a single node. At first, blockchain is applied in
alerts, vehicle speed, vehicle heading, vehicle position) among Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, due to its reliable
vehicles in a high-frequency data transferring mode within features such as decentralization, immutability, availability,
300-400 meters [12]. C-V2X provides services in two modes: and transparency [16]. Therefore, it is incorporated into vari-
direct communication mode and network communication ous domains and applications for its intrinsic characteristics.
mode. Vehicles need not connect with a cellular network
as no SIM card is required in direct communication modes. C. Smart Contracts
C-V2X can be used in commercial applications through con-
necting network communication modes. This mode enables A Smart contract [17], [18] is a digital agreement to
C-V2X to take advantage of data security and privacy in create an automatic verifiable transaction among blockchain
mobile communication networks. nodes without involving third parties. The contract is saved in
Security Requirements of the V2V Communication: Since the blockchain to make it tamper-proof. The smart contract
vehicles are rapidly connected to the internet using the Internet is saved in the blockchain to make it tamper-proof. The
of Things (IoT), V2V communication has notable limitations. smart contract is deployed by authorized nodes and executed
It is difficult to assure the security of vehicles due to their automatically based on predefined logic and conditions. It is
high connectivity. However, a sensitive information transfer nothing but computer programs that are saved in the form of
can lead to privacy issues also. Table I demonstrates the codes in blocks. After getting triggered by any events, it can
security requirements for acquiring reliable services in the execute automatically. The smart contract is a verifiable digital
V2V communication system [13]. Several applications are contract that can deploy to a data-storage virtual machine like
developed to enhance the security of the V2V communication Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) [19]. Solidity language can
system. Though, several requirements are not met due to be used to write a smart contract [20]. Ultimately, a user
the infrastructure of existing methodology and the nature of can call the smart contact’s function for executing required
existing technologies. There is a need for a secure solution events [21].
for V2V communication to fulfill the security requirements.
Blockchain is a much more secure technology that can satisfy III. L ITERATURE R EVIEW
the security requirements of V2V communication. Table II presents a comparative analysis of several existing
works with the proposed work. Demba and Möller [1] pro-
B. Blockchain Technology posed an upgraded architectural approach that might assist
Blockchain is a shared distributed ledger issued by in the secure system functioning without interruption and
Nakamoto in 2008 [14]. It uses a cryptographic hash func- increased physical safety. They used DSRC technology for
tion, signature-based authentication scheme, and consensus V2V communications. Ali [2] proposed three methods to

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DAS et al.: SECURE BLOCKCHAIN ENABLED V2V COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING SMART CONTRACTS 4653

TABLE II
C OMPARATIVE A NALYSIS OF E XISTING W ORKS W ITH THE P ROPOSED W ORK

provide high-speed mobility and an intricate channel formation Point (IV-TP) scheme to encourage vehicles for trusted com-
for the V2V communication network. Kim and Peeta [22] munication. Patel et al. [28] suggested a blockchain-based
presented the V2V-based Advanced Traveler Information Sys- application named VehicleChain that is dependable and cost-
tem (ATIS) network modeling framework. This model has effective for sharing data in V2V and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure
three layers the physical layer, the data flow layer, and (V2I) communication modes. This method can secure data
the communication layer. The proposed approach also offers from any cyber-physical attacks. Malik et al. [29] established
responsive modeling capabilities to explain the evolution of a blockchain-based retraction and authentication framework
information. Hu and Luo [4] presented the fundamental ideas to overcome two types of cost: communication and compu-
for safe communication. And, then they provided secure tational in V2V communications by eliminating third parties
communication mechanisms, including information authenti- from the system using Road Side Units (RSUs) for vehicle
cation, information encryption, and security against infiltra- identification. Table III represents the differentiation of pro-
tion. Kamal et al. [25] proposed wireless-based fingerprint posed work with IoT [23] and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-
generation methods to authenticate vehicles in real time. based IoT [24] works based on various characteristics.
The proposed scheme has been developed using blockchain
technology to enhance the complexity and delays of the net-
IV. P ROPOSED S YSTEM
work. Jabbar et al. [26] developed a blockchain-enabled real-
time application for secure and easy communications between In this paper, a secure Blockchain-enabled V2V Communi-
vehicles and connected entities in the V2X communication cation System (BVCS) is proposed to enable secure commu-
system. They have also developed a Decentralized Application nication between vehicles by sharing the correct information.
(Dapp) contract. Singh et al. [27] suggested and developed a Fig. 1 shows the system model of the proposed method, which
method for communication between vehicles using blockchain. consists of the two-layer model. On the top layer, blockchain
They offered an incentive-based Intelligent Vehicle-Trust nodes are present, and vehicles are attending on the ground

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4654 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO. 4, APRIL 2023

TABLE III
C OMPARISON OF AI AND I OT-BASED A PPROACHES W ITH O UR W ORK

Fig. 2. Interaction between various entities of the BVCS.

A. Initial Stage
In the BVCS, various entities are introduced: user, vehicle,
blockchain node, and smart contract. The interaction between
these entities is shown in Fig. 2, in which each of them has
an important role. A user provides the required credentials
while buying a vehicle. An authorized node is responsible for
collecting the user credentials. An authenticated blockchain
node verifies the user data and then provides the vehicle’s data,
such as vehicle number, engine number, and chassis number.
Given data will be stored in the blockchain data pool by the
corresponding node. The user can verify the data through the
user application to ensure that the correct data is stored or
not. After user confirmation, the minor node puts the data
in the blockchain. In such a way, the appropriate data will be
stored in the blockchain. The authentication of the user will be
performed by the smart contracts automatically. A blockchain
node deploys smart contracts to the blockchain. The vehicle
of the corresponding user can access the data after being
authenticated by the smart contracts. Each transmitted data
in V2V communication will be verified automatically using
smart contracts and stored on the blockchain.

B. Registration Stage
An identification key is essential for identifying a vehicle
and the vehicle’s user. Thus, a unique Id (UI) is introduced
Fig. 1. System model of the BVCS. to identify a vehicle and the vehicle’s user. A UI should
be unique and is only accessible by the application only.
layer. Two layers are connected using the network connection The UI is a hash value generated by smart contracts using
mode of C-V2X. More than one node can be chosen as an the user blockchain account address. The blockchain account
authenticated node. The authenticated node(s) are responsible address is needed to identify the particular vehicle and the user.
for controlling the blockchain application, deploying smart A UI uniquely can specify a vehicle number and a user license
contracts, and vehicle registration. It assumes that registered number with the vehicle chassis number, the engine number,
vehicles can only take part in the blockchain network. Each and the user information. UI will be generated by applying
vehicle should have a tamper-proof device for storing commu- the SHA-512 hash generation function [30]. It is an efficient
nication data securely. In addition, vehicles are equipped with algorithm to guarantee data integrity as it always returns the
a C-V2X-supported onboard unit called Connectivity Control identical output for the corresponding assigned input value.
Unit (CCU). Only authenticated vehicles are allowed to inter- It is also a modern cryptographic hash generation function and
act with each other. The Authentication of users and vehicles is considered highly secure [31]. Thus, a UI always contains
is an automated process and is done by using smart contracts the same hash value, and it will be unique. The UI generation
automatically. The BVCS can help to obtain an authentication- process is shown in “equation (1),”. In the BVCS scheme,
based information-sharing mechanism. The proposed system the user can obtain multiple UIs for using more than one
is divided into four stages: the initial stage, the registration vehicle. The user can get a UI after login into the application.
stage, the authentication stage, and the communication stage. Therefore, the UI will be saved to the blockchain for future

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DAS et al.: SECURE BLOCKCHAIN ENABLED V2V COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING SMART CONTRACTS 4655

TABLE IV Algorithm 1 User Authentication (2-SAS)

U SEFUL N OTATIONS AND D EFINITIONS Input: U T x, RT x
Output: successful or unsuccessful authentication
1 U x logged in using the user Id and password;
2 if (U x is valid) then
3 1st step authentication of U x is completed;
4 if (U T x is not available) then
5 U x sets the U T x // it will be saved to the
blockchain;
6 end
7 else
8 do not need to set the U T x;
9 end
10 for (each login session) do
verification of vehicles and users. In such a way, the vehicle 11 Smart contact generates a RT x and sends it to U x;
will be registered completely. Table IV shows some notations 12 U x provides the U T x, RT x to the application;
used in this work. 13 while (U T x == true && RT x == true) do
14 U x is authenticated successfully // 2nd step
C. Authentication Stage authentication is completed;
A vehicle can only communicate after it will be verified. 15 end
The communication process will be available and activated 16 end
from the user application through smart contracts. Thus, user 17 end
authentication is more important. Vehicle authentication is also 18 else
much more needed to establish secure communication between 19 if (U x is registered) then
vehicles. The authentication process of the user and vehicle is 20 provides the correct user Id and password;
described in the following: 21 end
1) User Authentication: A 2-step authentication scheme 22 else
(2-SAS) is designed for the authentication of a genuine user. 23 do the registration;
In the 1st step, the user can log in using the received login 24 end
credentials at the time of registration. In the 2nd step, the user 25 end
has to set a token called user token (UT) that is permanent
and changeable if required. This token will be stored in the
blockchain, and it is an alphanumeric value. At the same time,
the smart contract creates a random token (RT) for the user.
This token is a hash value generated using the SHA-
U I x = H (B AC x  U Lx V E x  V C x V N x) (1)
512 as shown in “equation (2),”.
RT x = H (B AC x  U Lx  T  V N x) (2)
where RT x is the random token of U x. It will be different
and unique for each login session. Therefore, the user has
to provide the correct U T x (UT of U x) and RT x to the
application for becoming authenticated. In such a way, 2-SAS
can validate a user automatically. The workflow diagram of
the 2-SAS for user U x is shown in Fig. 3.
2) Vehicle Authentication and Unauthorized Access
Detection: Once the user successfully becomes authenticated,
he can operate the vehicle. The user can manage all vehicle
functions (i.e., activate vehicle authentication and
communication features, add driver data, and driver
verification) from the application interface. A vehicle’s
data (i.e., registered or unregistered vehicle, the vehicle user
authenticated or not) should be verified before it runs on the Fig. 3. Workflow diagram of the 2-SAS (user authentication process).
road. Vehicle authentication will be done by the application
using smart contracts automatically. This event will be credentials, he will be authenticated successfully. Therefore,
triggered after getting a request for running the vehicle he will give the U I x for vehicle authentication. The smart
from the user. He should provide the U T x and RT x to the contract checks the given U I x with the stored U I x of the
application for authentication. If the user provides the correct vehicle. In this way, the vehicle will be validated. If the

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4656 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO. 4, APRIL 2023

Algorithm 2 Vehicle Authentication and Unauthorized

Access Detection
Input: U T x, RT x, U I x
Output: Unauthorized access detection;
1 U x logged in using the user Id and password;
2 if (U x is registered) then
3 The application asks to provide U T x and RT x;
4 if (U T x == true && RT x == true) then
5 U x is authenticated;
6 if (U I x == true) then // smart contract checks
the given U I x by U x with the stored U I x in
the vehicle device;
7 V x is authenticated;
8 end
9 end
10 else
11 U x isn’t authenticated;
12 unauthorized access is detected and notified to U x;
13 end
14 end

Fig. 4. Sequential diagram of the interaction between two vehicles and smart
contracts for establishing secure communication.
Algorithm 3 Communication Establishment Between V x
and V y
D. Communication Stage
Input: U I x, U I y
Output: S K x, S K y After the completion of the user and vehicle authentication,
1 After the successful authentication of U x and U y; the vehicle can share information. For V2V communication,
2 The application creates S K x and S K y;
vehicles use their secret key created using SHA-512 because
3 if (U I x is valid) then
of its faster execution. They store their key in their tamper-
4 S K x is stored in the vehicle device of Vx; proof device. They can communicate securely with each other
using their secret key. The secret key will be generated using
5 V x sends S K x to V y;
smart contracts, as shown in “equation (3),”.
6 V y sends back it to smart contracts;
7 if (S K x is true) then // smart contract checks S K x S K x = H (U I x  RT x  V N x  T ) (3)
with the stored S K x in the blockchain;
8 V x is validated; V2V Communication: Secure V2V communication between
9 V y ensures that V x is authenticated; vehicles is proposed for the intelligent transport system to
achieve efficient and secure communication using blockchain
10 end
and more high-speed and secure communication technol-
11 end
ogy like C-V2X. Here, vehicles should be validated before
12 if (U I y is valid) then // this instruction will be executed
establishing communication with other vehicles. C-V2X is
while the instruction of line no. 3 will be executed;
a platform that integrates with the LTE-V2X PC5 interface
13 S K y is stored in the vehicle device of Vy;
for short-range and network-less V2V communications. The
14 V y sends it to V x;
communication process between V x and Vy is presented in
15 V x sends back it to smart contracts; “Algorithm (3)”. However, user and vehicle authentication of
16 if (SKy is true) then // smart contract checks S K y V x and V y is required before establishing secure communi-
with the stored S K y in the blockchain;
cation. So, secure communication will be established between
17 V y is validated;
V x and V y. Fig. 4 shows the sequential interaction between
18 V x ensures that V y is authenticated; two vehicles and smart contracts for establishing secure
19 Now, secure communication is established between communication. Smart contracts verify users and vehicles to
V x and V y; achieve the trustworthiness of the communication system.
20 end However, the communication data should be verified by smart
21 end
contracts, and then data will be shared between V x and V y.
Thus, encrypted [31] data will be shared for achieving data
security. V x encrypts data with S K x and sends the encrypted
data for decryption to V y. In such a way, V y also encrypts
validation of the vehicle is failed, it means unauthorized data with S K y and sends the encrypted data for decryption
access is detected. Finally, an unauthorized accesses detection to V x. The encryption method of a secret key is not like
message will be delivered to the user and the concerned symmetric encryption. But in our proposed work, a session-
authority. wise secret key is used to establish secure communication and

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DAS et al.: SECURE BLOCKCHAIN ENABLED V2V COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING SMART CONTRACTS 4657

Fig. 6. User and vehicle data is stored successfully.

Fig. 5. The smart contract is deployed successfully.

to share data between vehicles. A secret key is different for

each vehicle in each session. Thus, while a communication
process will be initiated, the secret key will be generated by the Fig. 7. The vehicle is not registered.
smart contract and shared with the corresponding vehicle. For
example, S K x will be shared with V y, and Sky will be shared
with V x. The data is sent by V x as Data V x = U I x  T 
Message. V x signs the data using S K x and sends it to V y,
where Signed V x (Data V x ) = E V x (H (DataV x )). V y received Fig. 8. UT is set successfully by the user of the BAC.
the message and will verify the signature, the generated hash,
and the data components (i.e., U I x, S K x) with the received
information from smart contracts. Vy will decrypt the message
using the S K x and access data. Another side, V y will send
back the data as per the request of V x if required. In this Fig. 9. RT is created successfully for the user.
way, secure communication will be established, and data will
be shared securely between V x and V y.

V. T ESTING R ESULTS
In the BVCS, three algorithms are developed to Fig. 10. The user is authenticated successfully.
authenticate the user and vehicle and establish secure com-
munication. These algorithms are implemented using smart
contracts. The code is written in solidity language through a
web-based platform named Ethereum Remix IDE (v0.24.1)
[32]. Smart contract codes can implement and run on the Fig. 11. The user cannot be authenticated by providing the wrong token.
Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The solidity compiler ver-
sion is 0.8.7, and the EVM version is assigned to the compiler
default. JavaScript VM (v4.2.0) environment is selected for
deploying and executing codes. The input data (BAC: 0x5. Fig. 12. UI is created successfully for the user.
38Da6a701c568545dCfcB03FcB875f56beddC4, UL: BP2134,
VE: ABCD123, VC: 3456MH4, VN: IN0009U, and UT: the user calls the GenerateRandomToken () function to get the
ABCD1234) is chosen randomly for only testing purposes. RT recording in Fig. 9. Now, the user has both token UT and
The output data will be created using those input values RT to authenticate himself. The user provides these tokens and
through the smart contract. The UI, RT, and SK are gen- is authenticated successfully using the VerifyUser() function
erated using “equations (1), (2), and (3),” respectively. The shown in Fig. 10. If any of these provided tokens is wrong,
smart contract executes these parameters using the keccak256 as shown in Fig. 11, authentication will be rejected.
cryptographic hash function [33] as it is used in Ethereum.
Fig. 5 shows that the smart contract’s code is compiled,
B. Vehicle Authentication
run, and executed successfully from account address “0x5.
38Da6a701c568545dCfcB03FcB875f56beddC4”. This addr- The smart contract generates a UI for the user using the
ess is considered a user BAC. All implemented scenar- UIgenerator() function shown in Fig. 12. The UI will be stored
ios are tested using this address. Herein, the user stores in the vehicle device for communication purposes. Before
his credentials and vehicle-related data from this address. establishing V2V communication, the smart contract verifies
Fig. 6 shows that the user stores required data using that the UI is associated with an authenticated user. So, the
the SetData () function, similar to a registration sce- vehicle is validated using the VerifyVehicle() function shown
nario. Fig. 7 shows that the user or vehicle of BAC: in Fig. 13. Fig. 14 shows that the vehicle is not authenticated
“0xCA35b7d915458EF540aDe6068dFe2F44E8fa733c” is not for giving false data, and unauthorized access is detected.
registered.
C. Secure Communication Establishment
A. User Authentication Therefore, the vehicle will be eligible to establish V2V
After logging in to the application, the user has to a UT communication. Each vehicle has the SK using GenerateS-
using the SetUserToken() function shown in Fig. 8. Therefore, ecretKey() function shown, in Fig. 15. The vehicle can

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4658 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO. 4, APRIL 2023

TABLE V
P ERFORMANCE C OMPARISON OF THE BVCS
W ITH O THER E XISTING M ETHODS

Fig. 13. The vehicle is authenticated successfully.

Fig. 14. Unauthorized access detection to the vehicle.

Fig. 15. A secret key is generated for the user.

Fig. 16. Data is sent from BAC: 0xAb8483F64d9C6d1EcF9b849Ae677dD

3315835cb2.

transparent, and privacy-preserving environment. In this paper,

a V2V communication system, the BVCS, is designed using
blockchain for its intrinsic features. User data cannot be
compromised using the BVCS application. “Algorithm (1)”
shows how smart contracts authenticate users automatically.
Herein, users are authenticated without sharing data with third
Fig. 17. The message is read by the recipient using the secret key of the
parties. Unauthorized access can be detected by introducing
sender. the token generation policy for verifying genuine users. Thus,
the BVCS can keep user data secure and enhance user privacy.

send messages to other vehicles after establishing success- B. Data Security

ful communication. The sent messages only can be read
by those recipients who have SK of the sender vehicle. The importance of data security is essential for accessing
As shown in Fig. 16, a vehicle sends a message from address and analyzing the correct data. Data security is crucial for
0x5.38Da6a701c568545dCfcB03FcB875f56beddC4 to addr- different reasons in private and public organizations. The
ess 0xAb8483F64d9C6d1EcF9b849Ae677dD3315835cb2 of main elements of data security are confidentiality, availabil-
another vehicle. The recipient has accessed the message after ity, and integrity. Data integrity ensures that data will be
providing the right SK of the sender vehicle shown in Fig. 17. stored securely and reliably. Data availability ensures that
data always be accessed safely. Using precise data security
measures can prevent data hacks and reduce risk. In the BVCS
VI. P ERFORMANCE A NALYSIS OF THE BVCS S YSTEM system, blockchain data cannot be accessed and modified by
Data security has been a top priority for organizations in malicious nodes. Since smart contracts authenticate vehicles
recent years, and they’re looking for new ways to protect their before establishing communication, data cannot be shared with
data. Recently, blockchain technology has emerged as one of unauthorized vehicles. Data security is provided in the BVCS
the most creative options for securing data exchange. Hashing system using a hashing algorithm (SHA512) and a digital
and digital signatures in blockchain bring to the forefront signature (by creating a secret key). The hashing algorithm
through the application of cryptography because both these is used to protect data from cyber-attacks. The secret key
play a significant role in the blockchain environment. In this is introduced for securing the transmitted data between the
paper, the BVCS is presented for securing the transmitted data sender and receiver nodes. So, data will be secured in the
while exchanging it between vehicles and establishing a trusted BVCS system.
environment for V2V communication. A comparative analysis
of the BVCS with other methods is provided in Table V. C. Vehicle Security
In the V2V communication system, vehicle security is
A. User Privacy essential to communicate with each other. Vehicles should
In traditional V2V communication systems, user data is be verified for establishing communication securely with each
stored in a centralized environment. A single node is responsi- other. At the same time, users should be authenticated before
ble for making changes in data. So, data manipulation can be establishing communication to enable V2V communication.
possible here. A secure and transparent database is required to In the BVCS system, vehicles will be validated automati-
increase user privacy. Blockchain can provide a decentralized, cally using smart contracts. Smart contacts verify the stored

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DAS et al.: SECURE BLOCKCHAIN ENABLED V2V COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING SMART CONTRACTS 4659

data in vehicles before establishing communication. Vehicle VII. C ONCLUSION

data will be shared through the network communication of
C-V2X technology. “Algorithm (2)” shows the full details of A secure V2V communication platform is essential to
the verification of genuine users and the detection of any safeguard the processing and sharing of data without ham-
unauthorized access. So, vehicle theft is not possible here. pering the data. In this paper, the challenges of V2V com-
Vehicle data will be validated and shared in encrypted mode munication are provided. The BVCS is a blockchain-enabled
at the time of transferring data with each other. A secret secure communication system that can enhance vehicle secu-
key is introduced here to encrypt data. Thus, data cannot rity, data security, and user privacy and provide a secure
be accessed by others except recipients. Smart contracts are decentralized, and trusted environment for V2V communi-
responsible for validating the secret key. “Algorithm (3)” cation. The proposed algorithms ensure how the BVCS can
shows the full details of the vehicles’ verification process to improve the above-specifying concerns. Smart contracts elimi-
establish secure communication. So, data can be shared among nate the barrier of the key-based and trust-based authentication
vehicles after secret key verification in a secure way. There- problems using proposed algorithms for users and vehicles.
fore, data security of vehicles can be achieved in the BVCS The BVCS is an identity-based, trust-based, and key-based
system. solution for ensuring a safe and secure V2V communication
system. The testing results and security analysis assures the
D. Platform Security realization of BVCS for secure V2V communication. The
A decentralized platform is more reliable and cost-effective security requirements of a secure and trusted communication
than a centralized-based platform in vehicular communica- system are present in this proposed system. In the future, the
tions. A single node is responsible for maintenance in a BVCS will be extended and implemented with autonomous
centralized system. The whole system will be a failure if the vehicles and intelligent transport systems. So, autonomous
central node is crashed. Herein, blockchain is combined with vehicles can recognize faster and achieve more security in
C-V2X technology for realizing a secure V2V communication vehicular communications with a more immediate data-sharing
system. As it is a decentralized system, no communication mechanism.
system will be broken by crashing or disconnecting a single
node. Blockchain is a secure platform to develop and manage
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Intrusion Protected Applications. Karlsruhe, Germany: Fraunhofer ISI, College of Engineering and Leather Technology in
2009. 2015, the M.Tech. degree in computer science and
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Dec. 6, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf College in 2018, and the Ph.D. degree from Kalyani
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[18] J. Liu and Z. Liu, “A survey on security verification of blockchain the Ph.D. degree from the University of Kalyani in
smart contracts,” IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 77894–77904, 2019, doi: 2018. He is currently an Assistant Professor with the
10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2921624. Department of Computer Science and Engineering,
[19] Endorphin. Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Accessed: Dec. 6, 2022. Kalyani Government Engineering College, Kalyani,
[Online]. Available: https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/evm/ West Bengal, India. He has authored numerous
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reputed journal articles, book chapters, and interna-
in Solidity. Ethereum for Dummies. Accessed: Dec. 6, 2022. [Online].
tional conferences. His research interests include big
Available: https://www.dummies.com/personal-finance/ethereum-smart-
data, cloud computing, cloud robotics, distributed
contracts-tips-for-handling-data-in-solidity/
computing, mobile communications, and the IoT.
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He is a Senior Member of ACM, IAE, and the MIR
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Laboratories. He is a SIG Member of the MIR Laboratory, USA. He is an
contracts/
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“A vehicle-to-vehicle communication system using IoT approach,” in Pushpita Chatterjee (Senior Member, IEEE)
Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. Electron., Commun. Aerosp. Technol. (ICECA), received the Ph.D. degree from IIT Kharagpur, India.
Mar. 2018, pp. 915–919, doi: 10.1109/ICECA.2018.8474909. She is working with the Department of Electrical
[24] P. Goswami et al., “AI based energy efficient routing protocol for intel- Engineering and Computer Science, Howard
ligent transportation system,” IEEE Trans. Intell. Transp. Syst., vol. 23, University, Washington, DC, USA. Her research
no. 2, pp. 1670–1679, Feb. 2022, doi: 10.1109/TITS.2021.3107527. interests include machine learning, smart health,
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“Blockchain for the internet of vehicles: A decentralized IoT solution Uttam Ghosh (Senior Member, IEEE) received
for vehicles communication using ethereum,” Sensors, vol. 20, no. 14, the Ph.D. degree in electronics and electrical
2020, p. 3928, doi: 10.3390/s20143928. engineering from IIT Kharagpur, India, in 2013.
[27] M. Shing and S. Kim, “Blockchain based intelligent vehicle data He was an Assistant Professor at the Department
sharing framework,” 2017, arXiv:1708.09721, doi: 10.48550/ARXIV. of Computer Science, Vanderbilt University. He was
1708.09721. a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of
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based vehicular data transmission scheme for smart city,” in Proc. IEEE and Tennessee State University. He is an Associate
Int. Conf. Syst., Man Cybern. (SMC), Oct. 2019, pp. 661–667, doi: Professor of cybersecurity with the Department of
10.1109/SMC.2019.8914391. Computer Science and Data Science, Meharry Med-
[29] N. Malik, P. Nanda, A. Arora, X. He, and D. Puthal, “Blockchain
ical College (MMC), Nashville, TN, USA. His main
based secured identity authentication and expeditious revocation frame-
research interests include cybersecurity, computer networks, wireless net-
work for vehicular networks,” in Proc. 17th IEEE Int. Conf. Trust,
works, machine learning, health informatics, and software-defined networking.
Secur. Privacy Comput. Commun./12th IEEE Int. Conf. Big Data Sci.
He is a member of Sigma Xi and ACM.
Eng. (TrustCom/BigDataSE), Aug. 2018, pp. 674–679, doi: 10.1109/
TrustCom/BigDataSE.2018.00099.
[30] A. Sengupta and M. Rathor, “Security of functionally obfuscated Utpal Biswas received the B.E., M.E., and Ph.D.
DSP core against removal attack using SHA-512 based key encryp- degrees in computer science and engineering from
tion hardware,” IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 4598–4610, 2019, doi: Jadavpur University, India, in 1993, 2001, and
10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2889224. 2008, respectively. He was a Faculty Member at
[31] J. Lake. (2019). Understanding Cryptography’s Role in Blockchains. the Department of Computer Science and Engi-
Accessed: Dec. 6, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.comparitech. neering NIT, Durgapur, India, from 1994 to 2001.
com/crypto/cryptography-blockchain/ Currently, he is working as a Professor with the
[32] Remix 0.18.0. Remix Ethereum IDE. Accessed: Dec. 6, 2022. [Online]. Department of Computer Science and Engineering,
Available: https://remix.ethereum.org/ University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India. He has
[33] H. Jameson. Which Cryptographic Hash Function Does Ethereum Use? over 130 research articles in different journals, book
Accessed: Dec. 6, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://ethereum. chapters, and conferences. His research interests
stackexchange.com/questions/550/which-cryptographic-hash-function- include optical communication, ad-hoc and mobile communication, semantic
does-ethereum-use web services, e-Governance, and cloud computing.

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