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Machine Learning

An advanced Internet-of-Drones System with Blockchain for improving quality of service of Search and Rescue: A feasibility study

Tri Nguyen(University of Oulu), Risto Katila(University of Turku), Tuan Nguyen Gia(University of Turku)
October 13, 2022Future Generation Computer Systems47 citations
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Future Generation Computer Systems

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2022

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Abstract

Drone-based systems supporting Search and Rescue (SAR) missions help expeditiously improve the possibility of discovering the missing victims. Nonetheless, the current drone-based systems have some limitations, such as the need for humans in control of large-scale drones, drone’s energy inefficiency, repercussion of quality of service (QoS) from abnormalities events, shortages of automaticity and real-time interactions, deficiency of swift decisions from artificial intelligence-based SAR, and underestimation of security issues in SAR systems. Therefore, developing a more advanced drone-based system is necessary to overcome these limitations. However, it is challenging to achieve the target due to trade-off relationships of technologies and strict requirements of time-critical SAR. This paper studies the feasibility of an Internet-of-Drones (IoD) system using blockchain and artificial intelligence at the edge to overcome limitations and improve SAR QoS. An advanced IoD system architecture from drones to a back-end system and end-users terminals has been proposed. Furthermore, advanced edge services and artificial intelligence at the edge have been presented for automatically searching for missing persons. In addition, computation offloading approaches have been provided to improve the energy efficiency of drones and reduce system latency. Last but not least, public and private blockchain, including Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric, for providing secure and decentralized healthcare platform has been investigated and analyzed to enable real-time interaction between healthcare entities and improves healthcare services. The results show that the proposed system helps overcome the limitations and improve the SAR QoS. Besides, the proposed system satisfies the security requirements, including confidentiality, integrity, authentication, authorization, access control, privacy, trust, transparency, availability, automaticity, and tolerance.

Analysis

Why This Paper Matters

Search and Rescue (SAR) operations are time-critical and often hampered by limitations in current drone systems: human dependency, energy inefficiency, lack of real-time AI decision-making, and security vulnerabilities. This paper addresses these gaps by proposing a comprehensive Internet-of-Drones (IoD) architecture that integrates blockchain and edge artificial intelligence. The significance lies in its holistic approach—combining computation offloading for energy efficiency, edge AI for autonomous victim detection, and blockchain for secure, decentralized data sharing among healthcare entities. As drone-based SAR becomes more prevalent, such a system could dramatically improve response times and mission success rates while ensuring data integrity and privacy.

Technical Contributions

  • Multi-layer IoD architecture: From drones to back-end systems and end-user terminals, enabling seamless data flow and control.
  • Edge AI services: On-drone or near-drone AI processing for real-time victim detection, reducing reliance on cloud connectivity.
  • Computation offloading: Strategies to balance processing between drones and edge nodes, improving energy efficiency and reducing latency.
  • Blockchain integration: Evaluation of both public (Ethereum) and private (Hyperledger Fabric) blockchains to provide secure, transparent, and decentralized healthcare data exchange.
  • Security framework: Addresses ten security requirements including confidentiality, integrity, authentication, authorization, access control, privacy, trust, transparency, availability, automaticity, and tolerance.

Results

The feasibility study demonstrates that the proposed system overcomes the identified limitations of current drone-based SAR systems. Specifically, it improves quality of service (QoS) by enabling automatic search, real-time interactions, and energy-efficient operations. The blockchain analysis confirms that both Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric can satisfy the stringent security requirements of SAR missions, though the paper does not provide quantitative metrics such as latency, throughput, or energy savings from real deployments.

Significance

This work provides a foundational framework for future IoD systems in emergency response. By integrating edge AI and blockchain, it moves beyond simple drone surveillance toward autonomous, secure, and collaborative SAR networks. The findings encourage further research into practical implementations, optimization of offloading algorithms, and real-world testing. For AI practitioners, the paper highlights the importance of system-level design that balances AI performance, energy constraints, and security in mission-critical applications.

internet-of-dronesblockchainedge-aisearch-and-rescuequality-of-servicecomputation-offloadingsecurity

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