Resource-efficient joint clustering and storage optimization for blockchain-based IoT systems

Blockchain technology is leveraged in the Internet of Things (IoT) systems to enhance data reliability and management efficiency, ensuring integrity, security, and auditability through a decentralized ledger architecture. However, resource-constrained IoT devices are unable to store the complete blockchain due to prohibitive resource consumption and performance degradation. While collaborative storage strategies have been proposed to mitigate these constraints, existing approaches often prioritize storage scalability without sufficiently addressing the selection of cooperative nodes for distributed ledger maintenance. This can lead to significant communication delays during block retrieval, undermining the real-time performance and overall efficiency of the blockchain-enabled IoT system. To address this challenge, this paper introduces a clustering-based collaborative storage scheme and proposes a novel joint optimization algorithm that iteratively refines both node clustering and block allocation strategies within the blockchain network. By structuring IoT devices into clustered peers, the algorithm reduces block query latency and facilitates efficient blockchain synchronization and update processes. Experimental evaluations confirm that the proposed method effectively alleviates storage limitations and lowers access costs in static blockchain-based IoT environments.