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Department of Informatics Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies

Blockchain-based Airspace Reservation System

Level: BA/MA
Responsible person: Qianyu Liu
Keywords:  Urban Air Mobility (UAM), Hyperledger Fabric, Smart Contracts, Incentive Mechanisms

As conventional air transportation gradually matures, the emerging Low-Altitude Economy (LAE) has become a new growth point for the aviation industry. Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is a major LAE scenario. It has very different characteristics from conventional aviation and its diversity presents challenges to the management of air traffic.

Efforts have been made to address the urban airspace management problem. For example, ARC management offers a unified framework to coordinate and monitor the utilization of urban airspace and its associated resources, ensuring more efficient and streamlined operations. To implement ARC airspace management, it is necessary to design a reliable and efficient airspace reservation system for mitigating potential conflicts between multiple operators and ensuring the orderly functioning of urban aerial traffic.

Blockchain technology has emerged as a robust tool for addressing complex data management and coordination challenges in multi-stakeholder environments. By providing a decentralized, tamper-proof, and transparent platform, blockchain offers unique advantages for implementing a secure and efficient airspace reservation system.

In fact, we have developed a scalable blockchain-based airspace reservation system using Hyperledger Fabric, supporting collaboration among five nodes and organizations. We have also conducted preliminary performance simulations. However, many challenges remain to be explored. Students can choose one of the following directions for further in-depth research:

  1. Optimization of Smart Contracts. Smart contracts play a crucial role in automating operations within this system. While the current implementation provides basic functionalities, further refinements are necessary for practical deployment. Potential areas of optimization include:
    • Collision Avoidance Mechanisms: Implementing dynamic safety thresholds for each reserved airspace unit, enabling real-time conflict detection and automatic resolution through smart contracts.
    • Attack-Resistant Design: Investigating possible conflicts of interest among collaborative nodes and enhancing the contract’s security to prevent tampering or malicious airspace reservations.
    • Event-Triggered Notifications and Automated Approvals: Enhancing the event-triggering mechanism to notify relevant stakeholders in real time, reducing latency in system responses and replacing traditional manual approval processes.
  2. Design and Validation of Incentive Mechanisms. Effective incentive mechanisms are essential for ensuring active participation in blockchain-based applications. A combination of forward incentives (reward-based) and backward incentives (punishment-based) can improve system efficiency

References: 

Nguyen, T. A., Kaliappan, V. K., Jeon, S., Jeon, K. S., Lee, J. W., & Min, D. (2021, November). Blockchain empowered federated learning with edge computing for digital twin systems in urban air mobility. In Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Aerospace Technology (pp. 935-950). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.


Freeman, K., Gillem, N., Jones, A., & Sharma, N. (2023). A Blockchain Case Study for Urban Air Mobility Operational Intent. In AIAA AVIATION 2023 Forum (p. 3401).