Call for Papers

IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica

Special Issue on Blockchain for Internet-of-Things and Cyber-Physical Systems:

Emerging Trends, Issues and Challenges

Guest Editors

Mohammad Mehedi Hassan, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (mmhassan@ksu.edu.sa)

Giancarlo Fortino, University of Calabria, Italy (giancarlo.fortino@unical.it)

Laurence T. Yang, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada (ltyang@stfx.ca)

Hai Jiang, Arkansas State University, USA (hjiang@astate.edu)

Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo, The University of Texas at San Antonio, USA (raymond.choo@fulbrightmail.org)

Jun Jason Zhang, Wuhan University, China (jun.zhang.ee@whu.edu.cn)

Fei-Yue Wang, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China (feiyue@ieee.org)

Aims and Scope

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) combine both cyber- and physical-worlds, using pervasive sensing, communication technologies and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices to benefit the economy and society. CPS have seen exponential growth in recent years, with applications in energy, health, transportation, and many other sectors. One of the major requirements in CPS is that the interaction between cyber-world and man-made physical world (exchanging and sharing of data and information with other physical objects and systems) must be safe, especially in bi-directional communications.  In particular, there is a need to suitably address security and/or privacy concerns in this human-in-the-loop CPS ecosystem. However, existing centralized architecture models in CPS, and also the more general IoT systems, have a number of associated limitations, in terms of single point of failure, data privacy, security, robustness, etc. Such limitations reinforce the importance of designing reliable, secure and privacy-preserving distributed solutions and other novel approaches, such as those based on blockchain technology due to its features (e.g., decentralization, transparency and immutability of data).

While researchers and practitioners have explored and demonstrated the potential of utilizing blockchain for CPS applications, a number of limitations and opportunities remain. Examples include scalability, security, privacy, performance, and benefit maximization. Thus, the goal of this special issue is to bring together researchers from different disciplines and sectors to present their state-of-the-art work that addresses the various challenges and limitations.

Topics of Interest (not limited to):

· Security, privacy, and trust in and of blockchain-enabled/augmented CPS

· Blockchain to support mobile smart services and applications

· Blockchain governance for collaborative manufacturing

· Blockchain-based approach for Mobile Crowdsensing

· Blockchain of Things (BCoT): The Fusion of Blockchain and IoT Technologies

· Formal methods and modeling of blockchain-enabled CPS

· Service-oriented blockchain for CPS

· Blockchain-based smart contracts for CPS security

· Blockchain for 5G-enabled IoT

· Performance optimization of blockchain and decentralized schemes in CPS

· Distributed ledger and consensus schemes for CPS

· Blockchain in CPS applications, e.g., Industry 4.0, Smart Cities, Smart Grids, Logistics or Industrial production, Health 4.0, Internet of vehicles, and UAV networks

Submission Process

Submission site: https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/ieee-jas 

The journal's review policy is double-blind peer review (the submission should not contain any author-related information).

Schedule

Deadline of submission:Dec 30, 2020

1st round of review:Feb 15, 2021

Comments to authors:Mar 1, 2021

Revision deadline:April 30, 2021

2nd round of review:June 15, 2021

Comments to authors:June 30, 2121

Submission of final version:July 30, 2021