An Approach for Smart Gateways to Collect Data and Automate It on Block-Chain ()
1. Introduction
This project will take a thermal power plant as a pilot, integrating various technologies such as terminal device identity management, real-time data acquisition of equipment, spatiotemporal positioning, and blockchain to carry out the technical feasibility of direct data collection from end-side terminals and on-chain intelligent device preparation. It aims for subsequent blockchain application scenarios to achieve isolation between humans and equipment, and between humans and data through direct data collection and on-chain processes, thereby eliminating the mode of manual data collection, significantly reducing the possibility of human intervention in the data, saving labor costs, and improving the efficiency of data on-chain. This furthers the construction of a trusted data source. At the same time, through feasibility studies, it is expected to form a data acquisition product line with on-chain functionality applicable in the thermal power scenario.
2. Ease of Use
2.1. Data Cochain
Data cochain refers to the process where users encrypt their own data and upload it to the public network side-chain, and form a data index on the public trust chain. Once the data is on the chain, aside from the decryption authorized by the owner’s Data-key, no individual or organization has the capability to access your data, thereby ensuring absolute data security.
2.2. Data Acquisition Gateway
The data acquisition gateway is an industrial equipment data collection and conversion device. It integrates data collection, protocol analysis, and edge computing, remote control, and cloud access into one smart device. It is suitable for data collection and remote management of various types of equipment, solving problems related to industrial equipment IoT, data collection, and remote monitoring.
By combining the technologies of data on-chain and data collection gateways, the direct collection of business data and its automated on-chain process are realized. This saves costs and improves efficiency with a certain degree of usability.
3. Methodology
The main content of this study includes a feasibility study of the technology.
3.1. Spatiotemporal Location of Data
In this project, the Beidou chip is used to add spatio-temporal positioning capabilities to the terminal. Using the most advanced Beidou technology, data can be precisely located within 50 meters, and the timing of data to users can be precise within 0.1ms. Therefore, users can quickly and conveniently monitor all business data acquisition’s precise location and time through the browser. Real-time data monitoring and transmission under spatio-temporal interaction enhances the credibility of the terminal and data.
3.2. Data Directly Uploaded to Blockchain
In this project, the smart data collection and blockchain terminal will directly collect data through semiconductor gas sensors, infrared gas sensors, electrochemical gas sensors, sampling equipment, sample preparation equipment, sample transfer equipment, and laboratory equipment. At the same time, the collected data will be automatically uploaded to the blockchain within the terminal, avoiding cumbersome intermediate processes, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency. Through the data collection function, these business data can be aggregated to form an internal big data platform for the group, performing data mining and analysis, and serving users accurately. Through the direct blockchain upload function, it avoids manual intervention in data collection and ensures the whole process of data retrieval and blockchain upload is secure, trustworthy, and tamper-proof.
3.3. Intelligent Data Collection Blockchain Terminal
In this project, each of the aforementioned functions will be developed and tested one by one. Once all functions are implemented, we will explore the feasibility of integrating these two major functions into the gateway device, assess whether each function is affected in interaction, whether performance is impacted, and whether the data flow logic meets the design requirements, etc., in order to evaluate if the terminal can meet the basic requirements of performance standards and complete functionality, thus achieving technical feasibility.
4. Experimental
4.1. Direct Data Collection (Taking Location Data as an Example)
Through the connection and interaction between the positioning module (chip)/data acquisition module and the gateway, the chip’s position and time information are available in real-time. Devices used include the edge gateway (Guoneng Industrial Internet Intelligent Gateway D600), positioning module (Quectel EC20), and data acquisition sensor (NEPRICD-2000). Taking the interaction between the gateway and the positioning module as an example, this describes the method of direct data acquisition onto the chain. Method: According to the official manual of the EC20 module, it is understood that the corresponding AT control command channel for the module is /dev/ttyUSB2, as shown in Figure 1.
Connect to the module’s corresponding AT command channel through serial communication, and then it is possible to read information and data from the module through AT commands, as shown in Figure 2.
Through AT commands, it is possible to query the network status, signal quality, GNSS information, and other parameters; by reading the positioning information through AT commands, it will be organized into the module’s own format and sent to the device through serial communication, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 1. EC20 module control command.
Figure 2. AT command.
Figure 3. Obtaining positioning information (1).
In the code, instructions described in the manual are sent to obtain data such as location information, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Getting location information (2).
Finally, follow the data sequence in the instruction manual, and data parsing can obtain the required positioning information; the interaction method between the gateway and the data collection module is similar to that between the gateway and the positioning module. Since it is not the core innovation of this patent, it will not be elaborated on further.
4.2. Data Cochain
Taking the positioning module as an example, the data format obtained is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Data cochain.
As shown in the figure above, the Linux system within the gateway has read the data transmitted by the positioning module. Taking the first line as an example, “data” represents the positioning data, where 39.949627N represents latitude, 116.39420E represents longitude, and 24-1-8 11:38:43 represents the current date and time. “addr” represents the IP address, which supports the subsequent blockchain program to listen to the positioning data.
After receiving data, the gateway can directly invoke the contract SDK to go on-chain within the gateway according to the on-chain mechanism of the State Energy Blockchain. The State Energy Chain SDK acts as a bridge between the business module and the State Energy Chain, supporting bi-directional TLS authentication and providing a secure and reliable encrypted communication channel. The task of the on-chain contract SDK is to ensure that business data is transmitted to the blockchain accurately, reliably, and traceably. The implementation is as follows.
Implementation method: First, the on-chain contract is written, as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6. Creating a new evidence object.
Creating a new proof of existence object, latitude, longitude, and time, is exposed externally for users to call the contract to complete the on-chain operation of the above three parameters.
Figure 7. Contract method (1).
After the contract is written, it can be installed and compiled on a business chain within the National Energy Blockchain Enablement Platform. Then, you can directly invoke the contract to go on-chain. The part of the contract SDK code is shown in Figure 7 and Figure 8.
Figure 8. Contract method (2).
The test results are shown in Figure 9, the positioning data was successfully uploaded to the blockchain, and the process of uploading measurement data to the blockchain is similar, so it will not be reiterated.
Figure 9. Test result.
5. Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be considered that the technology research for direct sourcing to blockchain is feasible. After the mature product of the smart data collection blockchain terminal is launched, it has a certain degree of universality and can undergo adaptive modifications at a lower cost, therefore, it can be widely used in a variety of production scenarios. At the same time, the smart data collection blockchain terminal itself is small in size and can be placed in cramped spaces, further enhancing adaptability and competitiveness. Finally, due to its low manufacturing cost, large-scale production and application will greatly improve the efficiency of blockchain integration and reduce production costs in various fields.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.