ProMETHEUS: A Secure Lightweight Spectrum Allocation Protocol against SSDF Attacks in Cognitive Radio IoT Networks

The reliability and accuracy of collaborative spectrum sensing in Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs) is highly dependent on integrity of shared spectrum sensing data. This poses challenges if the protocols need to be realized on Internet of Things-based CRNs (IoT-CRNs) without additional resources. In this letter, we introduce ProMETHEUS, a secure and lightweight spectrum allocation protocol designed specifically for IoT-CRNs. ProMETHEUS utilizes a blockchain framework to ensure the integrity of shared spectrum sensing data and employs a simple pattern-based channel state prediction technique for efficient spectrum allocation. We implemented ProMETHEUS in an IoT-CRN using Raspberry Pi 3 devices connected with software-defined radios. Our evaluation demonstrates that ProMETHEUS outperforms recently proposed CRN protocols, such as ProBLeSS and PROLEMus.