On the use of Blockchain technologies in WiFi networks

Recently, Blockchain technology has been the focus of large research efforts spanning several application domains. Use of Blockchain has been proposed in wireless networks as well. In this paper an overview will be presented of the existing literature about the application of Blockchain in wireless access networks. Then, focus will be put on two distinct uses of Blockchain: i) application of Blockchain for providing anonymous access control to wireless access networks; ii) exploitation of the proof-of-work (a key component of Blockchain) as a mechanism for congestion avoidance replacing exponential backoff when network traffic load is high. Application of Blockchanin mechanisms in the two above cases will be investigated critically. The analysis carried out in the paper shows that, even if there are several technical issues that must be solved yet, the application of Blockchain mechanisms in wireless access networks is very promising.