BE-RAN: Blockchain-enabled RAN with Decentralized Identity Management and Privacy-Preserving Communication

Blockchain-enabled Radio Access Network (BE-RAN), which is proposed as a novel decentralized RAN architecture, facilitates enhanced security and privacy on identification and authentication. It aims to offer user-centric identity management for UE and RAN elements, as well as mutual authentication to all entities, while enabling on-demand point-to-point communication with accountable billing service add-on to the general public. In addition, a potential operating model with thorough decentralization of RAN is envisioned, and the distributed privacy-preserving P2P communication, as one of the core use case for future mobile network, is presented as an important complement to the existing core network based security and privacy management.