A Novel Application of Distributed Ledger Technology to Enable Secure and Reliable Data Transport in Delay-Sensitive Applications

Multimedia networking is the area of study associated with the delivery of heterogeneous data including, but not limited to, imagery, video, audio, and interactive content. Multimedia and communication network researchers have continually struggled to devise solutions for addressing the three core challenges in multimedia delivery: security, reliability, and performance. Solutions to these challenges typically exist in a spectrum of compromises achieving gains in one aspect at the cost of one or more of the others. Networked videogames represent the pinnacle of multimedia challenges presented in a real-time, delay-sensitive, interactive format. Continual improvements to multimedia delivery have led to tools such as buffering, redundant coupling of low-resolution alternative data streams, congestion avoidance, and forced in-order delivery of best-effort service; however, videogames cannot afford to pay the latency tax of these solutions in their current state.



Practical assessments of contemporary videogame networking applications have confirmed security and performance flaws existing in well-funded, top-tier videogame titles.  This dissertation addresses these challenges through the application of a novel networking protocol, leveraging emerging blockchain technology to provide security, reliability, and performance gains to distributed network applications. This work provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary networking approaches used in delivering videogame multimedia content and their associated shortcomings. Additionally, key elements of blockchain technology are identified as focal points for solution development, notably the application of distributed ledger technology, consensus mechanisms, and smart contracts.  We conducted empirical evaluations of a network video game using both traditional TCP and UDP sockets compared with a modified video game sending state updates via hyperledger fabric channels. Reliability and security were substantially improved with no significant impact on performance.



The broader impact of this research is the improvement of real-time delivery for interactive multimedia content. This has wide-reaching effects across multiple industries including entertainment streaming, virtual conferencing, video games, manufacturing, financial transactions, and autonomous systems.