ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of how blockchain technology could boost sixth-generation (6G)-oriented Internet of Things (IoT) systems. It presents the structure of the blockchain from the perspective of a fundamental block, including the overview of block structure, block header, and transaction. A block header contains the descriptive information of the block, which is consisted of the hash value of its previous block and optional self-defined fields. The chapter introduces how to generate a new block and add it to the chain through the decentralized consensus mechanisms. With the technical advantages, blockchain technology has already been developed and applied in many other fields beyond the originated cryptocurrency. The decentralized, secure, and autonomous characteristics of blockchain technology make it possible to improve the performance of 6G-oriented IoT systems, by introducing many new mechanisms including data privacy and security management, distributed data sharing and storage, smart contracts, asset tracking, and mobile management.
