Please note: This seminar will be given online.
Aiman
Erbad, College
of
Science
and
Engineering
Hamad
Bin
Khalifa
University
Topics covered: Blockchain and machine learning
Smart Contracts (SCs), which are software programs that run on blockchain platforms, provide appealing security guarantees characterized by decentralized, autonomous, and verifiable execution. On the other hand, various blockchain-powered systems (e.g., IoT Monitoring and Service Provisioning) have been leveraging SCs to provide trust and transparency features. Such features are obtained by deploying the application logic and control decisions as SCs on the blockchain. However, on its own the SCs do not guarantee the best performance over time since the blockchain prices vary and system participants join and leave flexibly, and their load varies with time, potentially deeming the initial decisions sub-optimal. Furthermore, modifying the criteria manually by a third party at every variation in the blockchain jeopardizes the autonomous and independent execution promised by SCs. Thus, we propose the use of online learning “rational” SCs that leverage the chained data to continuously self-tune their operations and maintain maximum utility. We utilize a reinforcement learning agent to optimize the blockchain-powered system in two applications: IoT monitoring and peer-to-peer service provisioning. Results based on the Ethereum protocol show significant potential cost saving depending on system conditions and users’ preferences.
Speaker
bio
Aiman
Erbad
is
an
Associate
Professor
at
the
College
of
Science
and
Engineering
at
Hamad
Bin
Khalifa
University
(HBKU).
He
obtained
a
PhD
in
Computer
Science
from
the
University
of
British
Columbia
(Canada),
an
MSc
of
Computer
Science
in
Embedded
Systems
and
Robotics
from
the
University
of
Essex
(UK),
and
a
BSc
in
Computer
Engineering
from
the
University
of
Washington,
Seattle.
He
received
the
2020
best
research
paper
award
from
Computer
Communications,
IWCMC
2019
best
paper
award,
and
IEEE
CCWC
2017
best
paper
award.
His
research
interest
spans
cloud
computing,
edge
computing,
IoT,
distributed
AI
algorithms,
and
private
/
secure
networks.
To join this talk on Zoom, please go to https://zoom.us/j/91818163702.