Secure and Scalable Blockchain-Enabled 5G VehicularNetworks Using Federated Trust-Aware Sharding andCross-Shard Authentication

Secure and Scalable Blockchain-Enabled 5G VehicularNetworks Using Federated Trust-Aware Sharding andCross-Shard Authentication | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Secure and Scalable Blockchain-Enabled 5G VehicularNetworks Using Federated Trust-Aware Sharding andCross-Shard Authentication Yaseen Baig, Sajjad Waqar Ahmed, Arshad Hussain Sangrasi, Fahad Rahman This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8172343/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 14 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The rapid proliferation of fifth-generation (5G) vehicular networks requires massive connectivityand ultra-low-latency for intelligent transportation systems. While blockchain technologyprovides a promising decentralized foundation for data integrity and access control, existing vehicularblockchain frameworks remain limited in term of scalability and lack of integrated securitymechanisms. In particular, heuristic sharding approaches such as Determinantal Point Process(DPP)-based partitioning improve throughput but ignore the trustworthiness of participatingnodes and the security of cross-shard transactions. This paper proposes a Federated Trust-AwareDeterminantal Point Process (FT-DPP) framework combined with a Cross-Shard Secure TransactionChannel (CS-STC) to achieve scalable and security-preserving consensus in 5G vehicularblockchains. The proposed FT–DPP integrates trust, communication quality, and transactionload into the sharding kernel, while a Proof-of-Trust (PoT) consensus assigns voting power accordingto node reputation. The CS–STC validates inter-shard transactions through zero-knowledgeproofs (ZKP) bound to Merkle roots. Simulation and theoretical analysis confirmed improvedscalability, latency, and resistance to collusion compared with existing DPP-based and clusteringschemes. Comprehensive simulations demonstrated that the proposed model improves shard loadbalance by up to 28% and reduces overall consensus delay by 20–25% compared with DPP-basedand K-means benchmarks. Moreover, FT-DPP effectively lowers the attack success probabilityto below 5%, validating its robustness against Sybil and cross-shard spoofing attacks. The resultsindicated that integrating trust management with scalable sharding can provide a unified foundationfor secure, efficient, and trustworthy 5G-enabled vehicular blockchains. The novelty ofthis work lies in integrating federated trust directly into probabilistic sharding kernel, achievingsimultaneous scalability and security—two objectives which are traditionally in conflict invehicular blockchains. 5G vehicular networks blockchain scalability heuristic sharding federated trust management Determinantal Point Process (DPP) Proof-of-Trust (PoT) consensus cross-shard authentication zero-knowledge proofs secure distributed ledger Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 06 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 06 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 06 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 01 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 31 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 31 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 29 Jan, 2026 Reviews received at journal 03 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 27 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 25 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 25 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 25 Dec, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 22 Nov, 2025 First submitted to journal 21 Nov, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8172343","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":565542238,"identity":"20cfef5f-c298-4e51-8f08-527fb0ab4849","order_by":0,"name":"Yaseen Baig","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Université Paris Cité","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yaseen","middleName":"","lastName":"Baig","suffix":""},{"id":565542239,"identity":"b03581e4-d74b-4c8e-b53d-8a6bec7f2afb","order_by":1,"name":"Sajjad Waqar Ahmed","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Université Paris 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While blockchain technologyprovides a promising decentralized foundation for data integrity and access control, existing vehicularblockchain frameworks remain limited in term of scalability and lack of integrated securitymechanisms. In particular, heuristic sharding approaches such as Determinantal Point Process(DPP)-based partitioning improve throughput but ignore the trustworthiness of participatingnodes and the security of cross-shard transactions. This paper proposes a Federated Trust-AwareDeterminantal Point Process (FT-DPP) framework combined with a Cross-Shard Secure TransactionChannel (CS-STC) to achieve scalable and security-preserving consensus in 5G vehicularblockchains. The proposed FT–DPP integrates trust, communication quality, and transactionload into the sharding kernel, while a Proof-of-Trust (PoT) consensus assigns voting power accordingto node reputation. The CS–STC validates inter-shard transactions through zero-knowledgeproofs (ZKP) bound to Merkle roots. Simulation and theoretical analysis confirmed improvedscalability, latency, and resistance to collusion compared with existing DPP-based and clusteringschemes. Comprehensive simulations demonstrated that the proposed model improves shard loadbalance by up to 28% and reduces overall consensus delay by 20–25% compared with DPP-basedand K-means benchmarks. Moreover, FT-DPP effectively lowers the attack success probabilityto below 5%, validating its robustness against Sybil and cross-shard spoofing attacks. The resultsindicated that integrating trust management with scalable sharding can provide a unified foundationfor secure, efficient, and trustworthy 5G-enabled vehicular blockchains. The novelty ofthis work lies in integrating federated trust directly into probabilistic sharding kernel, achievingsimultaneous scalability and security—two objectives which are traditionally in conflict invehicular blockchains.","manuscriptTitle":"Secure and Scalable Blockchain-Enabled 5G VehicularNetworks Using Federated Trust-Aware Sharding andCross-Shard Authentication","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-26 19:53:31","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8172343/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-04-06T15:41:53+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-06T14:41:56+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-06T05:17:54+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-02T04:46:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"331653626835451616561152838604431334096","date":"2026-02-01T03:21:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"201839046965940067559255222266097378403","date":"2026-01-31T14:14:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"193178367895458519207866317060649468875","date":"2026-01-30T04:14:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-03T06:14:03+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"215851361711435783160380254086865812981","date":"2025-12-27T14:26:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"115210532391953968887969530167641134960","date":"2025-12-25T17:13:54+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-25T14:10:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-12-25T14:08:59+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-11-22T07:54:27+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Cluster Computing","date":"2025-11-21T09:54:21+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"cluster-computing","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Cluster Computing](https://www.springer.com/journal/10586)","snPcode":"10586","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10586/3","title":"Cluster Computing","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"44ccc33b-c71e-41d4-a01f-faa95b819d85","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 26th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-09T16:23:47+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-26 19:53:31","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8172343","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8172343","identity":"rs-8172343","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}