# Communication Aspects of the Integration of Wireless IoT Devices with Distributed Ledger Technology

## TL;DR

This paper explores the integration of Distributed Ledger Technologies with IoT devices, highlighting challenges, proposing a classification of synchronization protocols, and emphasizing the need for two-way communication for effective trust management.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel classification of lightweight synchronization protocols and discusses the importance of two-way data exchange in integrating DLTs with resource-constrained IoT devices.

## Key findings

- Lightweight synchronization protocols share common traits.
- Two-way communication is essential for ledger information at endpoints.
- Integration challenges stem from resource constraints and communication needs.

## Abstract

The pervasive need to safely share and store information between devices calls for the replacement of centralized trust architectures with the decentralized ones. Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) are seen as the most promising enabler of decentralized trust, but they still lack technological maturity and their successful adoption depends on the understanding of the fundamental design trade-offs and their reflection in the actual technical design. This work focuses on the challenges and potential solutions for an effective integration of DLTs in the context of Internet-of-Things (IoT). We first introduce the landscape of IoT applications and discuss the limitations and opportunities offered by DLTs. Then, we review the technical challenges encountered in the integration of resource-constrained devices with distributed trust networks. We describe the common traits of lightweight synchronization protocols, and propose a novel classification, rooted in the IoT perspective. We identify the need of receiving ledger information at the endpoint devices, implying a two-way data exchange that contrasts with the conventional uplink-oriented communication technologies intended for IoT systems.