Computation Offloading in Mobile Edge Computing-Enabled Blockchain Using Matching and Contract Theory

The application of blockchain technology on mobile devices requires significant computing resources. However, the limited capacity of mobile devices cannot meet the high computing power requirements of blockchain technology, which limits the development of blockchain technology. Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) is capable of alleviate the limited computing capacity of IoT terminals. This paper introduces an edge computing-enabled blockchain system consisting of an edge computing allocation center (ECAC), multiple edge service providers (ESPs), and multiple miners. To efficiently allocate resources between these miners and ESPs, we propose a hierarchical computation offloading strategy based on contract theory and matching game. During contract design phase, ECAC designs a contribution-reward contract to attract ESPs to join the trading market, and provide services to miners. By analyzing the attributes and conditions of feasible contracts of feasible contract, the optimal contract is devised using Lagrange multiplication. During matching phase, an iterative matching algorithm (IMA) is proposed to achieve the matching between ESPs and miners by constructing preference sets for miners and ESPs. Both the stability and convergence have been proved by theoretical analysis. Finally, we conduct experiments to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the design contract. Experimental results also demonstrate the stability of IMA matching algorithm.