Blockchain-Enabled Task Scheduling Framework for Energy-Efficient Cloud–Edge Collaboration

This paper proposes a blockchain-enabled task scheduling framework that enhances energy efficiency and accountability in cloud–edge collaboration environments. As Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices proliferate, they generate enormous volumes of delay-sensitive data while remaining resource-constrained. Traditional centralized schedulers often face bottlenecks, security vulnerabilities, and unbalanced workloads. The proposed model integrates blockchain for verifiable coordination, a hybrid heuristic–deep reinforcement learning scheduler for dynamic optimization, and energy-aware policies that minimize both latency and consumption. Experimental evaluations demonstrate that the framework improves energy efficiency by up to 30% and reduces missed deadlines by over 40% compared with conventional edge-only models. The results highlight that secure, intelligent, and decentralized scheduling can substantially strengthen the sustainability and reliability of next-generation industrial networks.