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\babel@toc {english}{}\relax 
\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {1}Introduction}{1}{chapter.1}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {1.1}Research Background}{1}{section.1.1}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {1.2}Problem Statement}{1}{section.1.2}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {1.3}Motivation}{2}{section.1.3}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {1.4}Proposed Solution: A Hybrid Blockchain System}{2}{section.1.4}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {1.5}Aims and Objectives}{3}{section.1.5}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {1.6}Thesis Contribution}{4}{section.1.6}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {1.7}Thesis Outline}{4}{section.1.7}%
\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {2}Literature Review and State of the Art}{5}{chapter.2}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {2.1}Introduction}{5}{section.2.1}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {2.2}Traditional Railway Asset Management: Challenges and Limitations}{6}{section.2.2}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.2.1}The Importance of Maintenance in Railway Operations}{6}{subsection.2.2.1}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.2.2}Current Asset Management Models}{7}{subsection.2.2.2}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Reactive Maintenance (RM)}{7}{section*.3}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Preventive Maintenance (PM)}{8}{section*.4}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Predictive Maintenance (PdM)}{8}{section*.5}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.2.3}Limitations of Centralized Data Systems}{9}{subsection.2.2.3}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Data Silos and Lack of Interoperability}{9}{section*.6}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Data Integrity and Trust}{9}{section*.7}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Inefficiency and Paper-Based Processes}{10}{section*.8}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {2.3}Fundamentals of Blockchain Technology}{11}{section.2.3}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.3.1}Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)}{11}{subsection.2.3.1}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.3.2}Core Components of a Blockchain}{11}{subsection.2.3.2}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Cryptography and Hashing}{12}{section*.9}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Blocks and Chains}{12}{section*.10}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Consensus Mechanisms}{13}{section*.11}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.3.3}Ethereum and Smart Contracts}{14}{subsection.2.3.3}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Bitcoin vs. Ethereum}{14}{section*.12}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Smart Contracts}{15}{section*.13}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.3.4}Public vs. Private (Consortium) Blockchains}{15}{subsection.2.3.4}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {2.4}State of the Art: Blockchain in Asset Management}{16}{section.2.4}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.4.1}Blockchain for General Supply Chain Management (SCM)}{17}{subsection.2.4.1}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Food Supply Chains}{17}{section*.14}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Pharmaceutical Supply Chains}{17}{section*.15}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Maritime Logistics (Shipping)}{17}{section*.16}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{High-Value Goods (Diamonds)}{18}{section*.17}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Limitations and Barriers}{18}{section*.18}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.4.2}Blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) for Asset Tracking}{19}{subsection.2.4.2}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Cold Chain Monitoring}{19}{section*.19}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Connected Vehicles and Data Integrity}{19}{section*.20}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.4.3}Specific Research on Blockchain for Railways}{20}{subsection.2.4.3}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Conceptual Frameworks}{20}{section*.21}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Research on Different Railway Problems}{20}{section*.22}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {2.5}Analysis and Identification of the Research Gap}{21}{section.2.5}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.5.1}Summary of Existing Literature}{21}{subsection.2.5.1}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.5.2}Identified Gaps and Limitations}{22}{subsection.2.5.2}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Gap 1: Lack of Full-Stack Implementation (From Theory to Practice)}{22}{section*.23}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Gap 2: Ignoring the User Experience (UX) and Mobile Needs}{23}{section*.24}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Gap 3: Naive Architectures (Privacy, Cost, and the Hybrid Model)}{23}{section*.25}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.5.3}Thesis Contribution}{24}{subsection.2.5.3}%
\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {3}Methodology}{27}{chapter.3}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {3.1}System Architecture}{27}{section.3.1}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.1.1}Architectural Design Rationale}{28}{subsection.3.1.1}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.1.2}Presentation Layer (Frontend)}{29}{subsection.3.1.2}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.1.3}Backend Logic Layer (API Middleware)}{30}{subsection.3.1.3}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.1.4}Data Layers (A Hybrid Approach)}{30}{subsection.3.1.4}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{On-Chain Data: The Blockchain Ledger}{30}{section*.26}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Off-Chain Data: The Local Application Database}{31}{section*.27}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.1.5}Example Workflow: The Maintenance Process}{31}{subsection.3.1.5}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {3.2}The Blockchain Core: Railway Asset Registry}{32}{section.3.2}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.2.1}Development, and Deployment Lifecycle}{33}{subsection.3.2.1}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Development Environment}{33}{section*.28}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Deployment to a Test Network}{33}{section*.29}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.2.2}On-Chain Data Structures}{34}{subsection.3.2.2}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.2.3}Storage, Relationships, and Indexing}{34}{subsection.3.2.3}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Data Storage Mappings}{35}{section*.30}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Hierarchical Relationship Mappings}{35}{section*.31}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Search Index Mappings}{35}{section*.32}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.2.4}Asset Lifecycle Management Functions}{36}{subsection.3.2.4}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Asset Creation}{36}{section*.33}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Asset Updating}{36}{section*.34}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Asset Deletion Strategy (Soft vs. Hard)}{37}{section*.35}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.2.5}Query and Data Retrieval Functions}{37}{subsection.3.2.5}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.2.6}Gas, Security, and Opcode Optimization}{38}{subsection.3.2.6}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Compiler Opcode Optimization}{38}{section*.36}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Custom Errors}{38}{section*.37}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Asynchronous Events}{39}{section*.38}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {3.3}Application Backend (API Layer)}{39}{section.3.3}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.3.1}Technology Choice: Python and FastAPI}{39}{subsection.3.3.1}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.3.2}API Structure and Request Flow}{40}{subsection.3.3.2}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.3.3}Off-Chain User and Authentication Service}{41}{subsection.3.3.3}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Off-Chain Database}{41}{section*.39}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Authentication with JWT}{41}{section*.40}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.3.4}Blockchain Orchestration Service}{41}{subsection.3.3.4}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Reading Data (Read-Only Calls)}{42}{section*.41}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Writing Data (Signed Transactions)}{42}{section*.42}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.3.5}Data Validation Schemas}{43}{subsection.3.3.5}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {3.4}Frontend Application (User Interface)}{43}{section.3.4}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.4.1}Core Technologies and Rationale}{44}{subsection.3.4.1}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.4.2}State Management Strategy}{44}{subsection.3.4.2}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Server State with React Query}{44}{section*.43}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Client State with React Context}{45}{section*.44}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.4.3}Application Structure and User Workflow}{45}{subsection.3.4.3}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Security with Protected Routes}{45}{section*.45}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Main Pages and Functionality}{45}{section*.46}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Example Maintenance Workflow}{47}{section*.47}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.4.4}Progressive Web App (PWA) for Mobile Access}{49}{subsection.3.4.4}%
\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {4}Experimental Evaluation}{51}{chapter.4}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {4.1}Methodology and Experimental Setup}{51}{section.4.1}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.1.1}Hardware and Cloud Infrastructure}{51}{subsection.4.1.1}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Server Environment (Production Simulation)}{51}{section*.48}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Local Development Environment}{52}{section*.49}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.1.2}Blockchain Network Configuration}{52}{subsection.4.1.2}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.1.3}Procedure for Gas Cost Comparison}{53}{subsection.4.1.3}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{The ``Naive`` Baseline vs. The ``Optimized`` Solution}{53}{section*.50}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Execution Script}{53}{section*.51}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {4.2}Numerical Results: Smart Contract Evaluation}{54}{section.4.2}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.2.1}Gas Consumption Comparison}{54}{subsection.4.2.1}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Technical Analysis of Gas Results}{54}{section*.52}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.2.2}Economic Feasibility and Cost Projection}{55}{subsection.4.2.2}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Discussion of Economic Viability}{55}{section*.53}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {4.3}System Performance: API Latency}{56}{section.4.3}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.3.1}Latency Measurements}{56}{subsection.4.3.1}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Authentication (Off-Chain Write)}{57}{section*.54}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Data Retrieval (On-Chain Read)}{57}{section*.55}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Asset Creation (On-Chain Write)}{57}{section*.56}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.3.2}Discussion of Latency Results}{58}{subsection.4.3.2}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {4.4}Frontend Evaluation: PWA and Usability}{58}{section.4.4}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.4.1}PWA Technical Verification}{58}{subsection.4.4.1}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Service Worker Registration}{58}{section*.57}%
\contentsline {subsubsection}{Manifest and Installability}{59}{section*.58}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.4.2}Lighthouse Quality Audit}{60}{subsection.4.4.2}%
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.4.3}Conclusion of Evaluation}{61}{subsection.4.4.3}%
\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {5}Conclusion}{63}{chapter.5}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {5.1}Summary of the Thesis}{63}{section.5.1}%
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {5.2}Analysis of the Contribution}{64}{section.5.2}%
\contentsline {chapter}{Bibliography}{67}{chapter*.59}%
