Lattice-Based Standardized Cross-Chain Payment Protocol for Post-Quantum IoT Ecosystems

The development of the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem confronts two major obstacles: interoperability barriers caused by the coexistence of multiple blockchains and long-term security threats from quantum computing to classical cryptographic systems. Existing cross-chain mechanisms generally involve high overhead, long latency, and reliance on non–post-quantum primitives, making them impractical for constrained IoT devices. To overcome these issues, this paper presents a lattice-based standardized cross-chain payment protocol designed for post-quantum security and lightweight deployment. The protocol employs a provably secure lattice signature scheme and a lightweight interoperability framework to automate cross-chain coordination. Keyword-driven embedded smart contracts ensure atomic transaction execution, while integrated IoT communication protocols improve data transmission efficiency. Security analysis proves that the scheme satisfies essential post-quantum security properties, and experimental results show significant improvements in transaction latency, computational overhead, and scalability. The proposed protocol offers a secure and efficient solution for building the next generation of quantum-resistant IoT value networks.