Reducing storage of blockchain metadata via dictionary-style compression

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11070231-B2
Application number	US-201816237586-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 31, 2018
Priority date	Dec 31, 2018
Publication date	Jul 20, 2021
Grant date	Jul 20, 2021

Abstract

A method of reducing the storage requirements of blockchain metadata via dictionary-style compression includes receiving a request to add a transaction block to a blockchain. The method further includes determining an identifier (ID) of a dictionary block most recently stored on the blockchain. The method further includes compressing, by a processing device, one or more transactions of the transaction block based on the dictionary block to generate a compressed transaction block. The method further includes adding the ID of the dictionary block to the compressed transaction block. The method further includes providing the compressed transaction block, including the ID of the dictionary block, for storage on the blockchain.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of reducing the storage requirements of blockchain metadata via dictionary-style compression, the method comprising:
receiving a request to add a transaction block to a blockchain;
determining an identifier (ID) of a dictionary block most recently stored on the blockchain;
compressing, by a processing device, one or more transactions of the transaction block based on the dictionary block to generate a compressed transaction block;
adding the ID of the dictionary block to the compressed transaction block;
providing the compressed transaction block, including the ID of the dictionary block, for storage on the blockchain;
wherein the dictionary block comprises a first dictionary corresponding to a first field of data in the transaction block, and wherein the first dictionary comprises a first key-value pair representing compressed metadata and corresponding raw metadata of the first field, respectively, wherein the dictionary block further comprises a second dictionary corresponding to a second field of data in the transaction block, and wherein the second dictionary comprises a second key-value pair representing compressed metadata and corresponding raw metadata of the second field, respectively, wherein the dictionary block further comprises a data schema identifying the first dictionary and corresponding first field of data, and the second dictionary and corresponding second field of data; and
wherein compressing the one or more transactions of the transaction block based on the dictionary block to generate the compressed transaction block comprises:
identifying raw metadata in a text field of the transaction block to be compressed; identifying the first dictionary block based on the ID of the dictionary in the transaction block;
determining that the text field of the transaction block is the same as the first field of data of the transaction block;
determining, based on the data schema of the first dictionary block, that the text field of the transaction block corresponds to the first field of data of the first dictionary;
based on the determining, identifying compressed metadata corresponding to the raw metadata in the first dictionary; and
replacing the raw metadata with the corresponding compressed metadata.

2. A method of reducing the storage requirements of blockchain metadata via dictionary-style compression, the method comprising:
receiving a request to add a transaction block to a blockchain;
determining an identifier (ID) of a dictionary block most recently stored on the blockchain;
compressing, by a processing device, one or more transactions of the transaction block based on the dictionary block to generate a compressed transaction block;
adding the ID of the dictionary block to the compressed transaction block;
providing the compressed transaction block, including the ID of the dictionary block, for storage on the blockchain;
wherein the dictionary block comprises a first dictionary corresponding to a first field of data in the transaction block, and wherein the first dictionary comprises a first key-value pair representing compressed metadata and corresponding raw metadata of the first field, respectively, wherein the dictionary block further comprises a second dictionary corresponding to a second field of data in the transaction block, and wherein the second dictionary comprises a second key-value pair representing compressed metadata and corresponding raw metadata of the second field, respectively, wherein the dictionary block further comprises a data schema identifying the first dictionary and corresponding first field of data, and the second dictionary and corresponding second field of data;
identifying compressed metadata in a text field of the transaction block to be read;
identifying the first dictionary block based on the ID of the dictionary in the transaction block;
determining that the text field of the transaction block is the same as the first field of data of the transaction block;
determining, based on the data schema of the first dictionary block, that the text field of the transaction block corresponds to the first field of data of the first dictionary;
based on the determining, identifying raw metadata corresponding to the compressed metadata in the first dictionary; and
providing the raw metadata to be read.

3. A method of reducing the storage requirements of blockchain metadata via dictionary-style compression, the method comprising:
receiving a request to add a transaction block to a blockchain;
determining an identifier (ID) of a dictionary block most recently stored on the blockchain;
compressing, by a processing device, one or more transactions of the transaction block based on the dictionary block to generate a compressed transaction block;
adding the ID of the dictionary block to the compressed transaction block;
providing the compressed transaction block, including the ID of the dictionary block, for storage on the blockchain;
generating, based on a set of transaction blocks most recently added to the blockchain, a new dictionary block; and
providing the new dictionary block for storage on the blockchain.

4. The method of reducing storage of blockchain metadata via dictionary style compression of claim 3 , wherein raw metadata corresponding to a higher frequency value in the new dictionary block is assigned a smaller corresponding compressed metadata value than raw metadata corresponding to a lower frequency value.

Assignees

• Palo Alto Res Ct Inc

Inventors

• Bier Eric Allan
• Brito Alejandro
• Rane Shantanu

Classifications

• H04L9/50

  using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees · CPC title

• H03M7/702 Primary

  Software · CPC title

• H03M7/4056

  Coding table selection · CPC title

• H03M7/4031

  Fixed length to variable length coding · CPC title

• H04L9/0637

  Modes of operation, e.g. cipher block chaining [CBC], electronic codebook [ECB] or Galois/counter mode [GCM] · CPC title