Method for secure ledger distribution and computer system using secure distributed ledger technology

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11250518-B2
Application number	US-202016885310-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2020
Priority date	Jul 22, 2016
Publication date	Feb 15, 2022
Grant date	Feb 15, 2022

Abstract

A method of providing secure ledger distribution for interbank settlement includes maintaining a first consensus layer in a mainchain among a plurality of nodes of the centralized computer system and a second consensus layer in a first private sidechain among at least one node of the centralized computer system and computer systems of at least a first sender bank and a first receiver bank, each of which have an account with the central bank. A first transaction is received from the computer system of the first sender bank as a first payment request. It is determined that the first transaction is valid and consensus is reached on a distributed ledger in the mainchain. A first finality proof for the first transaction is forwarded to the first private sidechain. The first transaction is added to a first private ledger accessible only within the first private sidechain.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of providing secure ledger distribution for interbank settlement, the method being comprising:
maintaining, by a centralized computer system of a central bank comprising one or more processors, a first consensus layer in a mainchain among a plurality of nodes of the centralized computer system and a second consensus layer in a first private sidechain among at least one node of the centralized computer system and computer systems of at least a first sender bank and a first receiver bank, each of the first sender bank and the first receiver bank having an account with the central bank;
receiving, by the centralized computer system, a first transaction from the computer system of the first sender bank as a first payment request;
determining, by the centralized computer system, that the first transaction is valid and reaching consensus on a distributed ledger in the mainchain;
forwarding, by the centralized computer system, a first finality proof for the first transaction to the first private sidechain; and
adding, by the centralized computer system, the first transaction to a first private ledger accessible only within the first private sidechain.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the centralized computer system reaches consensus on the first private ledger in the first private sidechain along with the computers systems of the first sender bank and the first receiver bank.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein an efficient Byzantine fault tolerance (EBFT) consensus protocol is used for reaching the consensus.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the finality proof for the first transaction comprises a reply message with f+1 aggregated or distinct signatures from the EBFT consensus protocol with f being a number of faulty nodes which can be tolerated.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first transaction is a token transaction or a tokenize transaction, and wherein tokens generated or redeemed are used to facilitate an asset transfer among the first private sidechain and at least a second private sidechain.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
participating in a second private sidechain among at least one node of the centralized computer system and computer systems of at least a second sender bank and a second receiver bank, each of the second sender bank and the second receiver bank having an account with the central bank;
receiving a second transaction from the computer system of the second sender bank as a second payment request;
determining that the second transaction is valid and reaching consensus on the distributed ledger in the mainchain;
forwarding a second finality proof for the second transaction to the second private sidechain; and
adding the second transaction to a second private ledger accessible only within the second private sidechain,
wherein the first and second private sidechains have different participants from each other.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the centralized computer system reaches consensus on the second private ledger in the second private sidechain along with the computers systems of the second sender bank and the first receiver bank.

8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the first transaction is a tokenize transaction and the second transaction is a token transaction, and wherein tokens generated or redeemed are used to facilitate an asset transfer between the first private sidechain and the second private sidechain.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first receiver bank and the second sender bank are the same bank, and wherein the centralized computer system applies tokens received from the tokenize transaction to the token transaction.

10. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising receiving, by the centralized computer system, a redeem request from the second receiver bank to redeem the tokens and updating a balance of the account of the second receiver bank.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein a balance of the account of the bank which is the first receiver bank and the second sender bank is not updated throughout the first and second transactions.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mainchain is virtual, and wherein smart contracts are implementable to perform the steps of receiving the first transaction, determining that the first transaction is valid and/or forwarding the first finality proof.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the smart contracts include information about the accounts in the central bank and regulatory enforcement information which are used to determine that the first transaction is valid.

14. A computer system of a central bank using secure distributed ledger technology for interbank settlement, the computer system comprising one or more processors or servers, which alone or in combination, are configured to provide for execution of the following steps:
maintaining a first consensus layer in a mainchain among a plurality of nodes of the centralized computer system and a second consensus layer in a first private sidechain among at least one node of the centralized computer system and computer systems of at least a first sender bank and a first receiver bank, each of the first sender bank and the first receiver bank having an account with the central bank;
receiving a first transaction from the computer system of the first sender bank as a first payment request;
determining that the first transaction is valid and reaching consensus on a distributed ledger in the mainchain;
forwarding a first finality proof for the first transaction to the first private sidechain; and
adding the first transaction to a first private ledger accessible only within the first private sidechain.

15. The computer system according to claim 14 , being further configured to perform the first transaction as a token transaction or a tokenize transaction based on whether the account of the first sender bank has tokens, and to use tokens generated or redeemed to facilitate an asset transfer among the first private sidechain and at least a second private sidechain.

16. The computer system according to claim 14 , being further configured to provide for execution of the following additional steps:
participating in a second private sidechain among at least one node of the centralized computer system and computer systems of at least a second sender bank and a second receiver bank, each of the second sender bank and the second receiver bank having an account with the central bank;
receiving a second transaction from the computer system of the second sender bank as a second payment request;
determining that the second transaction is valid and reaching consensus on the distributed ledger in the mainchain;
forwarding a second finality proof for the second transaction to the second private sidechain; and
adding the second transaction to a second private ledger accessible only within the second private sidechain,
wherein the first and second private sidechains have different participants from each other.

17. The computer system according to claim 16 , being further configured to perform the first transaction as a tokenize transaction based on the account of the first sender bank not having enough tokens to fulfill the first payment request, and to perform the second transaction as a token transaction based on the account of the second sender bank having enough tokens to fulfill the second payment request, wherein the first receiver bank and the second sender bank are the same b

Assignees

• Nec Corp

Inventors

• Karame Ghassan
• Li Wenting
• Sforzin Alessandro

Classifications

• H04L9/50

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

• H04L9/3236

  using cryptographic hash functions · CPC title

• G06Q2220/00

  Business processing using cryptography · CPC title

• H04L2209/56

  Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash · CPC title

• G06Q20/02

  involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP] · CPC title