Digital contracts in blockchain environments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11334874-B2
Application number	US-201816116972-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 30, 2018
Priority date	Aug 6, 2018
Publication date	May 17, 2022
Grant date	May 17, 2022

Abstract

Digital or “smart” contracts execute in a blockchain environment. Any entity (whether public or private) may specify a digital contract via a contract identifier in a blockchain. Because there may be many digital contracts offered as virtual services, the contract identifier uniquely identifies a particular digital contract offered by a virtual machine, vendor or supplier. The blockchain is thus not burdened with the programming code that is required to execute the digital contract. The blockchain need only include or specify the contract identifier (and perhaps one or more contractual parameters), thus greatly simplifying the blockchain and reducing its size (in bytes) and processing requirements.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method performed by a server that reduces a memory byte size consumed by a blockchain stored to a memory device, the method comprising:
receiving, by the server, the blockchain recording transaction records conducted by computers via a network;
storing, by the server, the blockchain to the memory device;
determining, by the server, an off-chain execution of a digital contract by
identifying a contract identifier specified by the blockchain in lieu of a programming code representing the digital contract;
identifying, by the server, a network address by querying an electronic database for the contract identifier specified by the blockchain for the off-chain execution, the electronic database electronically associating network addresses to contract identifiers including the network address that is electronically associated with the contract identifier specified by the blockchain for the off-chain execution;
sending, by the server, a service request via the network to the network address that is electronically associated with the contract identifier specified by the blockchain for the off-chain execution, the service request requesting the off-chain execution of the digital contract based on a contractual parameter specified by the blockchain for the off-chain execution; and
generating, by the server, a data record in a blockchain data layer that documents the service request requesting the off-chain execution of the digital contract;
wherein the contract identifier specified by the blockchain requires less memory space than the programming code representing the digital contract, the latter installed off-chain, thereby reducing the memory byte size consumed by the blockchain stored to the memory device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a service result associated with the off-chain execution of the digital contract.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising generating another data record in the blockchain data layer that describes the service result.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising transacting a cryptocoinage in response to the service result.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a service update associated with the off-chain execution of the digital contract.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising generating another data record in the blockchain data layer that describes the service update.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a cryptographic proof based on hashing of the data record in the blockchain data layer.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising publicly publishing the cryptographic proof via a public blockchain.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transacting a cryptocoinage in response to the generating of the data record in the blockchain data layer.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transacting a cryptocoinage in response to the sending of the service request.

11. A system reducing a byte size consumed by a blockchain, comprising:
a hardware processor; and
a memory device storing instructions that when executed by the hardware processor, perform operations, the operations comprising:
receiving a blockchain recording transaction records conducted by computers via a network;
storing the blockchain to the memory device;
determining an off-chain execution of a digital contract by identifying a contract identifier specified by the blockchain in lieu of a programming code representing the digital contract;
querying an electronic database for the contract identifier specified by the blockchain for the off-chain execution, the electronic database electronically associating network addresses to contract identifiers including the contract identifier;
identifying a network address of the network addresses that is electronically associated with the contract identifier specified by the blockchain for the off-chain execution;
sending a service request to the network address that requests the off-chain execution of the digital contract based on a contractual parameter specified by the blockchain; and
generating a data record in a blockchain data layer that records the sending of the service request;

wherein the contract identifier specified by the blockchain requires less memory space than the programming code representing the digital contract, the latter installed off-chain, thereby reducing the byte size consumed by the blockchain stored to the memory device.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving a service result associated with the off-chain execution of the digital contract.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise generating another data record in the blockchain data layer that describes the service result.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise transacting a cryptocoinage in response to the service result.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving a service update associated with the off-chain execution of the digital contract.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise generating another data record in the blockchain data layer that describes the service update.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a cryptographic proof based on hashing of the data record in the blockchain data layer.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise publicly publishing the cryptographic proof via a public blockchain.

19. A memory device storing instructions that when executed by a hardware processor perform operations that reduce a byte size consumed by a blockchain, the operations comprising;
receiving a blockchain recording transaction records conducted by computers via a network;
storing the blockchain to the memory device;
determining an off-chain execution of a digital contract by identifying a contract identifier specified by the blockchain in lieu of a programming code representing the digital contract;
querying an electronic database for the contract identifier specified by the blockchain for the off-chain execution, the electronic database electronically associating network addresses to contract identifiers including the contract identifier specified by the blockchain;
identifying a network address of the network addresses that is electronically associated with the contract identifier specified by the blockchain;
sending a service request to the network address that is electronically associated with the contract identifier specified by the blockchain, the service request requesting the off-chain execution based on a contractual parameter specified by the blockchain; and
generating a data record in a blockchain data layer that documents the sending of the service request requesting the off-chain execution;
wherein the contract identifier specified by the blockchain requires less memory space than the programming code representing the digital contract, the latter installed off-chain, thereby reducing the byte size consumed by the blockchain stored to the memory device.

20. The memory device of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving a service result associated with the off-chain execution of the digital contract; and
generating another data record in the blockchain data layer that describes the service result.

Assignees

• Inveniam Capital Partners Inc

Inventors

• Snow Paul

Classifications

• G06Q20/12

  specially adapted for electronic shopping systems · CPC title

• H04L9/0618

  Block ciphers, i.e. encrypting groups of characters of a plain text message using fixed encryption transformation · CPC title

• H04L9/3236

  using cryptographic hash functions · CPC title

• H04L9/50

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

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title