Secure blockchain-based consensus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11483338-B2
Application number	US-201816606204-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 16, 2018
Priority date	Apr 18, 2017
Publication date	Oct 25, 2022
Grant date	Oct 25, 2022

Abstract

There may be provided a computer-implemented method. The computer-implemented method includes: i) broadcasting a transaction, by a node in a blockchain network, to a congress pool to join a congress formed of a group of nodes; ii) after the congress has accepted a request from a requester to activate a script, preparing, by the node, a blockchain transaction cryptographically locked with a public key associated with the congress; iii) cooperatively generating, by the node in cooperating with other nodes of the group, a valid cryptographic signature for the transaction to spend the transaction; iv) after the blockchain transaction has been unlocked, receiving data from the plurality of information providing systems; v) determining a centre point for the data received from the plurality of information providing systems; and vi) activating, by the node in cooperation with other nodes of the congress, the script based on the centre point.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
broadcasting a transaction, by a node in a blockchain network, to a congress pool to join a congress formed of a group of nodes;
after the congress has accepted a request from a requester to activate a script, preparing, by the node, a blockchain transaction cryptographically locked with a public key associated with the congress pool, the blockchain transaction configured to permit a plurality of information providing systems to add inputs to the blockchain transaction, wherein the inputs include respective proof of solution data;
generating, after the inputs have been added to the blockchain transaction and by the node in cooperating with other nodes of the group, a valid cryptographic signature for the blockchain transaction to unlock the blockchain transaction;
after the transaction has been unlocked, receiving data from the plurality of information providing systems;
determining whether the data received from at least one of the information providing systems corresponds with a committed solution based on the respective proof of solution data; wherein
in response to determining that the data received from the at least one of the information providing systems does correspond with a committed solution based on the proof of solution data, the method further comprises:
determining a centre point for the data received from the plurality of information providing systems; and
activating, by the node in cooperation with other nodes of the congress, the script based on the centre point;
based on the centre point, identifying, by the node, a subset of the information providing systems that provided data proximate the centre point;
authorizing, by the node in cooperation with other nodes of the group, a transfer of a token to each information providing system in the subset;
in response to determining that the data received from the at least one of the information providing systems does not correspond with a committed solution based on the proof of solution data, discarding the data;
detecting malicious activity by a malicious party, wherein the malicious party is one of a plurality of nodes of the congress; and
using a private key share to confiscate at least a portion of tokens previously transferred to the congress pool by the malicious party.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the token included in the transfer include one or more tokens received from the requester into the congress pool.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the request includes a threshold indicator and wherein a subset is identified based on the threshold indicator.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the threshold indicator is received from the requester.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the inputs include tokens to be locked for security.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the information providing systems include, in the blockchain transaction, a hash based on a public key, a solution to the request and salt.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the data received from the plurality of information providing systems includes the public key, the solution to the request and the salt, the method further comprising:
generating a hash based on the public key, the solution to the request and the salt; and
comparing the generated hash with the hash included in the blockchain transaction.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein confiscating comprises transferring to an unspendable account.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed, configure a processor to at least:
broadcast a transaction, by a node in a blockchain network, to a congress pool to join a congress formed of a group of nodes;
after the congress has accepted a request from a requester to activate a script, prepare, by the node, a blockchain transaction cryptographically locked with a public key associated with the congress pool, the blockchain transaction configured to permit a plurality of information providing systems to add inputs to the blockchain transaction, wherein the inputs include respective proof of solution data;
generate, after the inputs have been added to the blockchain transaction and by the node in cooperating with other nodes of the group, a valid cryptographic signature for the blockchain transaction to unlock the blockchain transaction;
receive, after the transaction has been unlocked, data from the plurality of information providing systems;
determine whether the data received from at least one of the information providing systems corresponds with a committed solution based on the proof of solution data; wherein
in response to determining that the data received from the at least one of the information providing systems does correspond with a committed solution based on the respective proof of solution data, the method further comprises:
determine a centre point for the data received from the plurality of information providing systems; and
activate, by the node in cooperation with other nodes of the congress, the script based on the centre point;

identify, by the node and based on the centre point, a subset of the information providing systems that provided data proximate the centre point;
authorize, by the node in cooperation with other nodes of the group, a transfer of a token to each information providing system in the subset;
in response to determining that the data received from the at least one of the information providing systems does not correspond with a committed solution based on the proof of solution data, discarding the data;
detect malicious activity by a malicious party, wherein the malicious party is one of a plurality of nodes of the congress; and
use a private key share to confiscate at least a portion of tokens previously transferred to the congress pool by the malicious party.

10. An electronic device comprising:
an interface device;
a hardware processor coupled to the interface device; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing computer executable instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to at least:
broadcast a transaction, by a node in a blockchain network, to a congress pool to join a congress formed of a group of nodes;
prepare, after the congress has accepted a request from a requester to activate a, by the node, a blockchain transaction cryptographically locked with a public key associated with the congress pool, the blockchain transaction configured to permit a plurality of information providing systems to add inputs to the blockchain transaction, wherein the inputs include respective proof of solution data;
generate, after the inputs have been added to the blockchain transaction and by the node in cooperating with other nodes of the group, a valid cryptographic signature for the blockchain transaction to unlock the blockchain transaction;
receive, after the transaction has been unlocked, data from the plurality of information providing systems;
determine whether the data received from at least one of the information providing systems corresponds with a committed solution based on the respective proof of solution data; wherein
in response to determining that the data received from the at least one of the information providing systems does correspond with a committed solution based on the proof of solution data, the method further comprises:
determine a centre point for the data received from the plurality of information providing systems; and
activate, by the node in cooperation with other nodes o

Assignees

• Nchain Holdings Ltd

Inventors

• Jimenez-Delgado Pedro

Classifications

• H04L63/123 Primary

  received data contents, e.g. message integrity · CPC title

• H04L9/3255

  using group based signatures, e.g. ring or threshold signatures · CPC title

• H04L9/3252

  using DSA or related signature schemes, e.g. elliptic based signatures, ElGamal or Schnorr schemes · CPC title

• H04L9/3239 Primary

  involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD · CPC title

• H04L9/50

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