Rapid distributed consensus on blockchain

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12003616-B2
Application number	US-202217827168-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 27, 2022
Priority date	Apr 11, 2017
Publication date	Jun 4, 2024
Grant date	Jun 4, 2024

Abstract

There may be provided a computer-implemented method. It may be implemented using a blockchain such as, for example, the Bitcoin blockchain. The computer-implemented method includes: i) joining a congress by transferring, by a node operating in a proof-of-work blockchain network, one or more digital assets to a congress pool having one or more other digital assets associated with other members of a congress; ii) detecting, by the node, a special transaction of digital assets on the proof-of-work blockchain network to an address associated with the congress pool, the special transaction satisfying determined criteria; and iii) minting, by the node, one or more digital assets on a proof-of-stake blockchain network in response to detecting the special transaction.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method performed by a requester node for issuing a request on a blockchain, the method comprising:
joining, by the requester node, a group through transfer of tokens to a public group address to become a group member, the group being associated with a threshold signature scheme for which the node controls a private key share, the transfer of tokens being made on a proof-of-work blockchain network;
issuing a request to the group to complete a work product;
receiving a proposal of the work product from a proposer node of the group;
constructing a transaction in response to receiving the proposal;
obtaining a solution to the work product, determining that no challenge has been proposed to the solution; and
committing the transaction to the blockchain.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the request is a computation exchange which allows nodes to offload computations or performance of algorithms to other nodes.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the proposer node completes the task off-chain.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the proposer sends their public key for the blockchain network to the requester node to submit the proposal.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the proposer commits the solution to a task in the form of a hash of the solution.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the requester receives the proposer's public key and the hash of the solution.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction includes bounty as input and a proposer deposit as output, wherein the transaction is signed by the requester to allow a proposer to add their own input.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction is constructed to be unlocked after an expiration of a challenge period.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction is constructed to be unlocked with a group signature at any time.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising a challenge period during which any node can challenge the proposal submitted by the proposer.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein if no challenge is issued during the challenge period, the proposer claims a bounty and proposer deposit from the transaction.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the proposer provides the solution to the requester by embedding the solution in a transaction on a main blockchain network.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed, configure a processor to perform the method of claim 1 .

14. An electronic device comprising:
an interface device;
a processor coupled to the interface device; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having stored thereon computer executable instructions which, when executed, configure the processor to perform the method of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Nchain Licensing Ag

Inventors

• Fletcher John
• Trevethan Thomas
• Bardoscia Marco

Classifications

• G06Q2220/00

  Business processing using cryptography · CPC title

• H04L2209/56

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

• H04L2209/463

  Electronic voting · CPC title

• G06Q20/3829

  involving key management · CPC title

• G06Q20/389

  Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction · CPC title