Method for signing a new block in a decentralized blockchain consensus network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12476790-B2
Application number	US-202318344911-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2023
Priority date	Sep 21, 2018
Publication date	Nov 18, 2025
Grant date	Nov 18, 2025

Abstract

A method for registering a mining computing entity (MCE) with a trusted execution environment entity (TEEE) in a blockchain of a distributed blockchain consensus network (DBCN), based on a proof-of-stake protocol, includes determining public signing information, secret signing information, and a registration timestamp and determining public account information and secret account information for a virtual wallet of the blockchain. The method further includes generating attestation information based on signing integrity information and hashing the public signing information and the public account information, and based on the attestation information, obtaining, from an attestation providing entity (APE), proving information. The method also includes sending, to the blockchain, a registration transaction that is signed with the secret account information, and registering the MCE to the blockchain.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for registering a mining computing entity (MCE) with a trusted execution environment entity (TEEE) in a blockchain of a distributed blockchain consensus network (DBCN), based on a proof-of-stake protocol, the method comprising:
determining, by the MCE, public signing information, secret signing information, and a registration timestamp; determining, by the MCE, public account information and secret account information for a virtual wallet of the blockchain; generating, by the MCE, attestation information based on signing integrity information and hashing the public signing information and the public account information; based on the attestation information, obtaining, by the MCE and from an attestation providing entity (APE), proving information; sending, by the MCE and to the blockchain, a registration transaction that is signed with the secret account information, wherein the registration transaction comprises the public signing information and the proving information from the APE; and registering, by the MCE, the MCE to the blockchain based on the registration transaction.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the public signing information and the secret signing information comprises computing a signing public key and a signing secret key as a key pair.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the public account information is a wallet account public key and the private account information is a wallet account private key.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the MCE and the APE are connected via a bootstrap node.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating the integrity information, wherein the attestation information comprises the signed integrity information, the hashed public signing information, and the hashed public account information.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending, by the MCE and to the APE, the attestation information, wherein the proving information is based on attesting the attestation information, and wherein the proving information indicates an attestation proof from the APE.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the registration transaction is verified using the public account information and certificate information associated with the APE, and registering the MCE to the blockchain comprises providing an entry into an account as a state of the blockchain, wherein the entry comprises trusted information of the block comprising transaction and amount information of a stake of the account.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
based on losing control of the TEEE of the MCE, updating the entry using new public signing information that is generated by a new MCE.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the entry comprises a timestamp of the block indicating the registration transaction.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
initiating, by the MCE, a request for new block generation; computing, by the MCE, a block signature using the secret signing information; and
computing, by the MCE, a new block, wherein the new block comprises the block signature, a trusted elapsed time, and transaction information.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the new block is validated based on a difference between the trusted elapsed time of the new block and an elapsed time of the new block.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the trusted elapsed time of the new block is based on a trusted time provider and the registration timestamp, and wherein the elapsed time of the new block is based on an interval between when the new block was received and an initial time of registration of the MCE associated with the registration transaction.

13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
prior to computing the new block, checking eligibility information of the MCE, wherein the eligibility information is computed by the TEEE of the MCE.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the TEEE saves block information of all confirmed blocks of a branch of the blockchain.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the registration transaction further comprises the attestation information.

16 . A mining computing entity (MCE) with a trusted execution environment entity (TEEE), wherein the MCE is in a blockchain of a distributed blockchain consensus network (DBCN), the MCE comprising one or more hardware processors, which, alone or in combination, are configured to provide for execution of the following steps:
determining public signing information, secret signing information, and a registration timestamp; determining public account information and secret account information for a virtual wallet of the blockchain; generating attestation information based on signing integrity information and hashing the public signing information and the public account information; based on the attestation information, obtaining, from an attestation providing entity (APE), proving information; sending, to the blockchain, a registration transaction that is signed with the secret account information, wherein the registration transaction comprises the public signing information and the proving information from the APE; and registering the MCE to the blockchain based on the registration transaction.

17 . The MCE of claim 16 , wherein determining the public signing information and the secret signing information comprises computing a signing public key and a signing secret key as a key pair.

18 . The MCE of claim 16 , wherein the public account information is a wallet account public key and the private account information is a wallet account private key.

19 . The MCE of claim 16 , wherein a bootstrap node of the DBCN connects the MCE to the APE.

20 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program configured to cause a computer to execute a method for registering a mining computing entity (MCE) with a trusted execution environment entity (TEEE) in a blockchain of a distributed blockchain consensus network (DBCN) based on a proof-of-stake protocol (POS), the method comprising:
determining public signing information, secret signing information, and a registration timestamp; determining public account information and secret account information for a virtual wallet of the blockchain; generating attestation information based on signing integrity information and hashing the public signing information and the public account information; based on the attestation information, obtaining, from an attestation providing entity (APE), proving information; sending, to the blockchain, a registration transaction that is signed with the secret account information, wherein the registration transaction comprises the public signing information and the proving information from the APE; and registering the MCE to the blockchain based on the registration transaction.

Assignees

• NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH
• Nec Corp

Inventors

• Karame Ghassan
• Li Wenting
• Marson Giorgia Azzurra
• Bohli Jens-Matthias
• Andreina Sebastien

Classifications

• H04L9/50

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

• H04L9/3297

  involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps · CPC title

• H04L9/3236 Primary

  using cryptographic hash functions · CPC title

• G06F21/57

  Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities · CPC title

• H04L9/0637 Primary

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