Blockchain setup with restricted transactions

Abstract

A blockchain arrangement configured to simultaneously distribute at least one public transaction and / or restricted transaction, wherein the arrangement comprises a plurality of participant nodes (12) and a plurality of validator nodes (13) connected via a communication network (14); wherein the participant node (12) is configured to send information transaction records to all validator nodes (13) x and an identifier of a specific preconfigured privacy group to provide anonymity and privacy functions to a blockchain system that distributes information transaction record blocks, thereby enabling at least one receiving participating node (12) connected to the blockchain network (11) to decrypt, read and execute the information transaction record blocks encrypted by a verifier or mining node (13) of the blockchain network (11).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the transfer or transaction of information, and more particularly, to a provider of blockchain solutions; namely, a distributed node network that verifies and distributes encrypted blocks of information transaction records, thereby enabling at least one recipient member connected to the blockchain network to decrypt, read, and execute the transaction record blocks encrypted by a validator or mining node in the blockchain network. Background Art

[0002] In any industry, many private networks are built around specific services and / or service assets. A private network built around a financial asset can include multiple network members, such as service providers (e.g., banks, clearing houses), regulators requiring the transfer of financial assets, and customers.

[0003] One of the main concerns of a private network, and any network in general, is ensuring that the content of transactions executed by the system is only visible to the participants of the transaction.

[0004] For example, a service provider that handles a transfer of financial asset information of a first customer would not disclose the contents of that information transfer to unauthorized customers who were not involved in the transfer.

[0005] While service providers develop their own systems for other participants to interact with, the rest of the network also develops their own systems to integrate with the service provider. This inevitably leads to the coexistence of many systems built with different technologies and interconnected using different protocols. This diversity of systems leads to several difficult problems:

[0006] First, each individual system is inherently different from the other, both in terms of the technology used to develop it and the adaptability of each participant. In addition to requiring each participant to make significant individual investments, it also requires integrating and transferring information between systems in an appropriate manner.

[0007] Second, each individual system may differ in the level of security implemented. For example, each network may offer different protocols for encryption, authentication, data masking, etc. As a result, some systems may be more susceptible to compromise, thereby affecting the compromised system and the data it shares with other systems.

[0008] Third, the heterogeneous nature of each system means that data is stored in a non-standardized manner. This means that repeated data reconciliation must be performed to verify that the subsets of data shared between different systems are equivalent.

[0009] Finally, fourth, if it happens that one of the participants may lose information, the information recovery cost is high and will take a considerable amount of time, during which the affected system will be unavailable. Summary of the Invention

[0010] The present invention seeks to address one or more of the above-mentioned disadvantages by a blockchain arrangement having at least one restricted transaction as defined in the claims.

[0011] The proposed blockchain system provides anonymity and privacy features that are currently unavailable in other blockchain systems. These two new features are developed as distinguishing elements in a single chain that are shared by all integrated nodes of the blockchain network.

[0012] The blockchain network consists of multiple participating nodes and validators or mining nodes with an authoritative proof-of-authority consensus mechanism.

[0013] The method provides multiple validator nodes with the ability to convert a proposed information transaction record block for a restricted transaction proposed by a proposing participant node into a restricted anonymous information transaction record block, which is sent to multiple target participating nodes or blockchain nodes of the blockchain network.

[0014] The receiving validator node is configured to send an encrypted information transaction record block to a target participating node in the blockchain network.

[0015] Transactions verified by the receiving validator node (i.e., mining node) will be sent from the receiving validator node to all target participating nodes in the blockchain network in the same manner as public information transaction records; that is, within blocks of the blockchain.

[0016] The verified transaction is encrypted by the receiving validator node so that the participating nodes of the transaction are the only nodes that can read and execute the transaction.

[0017] Thus, a blockchain will consist of blocks containing transaction records of undifferentiated public and / or restricted (i.e., private) information.

[0018] It is important to note that this solution uses only a single chain where at least two types of information transaction records coexist; these information transaction records are public information transaction records and / or restricted information transaction records (privacy and anonymity).

[0019] The validator node is configured to encrypt the proposed information transaction record of the proposing participating node, so that the validator node provides the restricted information transaction record at the end of the encryption phase.

[0020] Encrypted information transaction records can only be decrypted and executed by participating nodes in the blockchain network that possess the cryptographic privacy keys corresponding to the privacy group that proposed the restricted transaction to be executed.

[0021] A privacy group is a subset of nodes in a blockchain network that share at least one cryptographic privacy key, which is used to read restricted transactions transmitted between nodes in the privacy group.

[0022] A member of a blockchain network can be part of at least one privacy group and can belong to at most as many privacy groups as the number of different combinations of members that make up the blockchain network.

[0023] A participating node or blockchain node in a blockchain network refers to a natural or legal person that maintains, shares, and operates its own local copy of the blockchain (i.e., record book or ledger).

[0024] In addition, a member refers to a natural person or legal person who performs information transactions and is authorized to access certain information transaction records in the blockchain.

[0025] Participating nodes will contain multiple cryptographic privacy keys designed to record restricted information transactions within the privacy group that contains them.

[0026] The validator node encrypts the proposed information transaction record of the proposing participant node using the encryption privacy key of a specific privacy group, and also marks the encrypted transaction record data block as restricted. After that, the created block containing the encrypted information transaction record is assembled into the blockchain for subsequent distribution from the validator node to other nodes that are members of the blockchain network.

[0027] Therefore, any privacy group member connected to the blockchain network can access the details of certain information transactions contained in newly created blocks.

[0028] The participating receiver nodes decrypt the restricted information transaction records of the created block by using the corresponding encrypted privacy key in the encrypted privacy key set assigned to each privacy group.

[0029] The system thus provides restricted or private and public transaction records contained in blocks, which are ultimately assembled into a blockchain and uniformly distributed to all network members, thereby providing not only privacy but also anonymity to transactions through cryptography, as blocks are distributed only by validator nodes.

[0030] All network members in a blockchain use a single chain or ledger, thus eliminating redundant resources managing separate systems.

[0031] Privacy is achieved through encryption because blockchain network members can only access the details of information transactions to which they are entitled; that is, they are members of a subset of nodes or privacy groups in the blockchain network.

[0032] The use of message digest algorithms also establishes the immutability of transaction records, thereby preventing possible malicious behavior. Since members store encrypted transaction records locally, the reliability of the data is improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] A more detailed explanation is given in the following description, based on the accompanying drawings:

[0034] Figure 1 A block diagram illustrates a blockchain network comprising a plurality of nodes connected via a communication network for simultaneously broadcasting or disseminating public and private information transaction records of the blockchain;

[0035] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a blockchain network is shown, which includes multiple nodes connected by a communication network to simultaneously broadcast or disseminate public and private information transaction records of the blockchain;

[0036] Figure 3 The complete process of generating a restricted transaction in a privacy group, including it in a block using a consensus mechanism, and distributing the block to other participants is shown;

[0037] Figure 4 The sending node sends a regular transaction T x Convert to pg y Restricted transactions T of the privacy group x p the processes performed; and

[0038] Figure 5 The deconstruction process of restricted transactions in the original transaction is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] Figure 1 is shown in the environment of a blockchain network 11, where multiple nodes (participant nodes 12 and validator or miner nodes 13) are connected via a communication network 14 to share and execute distributed transactions within data blocks that are added to the block chain or blockchain.

[0040] The blockchain is distributed from one validator node 13 of the blockchain network 11 to the remaining nodes 12 and 13 via the communication network 14 .

[0041] The communication network 14 may be a local area network (LAN), a wired or wireless wide area network (WAN), such as an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. The communication network 14 facilitates communication between the nodes 12 and 13 of the blockchain network 11.

[0042] Nodes 12 and 13 in the blockchain network 11 are electronic devices, similar to computers running an operating system.

[0043] The nodes 12 and 13 constituting the blockchain network 11 are configured to execute instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. In addition, all nodes 12 and 13 run a communication protocol to interact with the services and / or content provided by the blockchain network 11.

[0044] All nodes 12, 13 in the blockchain network 11 have read access to their local copies of the chain data. Only validators or mining nodes 13 can publish or create new blocks with public and restricted transaction records.

[0045] Specifically, a public transaction and / or restricted transaction is transmitted from a participating node 12 to other validator nodes for verification and consensus. Once the transaction is verified and agreed upon, the validator nodes generate a data block to be added to the blockchain. Each data block includes a hash value relative to the immediately preceding data block to prevent modification of the previous information.

[0046] However, if a participating node 12 proposes a private or restricted transaction, the proposed transaction must be verified by a majority of validators or mining nodes 13. The transaction is transmitted to the validators or mining nodes 13 via the communication network 14.

[0047] The receiving validator node 13 of the restricted transaction execution request determines the participating nodes 12 based on the membership entered in a preconfigured privacy group. In addition to data specific to the proposed transaction, the request message for executing the restricted transaction also includes metadata related to the privacy context in which the restricted transaction is executed.

[0048] The proposed restricted transaction may be transmitted from the receiving validator node 13 to at least one or more validator nodes 13 for verification and consensus. Each validator node 13 determines whether the transaction is valid and consistent with other validator nodes 13, and whether it should be integrated into the next block of the chain.

[0049] Therefore, the network 11 composed of participating nodes 12 and validators 13 maintains and manages a data block chain consisting of public and / or restricted transactions at the same time; in this way, even if only participating nodes 12 in a specific privacy group access restricted transactions and public transactions at the same time, each node 12, 13 can access all data blocks, whether they are public information transaction records or restricted information transaction records.

[0050] A transaction proposed by a participating node 12 in a blockchain network has a unique identifier corresponding to the execution of a digest mathematical function on its binary content, such as MD5, Secure Hash Algorithm, SHA, BLAKE, or other similar hash functions. This unique identifier is called a transaction hash.

[0051] To initiate a restricted information transaction, the supporting participant node 12 privately sends the information transaction record t to all validator nodes 13. x ' and the privacy group identifier.

[0052] After the verifier node 13 executes the information transaction and the majority of the verifier nodes 13 verify and agree on the information transaction, the information transaction record t x 'It is encrypted by the encryption module of the verifier node 13.

[0053] Encrypted information transactions x Traded by new information x 'cover; thereby forcing information transactions x Maintenance and information transactions x The same hash identifier. In this way, the encrypted data block is marked as a restricted information transaction t x , only the participating nodes 12 with the encryption private key can read and execute the restricted information transaction t x The above process is performed by the encryption module of the verifier node 13.

[0054] The encrypted and signed data blocks of the blockchain will be distributed by the validator nodes 13 of the blockchain network and will include 0 to N transactions and at least one information transaction t x '; That is, the data block that has been encrypted and marked as a restricted data block. x Participating nodes 12 in the privacy group notify t x ' is the transaction sent to this privacy group.

[0055] The validator node 13 executes, verifies, packages and transmits all restricted transactions to the participating nodes 12 belonging to the privacy group after receiving the constraint metadata from the participant node 12.

[0056] Participating nodes 12 that wish to perform restricted information transactions within a privacy group are configured to decrypt the encrypted blocks distributed from the validator nodes 13 using the corresponding encryption privacy key corresponding to the transaction privacy group.

[0057] Validator nodes 13 are configured to perform privacy group management tasks, such as distributing a set of encryption privacy keys. Validator nodes 13 use a privacy key from the set of encryption privacy keys to encrypt proposed information transactions, which must first be encrypted and marked as restricted data blocks before being assembled into blocks and distributed to all nodes 12 in the blockchain network; that is, to the nodes 12 in the privacy group and all other nodes in the blockchain network 11.

[0058] Therefore, a participating node 12 in the blockchain network can perform restricted information transactions with at least one specific participating node 12 in the blockchain network 11, and these two participating nodes 12 in the blockchain network 11 must belong to the same privacy group.

[0059] All nodes 12 in the blockchain network 11 receive each data block in the existing blockchain and then advance the blockchain in sequence in a continuous manner.

[0060] Therefore, all nodes 12, 13 in the blockchain network store the same binary copy of the blockchain; i.e., an immutable distributed record book or ledger that contains both public and private transactions. The participating nodes 12 and validators 13 of the blockchain network 11 include at least one input / output interface for communication between different nodes 12, 13 of the blockchain network 11, at least one encryption / decryption module, a privacy group library including at least one participating node 12 and at least one set of encrypted privacy keys, and a blockchain library; i.e., a distributed record book or ledger.

[0061] The privacy group repository of a participating node 12 will only store privacy groups of which the participating node 12 is a member. In contrast, the privacy group repository of a validator node 13 will be the result of a superset of the privacy groups of each node, or the result of the privacy groups that can be formed by n-1 participating nodes 12 in the blockchain network 11.

[0062] Figure 2 The blockchain network environment is schematically shown, where multiple participating nodes N p and validators or mining nodes N v Through the communication network R c connect to share and execute distributed transactions within blocks of data that are added to a single blockchain or blockchain B c middle.

[0063] Blockchain through the communication network R c From the validator node N v Distributed to the remaining participating nodes N in the network p Communication Network R c It can be a LAN, a wired or wireless wide area network WAN, such as an intranet, an extranet or the Internet. c Promoted N v and N p Communication between nodes.

[0064] N of blockchain network v and N p A node is an electronic device, such as a computer running an operating system, and configured to execute instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. v and Rp Each node executes a communication protocol to interact with the services and / or content provided by the blockchain network.

[0065] Participating nodes N in the blockchain network p and validator node N v A natural or legal person who maintains, shares, and operates their own local copy of a blockchain (i.e., a record book or ledger).

[0066] In addition, a member refers to a natural person or legal person who performs information transactions and is authorized to access certain information transaction records in the blockchain.

[0067] All R in the blockchain network p Each node has the permission to read the chain data of its local copy C B Only validators or mining nodes R v Can be in blockchain B c Publish or create a new block E with public and restricted transaction records b .

[0068] R in blockchain networks p or R v A transaction proposed by a node has a unique identifier that corresponds to the execution of a digest mathematical function on its binary content, such as MD5, Secure Hash Algorithm, SHA, BLAKE, or other similar hash functions. This unique identifier is called the transaction hash.

[0069] All members of a blockchain network use a single chain or ledger to potentially distribute and agree upon all information about their operations, thus eliminating the need for external systems to store private or restricted information, in part or in full.

[0070] Privacy is achieved through cryptography in that members of a blockchain network can only access details of information transactions that are targeted to the privacy groups to which they belong; that is, they are members of at least one or more privacy groups defined in the operation of the blockchain network.

[0071] The use of a message digest algorithm also establishes the immutability of transaction records, thereby preventing possible malicious behavior. Since members store encrypted transaction records locally, data resilience is improved.

[0072] Figure 3 Shows a restricted transaction from the issuing node to blockchain B c The process of publishing and distributing the block distribution that contains the restricted transaction.

[0073] The transaction is expected to be T x The transaction is sent to the sending node of the privacy group consisting of nodes 1 and 2. This transaction will be converted to Tx p transactions, as described later. x p The transaction will be distributed to the set of validator nodes [1…N], which will use the privacy group pg 1 , 2 The decryption key to decrypt T x T in x p Transaction. The validator set executes and agrees on T using the selected consensus method. x Transaction. Once this transaction is selected for inclusion in a block, a block will be created using this transaction, but will include a private form of T x p It is important to note that this includes T x p The transaction contains the original T converted in a private form x All the content of the transaction, not just a summary of its contents.

[0074] Finally, block B N is distributed to all network participants, and some special metadata is distributed to each participant, which includes the relationship between each private transaction and the privacy group it targets.

[0075] Thus, a blockchain will consist of blocks containing transaction records of undifferentiated public and / or restricted (i.e., private) information.

[0076] It is important to note that this solution uses only one blockchain where at least two types of information transaction records coexist; these information transaction records are public information transaction records and / or restricted information transaction records (private and anonymous). Therefore, the blockchain is separate for public and private transactions.

[0077] Encrypted information transaction records can only be decrypted and executed by participating nodes in the blockchain network that possess the cryptographic privacy keys corresponding to the privacy group that proposed the restricted transaction to be executed.

[0078] A privacy group is a subset of nodes in a blockchain network that share at least one cryptographic privacy key, which is used to read restricted transactions transmitted between nodes in the privacy group.

[0079] A member of a blockchain network can be part of at least one privacy group and can belong to at most as many privacy groups as the number of different combinations of members that make up the blockchain network.

[0080] Participating nodes will contain multiple cryptographic privacy keys designed to record restricted information transactions within the privacy group that contains them.

[0081] Therefore, any privacy group member connected to the blockchain network can access all restricted transaction information content contained in newly created blocks, which is specific to the privacy group to which it belongs.

[0082] Figure 4 Shows T x The transaction is converted to its privacy T x p The process of the form, which was originally Figure 2 To this end, each blockchain node will have components that perform two different phases: encryption and packaging. In the first phase, the original T x The transaction will be carried out using the pg y Privacy Group's K pg y Encryption key.

[0083] The result of the encryption phase will be all the data returned from the encryption module with K pg y Key T x Content in the content, by T x enc This content is moved to the encapsulation (packaging) stage, where the payload is generated as T x enc The transaction of all contents eventually leads to the restricted transaction T x p .

[0084] This T x p The transaction will be distributed to the validator nodes to achieve Figure 2 The consensus shown.

[0085] Figure 5 Shown by belonging to gp y The reverse process performed by any node and / or validator node in the privacy group.

[0086] Participating nodes will receive T x p transactions and retrieved from privacy groups that act as a proxy for gp y K associated with the privacy group pg y The unpacking phase will be executed first, thus returning T x enc , and then compare it with K pg y Sent together to the decryption module to decrypt T x enc The transaction ultimately results in T x .

[0087] Not a gp y Nodes that are members of a privacy group do not have K pg y Decryption key, thus unable to obtain T x The raw content of the transaction, so it cannot be processed.

Claims

1. A method for setting up a blockchain, configured to simultaneously distribute at least one public transaction and / or restricted transaction, wherein: The arrangement comprises a plurality of participant nodes and a plurality of validator nodes (13) connected via a communication network (14), wherein the participant nodes are configured to send information transaction records t to all validator nodes (13) x the entire content of the and an identifier for a specific pre-configured privacy group; Among them, the information transaction record t x Encrypted by the encryption module of the sending participant node; Wherein, the receiving validator node (13) is configured to cover the new information transaction t x 'The encrypted information transaction t x ; thereby forcing the information transaction t x 'Maintaining the information transaction x Same hash identifier.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The receiving verifier node (13) is configured to use restricted information transaction t x Mark the encrypted data block so that only participating nodes with the encryption privacy key are configured to read and execute the restricted information transaction t x .

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The receiving verifier node (13) is configured to assemble the encrypted and signed data blocks into a blockchain to distribute the blockchain to the restricted information transaction t x The participating nodes in a specific privacy group, the privacy key is shared by the specific privacy group.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The receiving verifier node (13) is configured to send the restricted information transaction t x Participating nodes in a specific privacy group notify the restricted information transaction t x Intended for use with the specific privacy group described.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The receiving validator node (13) is configured to distribute a blockchain to the participating nodes, the blockchain comprising data blocks with encrypted and signed records, wherein the blockchain will consist of 0 to N transactions and at least one restricted information transaction t x composition.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein The receiving verifier node (13) is configured to receive a request message for restricted transaction execution from a participating node, wherein the receiving verifier node (13) determines the participating node based on input membership in a specific preconfigured privacy group.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: In addition to the transaction data proposed by the proposing participant node, the request message for restricted transaction execution received by the receiving validator node (13) also includes metadata related to the privacy context in which the restricted transaction was executed.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein The sending participant node is configured to overwrite the new information transaction t x 'The encrypted information transaction t x .

Images