Cross-Network Identity Provisioning

Abstract

Example operations include one or more of connecting blockchain 1 to blockchain 2 by an identity provisioning node; creating, by the identity provisioning node, an interoperable identity network (IIN) for blockchain 1 and blockchain 2 as an example of a self-sovereign identity (SSI) network; and executing a smart contract to invoke an IIN access control policy, map attributes and permissions of blockchain 1 to attributes and permissions of blockchain 2 based on the IIN access control policy, and generate valid and verifiable credentials (VCs) for the IINs in blockchain 1 and blockchain 2 based on the mapped attributes and permissions.

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] A centralized database maintains data in one location, stored in a single database (e.g., a database server). This location is often a central computer, e.g., a desktop central processing unit (CPU), a server CPU, or a mainframe computer. Information stored in a centralized database is usually accessible from different locations. Multiple users or client workstations can work simultaneously using the centralized database, e.g., based on a client / server configuration. Because of the single location, a centralized database is easier to manage, maintain, and control, especially for security purposes. In a centralized database, data redundancy is minimized, since the single storage location of all data also means that a particular set of data only contains one primary record. Summary of the Invention

[0002] Viewed from a first aspect, the present invention provides a system including a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform one or more of: connecting a blockchain 1 to a blockchain 2; creating an interoperation identity network (IIN) for the blockchain 1 and the blockchain 2 as an instance of a self-sovereign identity (SSI) network; and executing a smart contract to invoke an IIN access control policy, map attributes and permissions of the blockchain 1 to attributes and permissions of the blockchain 2 based on the IIN access control policy, and generate a valid verifiable credential (VC) for the IIN in the blockchain 1 and in the blockchain 2 based on the mapped attributes and permissions.

[0003] The present invention preferably provides a system in which the SSI network is configured to store decentralized identifiers (DIDs) between the networks.

[0004] The present invention preferably provides a system in which the SSI network includes an INN-specific schema that defines the structure of associated DID documents.

[0005] The present invention preferably provides a system wherein the instructions further cause the processor to execute smart contracts and apply IIN access control policies to define entities in blockchain 1 that are permitted to connect to blockchain 2 and invoke functions on blockchain 2.

[0006] The present invention preferably provides a system, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to execute a smart contract and verify the VC of the IIN in blockchain 1 and blockchain 2 based on the DID of the SSI network.

[0007] The present invention preferably provides a system, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to use the IIN for inter-network identity provisioning of a plurality of blockchain networks.

[0008] Preferably, the present invention provides a system, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to execute a smart contract and verify the verifiable presented identity and permissions against an IIN access control policy.

[0009] Viewed from a second aspect, the present invention provides a method including one or more of: connecting a blockchain 1 to a blockchain 2 by an identity provisioning node; creating, by the identity provisioning node, an interoperable identity network (IIN) for the blockchain 1 and for the blockchain 2 as an instance of a self-sovereign identity (SSI) network; and executing a smart contract to invoke an IIN access control policy, map attributes and permissions of the blockchain 1 to attributes and permissions of the blockchain 2 based on the IIN access control policy, and generate valid and verifiable credentials (VCs) for the IINs in the blockchain 1 and in the blockchain 2 based on the mapped attributes and permissions.

[0010] The present invention preferably provides a method, wherein the SSI network is configured to store decentralized identifiers (DIDs) between the networks.

[0011] The present invention preferably provides a method in which the SSI network includes an INN-specific schema that defines the structure of associated DID documents.

[0012] Preferably, the present invention provides a method further comprising executing a smart contract and applying an IIN access control policy to define entities in blockchain 1 that are permitted to connect to blockchain 2 and invoke functions on blockchain 2.

[0013] The present invention preferably provides a method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising executing a smart contract and verifying the VC of the IIN in blockchain 1 and blockchain 2 based on the DID of the SSI network.

[0014] Preferably, the present invention provides a method further comprising using the IIN for inter-network identity provisioning of a plurality of blockchain networks.

[0015] Preferably, the present invention provides a method further comprising executing a smart contract and verifying the verifiable presented identity and authorization against an IIN access control policy.

[0016] Viewed from a third aspect, the present invention provides a non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions which, when read by a processor, cause the processor to connect a blockchain 1 to a blockchain 2, create an interoperable identity network (IIN) for the blockchain 1 and for the blockchain 2 as an instance of a self-sovereign identity (SSI) network, and execute a smart contract to invoke an IIN access control policy, map attributes and permissions of the blockchain 1 to attributes and permissions of the blockchain 2 based on the IIN access control policy, and generate valid and verifiable credentials (VCs) for the IINs in the blockchain 1 and in the blockchain 2 based on the mapped attributes and permissions.

[0017] The present invention preferably provides a non-transitory computer readable medium in which an SSI network is configured to store a distributed identifier (DID) among the networks.

[0018] The present invention preferably provides a non-transitory computer readable medium further comprising instructions which, when read by a processor, cause the processor to execute a smart contract and apply an IIN access control policy to define entities in blockchain 1 that are permitted to connect to blockchain 2 and invoke functions on blockchain 2.

[0019] The present invention preferably provides a non-transitory computer readable medium further comprising instructions which, when read by a processor, cause the processor to execute a smart contract and verify the VC of the IIN in blockchain 1 and blockchain 2 based on the DID of the SSI network.

[0020] The present invention preferably provides a non-transitory computer readable medium further comprising instructions that, when read by a processor, cause the processor to execute using the IIN for inter-network identity provisioning of a plurality of blockchain networks.

[0021] The present invention preferably provides a non-transitory computer readable medium further comprising instructions which, when read by a processor, cause the processor to execute a smart contract and verify verifiable submitted identity and permissions against an IIN access control policy. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a network diagram illustrating a system including a database according to an example embodiment. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary blockchain architecture configuration, according to an example embodiment. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates a blockchain transaction flow according to an example embodiment. [Figure 3A] FIG. 1 illustrates a permissioned network, according to an example embodiment. [Figure 3B] FIG. 2 illustrates another permissioned network, according to an example embodiment. [Figure 3C] FIG. 2 illustrates a permission-free network, according to an example embodiment. [Figure 4A] FIG. 1 illustrates a flow diagram in accordance with an example embodiment. [Figure 4B]FIG. 4 illustrates a further flow diagram in accordance with an example embodiment. [Figure 5A] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system configured to perform one or more operations described herein, in accordance with an example embodiment. [Figure 5B] FIG. 1 illustrates another exemplary system configured to perform one or more operations described herein, in accordance with example embodiments. [Figure 5C] FIG. 1 illustrates yet another exemplary system configured to utilize smart contracts in accordance with an example embodiment. [Figure 5D] FIG. 1 illustrates yet another exemplary system configured to utilize blockchain, according to an example embodiment. [Figure 6A] FIG. 1 illustrates a process for a new block being added to a distributed ledger according to an example embodiment. [Figure 6B] 11A-11C are diagrams illustrating the data contents of a new data block according to an example embodiment. [Figure 6C] FIG. 1 illustrates a block chain for digital content, according to an example embodiment. [Figure 6D] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram that may represent the structure of a block in a blockchain, according to an example embodiment. [Figure 7A] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary blockchain for storing machine learning (artificial intelligence) data, according to an example embodiment. [Figure 7B] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary quantum secure blockchain, according to an example embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system that supports one or more of the example embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] It will be readily understood that the components herein, as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein, can be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following detailed description of at least one embodiment of a method, apparatus, non-transitory computer-readable medium, and system, as depicted in the accompanying Figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the present application as claimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments.

[0024] Features, structures, or characteristics described throughout this specification may be combined or eliminated in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. For example, the use of the phrase "example embodiment," "some embodiments," or other similar language throughout this specification refers to the fact that certain features, structures, or characteristics described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrase "example embodiment," "some embodiments," "other embodiments," or other similar language throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same group of embodiments, and the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined or eliminated in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Additionally, in each figure, any connection between elements may permit one-way or two-way communication, or both, even if the connection shown is a one-way or two-way arrow. Also, any devices shown in the figures may be different devices. For example, where a mobile device is shown transmitting information, a wired device may also be used to transmit the information.

[0025] In addition, although the term "message" may be used in describing the embodiments, the application may apply to many types of networks and data. Further, although particular types of connections, messages, and signaling may be shown in the example embodiments, the application is not limited to the particular types of connections, messages, and signaling.

[0026] Example embodiments provide methods, systems, components, non-transitory computer readable media, devices, and / or networks that provide cross-network identity provisioning in a blockchain network.

[0027] In one embodiment, the present application utilizes a distributed database (such as a blockchain), which is a distributed storage system that includes multiple nodes that communicate with each other. A distributed database includes an append-only immutable data structure, similar to a distributed ledger, in which records can be maintained among mutually untrusted parties. The untrusted parties are referred to herein as peers or peer nodes. Each peer maintains a copy of the database record, and no single peer can modify the database record without reaching consensus among the distributed peers. For example, peers may run a consensus protocol to verify the validity of blockchain stored transactions, group those stored transactions into blocks, and build a hash chain on the blocks. This process forms a ledger by ordering the stored transactions, as necessary, for consistency. In various embodiments, permissioned or permissionless blockchains or both may be used. Public or permissionless blockchains allow anyone to participate without specific identification. Public blockchains include native cryptocurrencies and can use consensus based on various protocols, such as Proof of Work (PoW). Permissioned blockchain databases, on the other hand, provide secure interactions within a group of entities that share a common goal but do not fully trust each other, such as businesses exchanging funds, goods, or information.

[0028] The present application may utilize a blockchain that operates on arbitrary programmable logic, called a "smart contract" or "chaincode," that is tailored to the distributed storage method. In some cases, there may be a specialized chaincode for managing functions and parameters, called a system chaincode. Applications may further utilize smart contracts, which are trusted distributed applications that leverage the tamper-proof properties of the blockchain database and the underlying agreement between nodes, called a signature or signature policy. Blockchain transactions associated with this application may be "signed" before being committed to the blockchain, while transactions that are not signed are ignored. The signature policy allows the chaincode to specify the signers of the transaction in the form of a set of peer nodes required for signing. When a client sends a transaction to a peer specified in the signature policy, a transaction is executed to validate the transaction. After validation, the transaction moves to an ordering phase, where a consensus protocol is used to generate an ordered sequence of signed transactions grouped into blocks.

[0029] The present application may utilize nodes, which are the communicating entities of a blockchain system. A "node" may perform a logical function in the sense that multiple nodes of different types may run on the same physical server. Nodes are grouped in trusted domains and associated with logical entities that control them in various ways. Nodes may include various types, such as client or submit client nodes, which submit transaction calls to signers (e.g., peers) and broadcast transaction proposals to an ordering service (e.g., ordering node). Another type of node is a peer node, which can receive client submitted transactions, commit transactions, and maintain the ledger state and copy of blockchain transactions. Peers can also have the role of signers, but this is not a requirement. An ordering service node or ordering node is a node that performs communication services for all nodes and enforces delivery guarantees, such as broadcasting to each of the peer nodes in the system when committing transactions and when modifying the blockchain world state (another name for the initial blockchain transaction, which usually contains control and configuration information).

[0030] The present application may utilize a ledger, which is an ordered, tamper-proof record of all state transitions of a blockchain. State transitions may result from chaincode invocations (i.e., transactions) submitted by participating parties (e.g., client nodes, ordering nodes, signer nodes, peer nodes, etc.). Each participating party (e.g., peer node) may maintain a copy of the ledger. A transaction may result in a set of key-value pairs of assets being committed to the ledger as one or more operands (e.g., create, update, delete, etc.). The ledger includes a blockchain (also called a chain) that is used to store immutable, ordered records in blocks. The ledger also includes a state database that maintains the current state of the blockchain.

[0031] The application may utilize a chain, which is a transaction log structured as hash-linked blocks, where each block contains a sequence of N transactions, where N is greater than or equal to 1. The block header contains a hash of the block's transactions, and a hash of the previous block's header. In this way, all transactions in the ledger may be ordered and cryptographically linked together. Thus, the ledger data cannot be tampered with without breaking the hash links. The hash of the most recently added block of the blockchain represents all transactions on the chain that occurred before it, allowing all peer nodes to be assured that they are in a consistent and trustworthy state. The chain may be stored in the file systems of the peer nodes (i.e., locally, attached storage, cloud, etc.), which efficiently supports the append-only nature of blockchain workloads.

[0032] The current state of the immutable ledger represents the latest values ​​of all keys contained in the chain's transaction log. The current state is sometimes called the world state, as it represents the most recent key values ​​known to the channel. Chaincode invocations execute transactions against data in the current state of the ledger. To make those chaincode interactions efficient, the most recent key values ​​may be stored in a state database. The state database may simply be an indexed view into the chain's transaction log, and therefore may be regenerated from the chain at any time. The state database may be automatically restored (and generated, if necessary) at peer node startup and before any transactions are received.

[0033] Some of the advantages of the solution described and illustrated herein include a method and system for network-to-network identity provisioning in a blockchain network. Example embodiments solve the time and trust issues by extending database features such as immutability, digital signatures, and the existence of a single source of truth. Example embodiments provide a solution for network-to-network identity provisioning in a blockchain network. A blockchain network can be homogenous based on asset types and rules governing the assets based on smart contracts.

[0034] Blockchains differ from traditional databases in that blockchains are not centralized, immutable, and secure storage, and each node must share changes to records in storage. Some of the characteristics that are unique to blockchains and that are useful for implementing blockchains include, but are not limited to, immutable ledgers, smart contracts, security, confidentiality, decentralization, consensus, signatures, accessibility, and the like, which are further described herein. According to various aspects, a system is implemented for network-to-network identity provisioning in a blockchain network due to the inherent immutable accountability, security, confidentiality, permissioned decentralization, availability of smart contracts, signatures, and accessibility that are unique to blockchains. In particular, data in a blockchain ledger is immutable, providing an efficient method for network-to-network identity provisioning in a blockchain network. Alternatively, the use of cryptography in blockchains provides security and builds trust. Smart contracts manage the state of assets and complete their lifecycle. An exemplary blockchain is decentralized and permissioned. Thus, each end user may have their own copy of the ledger to access. Multiple organizations (and peers) may be incorporated into the blockchain network. A central organization may act as a signing peer to verify the validity of smart contract execution results, read sets, and write sets. In other words, the unique features of blockchain provide an efficient implementation of methods for network-to-network identity provisioning in blockchain networks.

[0035] One advantage of the example embodiments is that they improve the functionality of a computing system by implementing a method for identity provisioning across networks in a blockchain network. Example embodiments may bridge the identity systems of multiple networks, thereby improving trust and providing transparency without giving up privacy and confidentiality across a set of interconnected systems. A computing system may perform the functionality for identity provisioning across networks in a blockchain network by providing access to distributed ledgers, peers, cryptography, MSP, event processing, and other capabilities through the blockchain system described herein. Blockchain also allows for the creation of business networks and incorporating any user or organization to participate. Thus, blockchain is not just a database. Blockchain has the ability to create business networks of users and incorporated / unincorporated organizations to collaborate and execute service processes in the form of smart contracts.

[0036] Example embodiments provide numerous advantages over traditional databases, for example, blockchain provides the inherent immutable accountability, security, confidentiality, permissioned decentralization, enablement of smart contracts, signing, and accessibility that are unique to blockchain.

[0037] On the other hand, the example embodiments cannot be implemented using traditional databases because they do not engage all parties in the business network, do not create trusted cooperation, and do not provide efficient storage of digital assets. Traditional databases do not provide tamper-proof storage and do not provide protection for stored digital assets. Therefore, the proposed method for identity provisioning between networks in a blockchain network cannot be implemented in traditional databases because identity provisioning between networks is built on DIDs that are created and utilized to use fungible assets (IDs) within the blockchain network. While all blockchain technology frameworks have utilized databases to store record / transaction data and transaction logs, databases may only provide a storage mechanism. The example embodiments utilize blockchain as a transactional system with the ability to follow immutable records and transactions / credit, ownership elements of digital assets that contain fungible assets, and the use of non-fungible assets to prove identity and define ownership of assets. Databases are insufficient to realize all of this within the system.

[0038] On the other hand, if traditional databases were used to implement example embodiments, the example embodiments would suffer from unnecessary drawbacks such as lack of searchability, security, and slower transaction speeds. Additionally, an automated method for cross-network identity provisioning in a blockchain network would simply not be possible.

[0039] A centralized database has a single point of failure. In particular, it does not consider fault tolerance and in the event of a failure (e.g., hardware, firmware, or software failure, or a combination thereof), all data in the database is lost and all users are interrupted. In addition, a centralized database is highly dependent on network connectivity. As a result, slower connections increase the time required for each database access. Furthermore, bottlenecks can occur if the centralized database experiences high traffic due to its single location. Furthermore, a centralized database maintains only one copy of the data. As a result, multiple devices cannot access the same portion of the data at the same time without causing significant issues or risk of overwriting the stored data. Furthermore, because database storage systems have minimal or no data redundancy, it can be very difficult to retrieve suddenly lost data other than by retrieving it from backup storage through manual intervention.

[0040] Therefore, there is a need for a blockchain-based solution that can serve as an efficient tool for identity provisioning across networks, where participants' identities are typically based on certificates. However, using certificates in a cross-network environment can be difficult and inefficient. Distribution of cryptographic material across multiple networks can be risky and expensive.

[0041] Thus, example embodiments provide one or more solutions for provisioning in a blockchain network.

[0042] Example embodiments also modify how data can be stored within the block structure of the blockchain. For example, digital asset data can be securely stored within a specific portion of a data block (i.e., within a header, data segment, or metadata). By storing digital asset data within a data block of the blockchain, the digital asset data can be added to an immutable blockchain ledger via a hash-linked chain of blocks. In some embodiments, the data block may differ from a traditional data block in that personal data associated with a digital asset is not stored with the asset within a traditional block structure of the blockchain. By removing personal data associated with digital assets, the blockchain can provide the benefits of anonymity based on immutable accountability and security.

[0043] According to example embodiments, methods and systems are provided for cross-network identity provisioning in a blockchain network.

[0044] In a network-to-network environment, blockchain networks need to interoperate for the exchange of assets and information. This interoperation requires trusted network-to-network operation and will rely on sharing of identities and certificates between networks. Manual ad-hoc sharing is inefficient and difficult to maintain, so example embodiments may provide a scalable mechanism for universal interoperation. As previously mentioned, distribution of cryptographic material across multiple networks can be difficult and risky. To trust users of another network, identities, trust trees, attributes, etc. must be available across multiple networks. Doing this may require periodic distribution of updates (i.e., new trusted entities, changes, CRLs, etc.). And periodic synchronization of files / records is required, which may not be feasible in real-world situations. Network operators / stakeholders require fine-grained control over the sharing of such information.

[0045] Example embodiments may provide linkability, i.e., maintaining confidentiality across multiple networks with certificates. In one embodiment, a Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) model is provided. According to one embodiment, a solution based on the (DID) / SSI W3C standard for identity management across networks is provided. Key concepts of DID / SSI are:

[0046] DID (Decentralized Identifier, Globally Unique Identifier) ​​- i.e. resolvable and verifiable based on the URN.

[0047] DID Infrastructure Model - i.e., a global key-value pair database consisting of all DID blockchains, networks, etc.

[0048] The value of a DID is a document.

[0049] Verifiable Credentials (VC) - Extends DID with a tamper-evident, verifiable set of claims made by the issuer.

[0050] Verifiable Presentation (VP) - derived from a VC to present attributes of a particular credential shared with a particular verifier. A VP may contain data generated from the original credential (i.e., a zero-knowledge proof).

[0051] Verifiable Data Registry - Mediates the creation and validation of identities, credential schemas, etc.

[0052] Hyperledger Indy - A specific implementation of a proprietary blockchain that includes a set of wallets and agents that facilitate the exchange of VC and VP information.

[0053] According to an example embodiment, interoperability between networks using the SSI model may be implemented. A mechanism is provided to integrate DID / SSI mechanisms and realize identity creation and verification in a blockchain network. As an example, in the context of Hyperledger Fabric, this mechanism is a new kind of MSP that enables the use of identity and permissions across multiple networks. The network relationships are implemented as follows:

[0054] Each blockchain network determines who and how can interact with it through interoperability policies. Identity interoperability between network A and remote network B may be implemented. Network A selects an external entity (e.g., network B as a whole, org_1, or other entity) to trust and issue credentials. This selection includes authorization / access control decisions. A remote client (e.g., a client in network B) accessing network A acts as a credential owner. An entity trusted by network A (e.g., org_1 in network B) acts as a credential issuer to the owner. Network A acts as a credential verifier and determines, via a native consensus protocol, whether to allow the remote client to invoke a particular action. According to example embodiments, a mechanism is provided to facilitate the above interactions. The identity mechanism between networks may use the Interoperable Identity Network (IIN) architecture. The IIN may use an instance of an SSI network (e.g., Indy, SSI Fabric, Sovrin, etc.) to store DIDs between networks. Under the terms of the W3C standard, an IIN provides a verifiable data registry. An IIN may store DIDs used to exchange authentication information in a cross-network environment. An SSI network may include an IIN-specific schema that describes the structure of associated DID documents. This schema may include a general definition of attributes associated with VCs (essential for mapping attributes across networks).

[0055] Multiple blockchains / ledgers / channels can be connected to any IIN. The IIN may be operated as a private or public service (e.g., service provider, consortium, or open community). The ledger / channel may define the IIN access control policy. This policy may define which external entities are allowed to connect to and invoke functions. In other words, this policy may define which entities are trusted as credential issuers. This policy may define the mapping of local attributes / permissions to external. This policy may be stored in the ledger and may be accessible by all peers. The ledger may be connected to any number of IINs. IIN agent nodes may be used by the network / ledger components / peers to interact with the IIN. The IIN access control policy may determine which IINs the agents may connect to. IIN agents may have access to the IIN, may interact with the IIN directly, or may mediate other components' access to the IIN. An IIN agent may retrieve DIDs from an IIN and store DIDs in the IIN. An IIN agent may exchange authentication information with other agents (using the IIN) upon request. An IIN agent may facilitate the flow of VP and VC information required for authentication and authorization.

[0056] The IIN identity provider may be used by peers and other components to provide authentication and authorization. In one embodiment, the IIN identity provider may be implemented as IIN.MSP in Hyperledger Fabric. The IIN identity provider may perform authentication and authorization functions using IIN agents and access control policies. The IIN identity provider may validate verifiable presentations of identity and authorization against policies. Note that relay components may facilitate the flow of messages in a network-to-network environment outside of the IIN mechanism.

[0057] In order for a user to participate in the flow of messages between networks, an IIN verifiable certificate (VC) is issued to the user and stored in a local wallet (e.g., a client software wallet). The issuance of VCs may be managed per stakeholder / organization (i.e., by a CA in Fabric). The issuance of VCs is controlled by the IIN issuance policy (specific per CA). This policy may define for which identities an IIN VC is issued and which attributes it contains. This policy defines the mapping of local attributes to attributes of the IIN schema. The issuance may be performed as an automatic and transparent function of an IIN agent. For example, when a network identity is issued to a user (e.g., a certificate by Fabric's CA), this issuance may be performed automatically by an IIN agent. The CA may issue one VC along with selected attributes. A VC may also be generated at any other time, such as by an operator / administrator. A VC may be received and used by a user.

[0058] According to one example embodiment, the issuance and use of verifiable offers may be implemented as a function of an IIN agent. Before a user sends a message to a remote network, the user may generate a verifiable offer for a particular remote network. The user may construct a proof and send this proof along with the message to the remote network. A validation protocol may be implemented as a function of an IIN agent. When a network receives a remote message, the agent may validate the attached proof based on the access control policy. The validation protocol may define whether an identity is authorized to access the network, i.e., whether it was issued by a trusted issuer. The validation protocol may define whether an identity has the permission (i.e., mapping of attributes to roles / permissions) to invoke the requested function. For example, a message destined for a local network and a remote network may be signed by local authentication information and a proof derived by a VP is added. The message may be routed to the remote network by an intermediary device. The remote network authenticates using an IIN Identity Provider (e.g., IIN.MSP) and an IIN Agent and validates authorization based on IIN access control policies.

[0059] According to another example embodiment, a distributed identity management service for blockchain may be provided. A system may be implemented that enables integration of DID / SSI as a source of identity and authorization into a blockchain setup across networks. The required set of components may include an IIN network, an IIN agent, an IIN policy, and an IIN identity provider that facilitates the creation, exchange, and validation of identity and authorization across blockchain networks. A process of creation of a valid DID / SSI-IIN VC in a blockchain network may be implemented as follows: The creation is controlled by an IIN issuing policy. The creation may include an access control attribute mapping mechanism. A process of validation of a DID / SSI-IIN VC in a blockchain network may be as follows: The validation is controlled by an IIN access control policy. The validation determines the ability to invoke a specific smart contract function. The validation may be based on the authority assigned to the issuer and the attributes included in the VC.

[0060] FIG. 1 illustrates a logical network diagram for cross-network identity provisioning in a blockchain network, according to an example embodiment.

[0061] 1, an exemplary network 100 includes an identity provisioning node 102. The identity provisioning node 102 may be connected to a blockchain 106 having a ledger 108 and a blockchain 107 having a ledger 109. The identity provisioning node may connect to the blockchains 106 and 107 via an IIN 105. Although this example details only one identity provisioning node 102, multiple such nodes may be connected to the blockchains 106 and 107. It should be understood that the identity provisioning node 102 may include additional components and that some of the components described herein may be removed and / or modified without departing from the scope of the identity provisioning node 102 disclosed herein. The identity provisioning node 102 may include a processor 104, which may be a computing device or server computer, etc., and may be a semiconductor-based microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or another hardware device, or a combination thereof. Although a single processor 104 is shown, it should be understood that the identity provisioning node 102 may include multiple processors, multiple cores, etc., without departing from the scope of the identity provisioning node 102 system. Note that multiple blockchains may be connected by the IIN 105.

[0062] The identity provisioning node 102 may include a non-transitory computer readable medium 112 that may store machine readable instructions executable by the processor 104. Examples of machine readable instructions are shown as 114-118 and are further described below. Examples of the non-transitory computer readable medium 112 include electronic storage devices, magnetic storage devices, optical storage devices, or other physical storage devices that contain or store executable instructions. For example, the non-transitory computer readable medium 112 may be a random access memory (RAM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a hard disk, an optical disk, or other type of storage device.

[0063] The processor 104 may execute machine-readable instructions 114 to connect blockchain 1 106 to blockchain 2 107. The blockchains may be configured to use one or more smart contracts to manage transactions for multiple participating nodes.

[0064] The processor 104 may execute machine-readable instructions 116 to create an interoperable identity network (IIN) 105 for blockchain1 106 and blockchain2 107 as an example of a self-sovereign identity (SSI) network. The processor 104 may execute machine-readable instructions 118 to execute a smart contract to invoke an access control policy for the IIN 105, map attributes and permissions for blockchain1 106 to attributes and permissions for blockchain2 107 based on the access control policy for the IIN 105, and generate valid and verifiable credentials (VCs) for the IIN 105 in blockchain1 106 and blockchain2 107 based on the mapped attributes and permissions.

[0065] FIG. 2A illustrates a blockchain architecture configuration 200 according to an example embodiment. With reference to FIG. 2A, the blockchain architecture 200 may include certain blockchain elements (e.g., a group of blockchain nodes 202). The blockchain nodes 202 may include one or more nodes 204-210 (four of these nodes are shown merely by way of example). These nodes participate in a number of activities, such as adding and validating blockchain transactions (agreements). One or more of the blockchain nodes 204-210 may sign transactions based on a signature policy and provide an ordering service for all blockchain nodes in the architecture 200. A blockchain node may initiate a blockchain authentication and attempt to write to the blockchain's immutable ledger stored in the blockchain layer 216, and a copy of this write may also be stored in the underlying physical infrastructure 214. A blockchain configuration may include one or more applications 224 linked to application programming interfaces (APIs) 222 to access and execute stored program / application code 220 (e.g., chaincode, smart contracts, etc.), which can be created according to customized configurations required by participants, maintain their own state, control their own assets, and receive external information. A blockchain configuration can be installed on all blockchain nodes 204-210 by deploying it as a transaction and adding it to the distributed ledger.

[0066] The blockchain base or platform 212 may include various layers of blockchain data, services (e.g., cryptographic trust services, virtual execution environments, etc.), and an underlying physical computer infrastructure that may be used to receive and store new transactions and provide access to auditors seeking access to data entries. The blockchain layer 216 may expose interfaces that provide access to the virtual execution environments necessary to process and enlist program code into the physical infrastructure 214. The cryptographic trust services 218 may be used to verify transactions, such as asset exchange transactions, and keep information private.

[0067] The blockchain architecture of FIG. 2A may process and execute program / application code 220 through one or more interfaces and services exposed by the blockchain platform 212. The code 220 may control assets of the blockchain. For example, the code 220 may store and transfer data and may be executed by the nodes 204-210 in the form of associated chaincode including smart contracts and conditions or other code elements subject to execution. As a non-limiting example, smart contracts may be created to perform reminders, updates, or modifications, other notifications subject to updates, or combinations thereof. The smart contracts themselves may be used to identify authorization and access requirements and rules associated with the use of the ledger. For example, the blockchain 1 attributes and permissions and blockchain 2 attributes and permissions information 226 may be processed (i.e., mapped) by one or more processing entities (e.g., virtual machines) included in the blockchain layer 216. The result 228 may include valid and verifiable credentials (VCs) of the IINs in blockchain 1 and blockchain 2 based on the mapped attributes and permissions.

[0068] The physical infrastructure 214 may be utilized to retrieve any of the data or information described herein.

[0069] Using high-level application and programming languages, smart contracts may be created and then written into blocks in the blockchain. Smart contracts may include executable code that is registered, stored, and / or replicated in the blockchain (e.g., a distributed network of blockchain peers). A transaction is the execution of smart contract code that may be executed in response to a condition associated with the smart contract being satisfied. Execution of a smart contract may trigger trusted changes to the state of the digital blockchain ledger. Changes to the blockchain ledger caused by the execution of a smart contract may be automatically replicated across the distributed network of blockchain peers via one or more consensus protocols.

[0070] A smart contract may write data to the blockchain in the form of key-value pairs. Additionally, smart contract code can read values ​​stored in the blockchain and use them in the operation of the application. Smart contract code can write the output of various logical operations to the blockchain. This code may be used to create temporary data structures in a virtual machine or other computing platform. Data written to the blockchain may become public and / or be kept private and encrypted. The temporary data used / generated by the smart contract is kept in memory by the provided execution environment and deleted after the data required for the blockchain has been identified.

[0071] The chaincode may include a code interpretation of the smart contract along with additional functionality. As described herein, the chaincode may be program code deployed on a computing network and executed together and validated by chain validators during a consensus process. The chaincode receives the hash and retrieves the hash from the blockchain associated with the data template created by use of the previously stored feature extractor. If the hash of the hash identifier and the hash created from the stored identifier template data match, the chaincode sends the authorization key to the requested service. The chaincode may write data associated with the cryptographic details to the blockchain.

[0072] FIG. 2B illustrates an example of a blockchain transaction flow 250 between nodes of a blockchain, according to an example embodiment. With reference to FIG. 2B, the transaction flow may include a transaction proposal 291 sent by an application client node 260 to a signing peer node 281. The signing peer 281 may verify the client's signature and execute a chaincode function to initiate the transaction. The output may include the chaincode result, a set of versions of the keys / values ​​read into the chaincode (the read set), and a set of keys / values ​​written into the chaincode (the write set). A proposal response 292 is sent back to the client 260, along with the signature if approved. The client 260 packages the signature into a transaction payload 293 and broadcasts it to the ordering service node 284. The ordering service node 284 then distributes the ordered transaction as a block on a channel to all peers 281-283. Each peer 281-283 may verify the validity of the transaction before committing it to the blockchain. For example, a peer may check the signature policy to ensure that the correct allocation of the specified peer has signed the result and authenticated the signature on the transaction payload 293.

[0073] Referring again to FIG. 2B, a client node 260 initiates a transaction 291 by constructing and sending a request to a peer node 281 (signer). The client 260 may include an application that utilizes a supported software development kit (SDK) to generate a transaction proposal utilizing available APIs. The proposal is a request to invoke a chaincode function so that data can be read from and / or written to the ledger (i.e., writing a new key-value pair for an asset). The SDK may act as a shim to package the transaction proposal into a suitably designed format (e.g., protocol buffers over a remote procedure call (RPC)), receive the client's cryptographic credentials, and generate a unique signature for the transaction proposal.

[0074] In response, the signing peer node 281 may verify that (a) the transaction proposal is properly formed, (b) the transaction has not already been submitted in the past (replay attack protection), (c) the signature is valid, and (d) the submitter (in the example, client 260) has been given the proper permissions to perform the proposed operation on that channel. The signing peer node 281 may take the transaction proposal input as an argument to a chaincode function that is called. The chaincode is then executed against the current state database to generate a transaction result that includes a response value, a read set, and a write set; however, no updates are made to the ledger at this point. At 292, the set of values, along with the signing peer node's 281 signature, is returned as a proposal response 292 to the client 260's SDK, which parses the payload for use by the application.

[0075] In response, the client 260 application checks / verifies the signing peer's signature and compares the proposal response to determine if the proposal response is the same. If the chaincode simply queried the ledger, the application checks the query response and typically does not submit the transaction to the ordering node service 284. If the client application is going to submit a transaction to the ordering node service 284 to update the ledger, the application determines if the specified signature policy is satisfied (i.e., if all required peer nodes for the transaction have signed the transaction) before submitting. Here, the client may include only one of multiple parties of the transaction. In this case, each client may include its own signing node, and each signing node must sign the transaction. The architecture ensures that the signature policy is still enforced by the peers and maintained in the commit validation phase, even if the application chooses not to check the response or otherwise forwards an unsigned transaction.

[0076] After successful validation, in step 293, the client 260 assembles the signatures into a transaction and broadcasts the transaction proposal and transaction response in a transaction message to the ordering node 284. The transaction may include the read / write set, the signing peer signatures, and the channel ID. The ordering node 284 does not need to validate the entire contents of the transaction to perform its operation; instead, the ordering node 284 may simply receive transactions from all channels in the network, order them chronologically by channel, and create a block of transactions for each channel.

[0077] The block of transactions is distributed from the ordering node 284 to all peer nodes 281-283 on the channel. The transactions 294 in the block are validated to ensure that any signature policies are satisfied and to ensure that there have been no changes to the ledger state with respect to the variables in the read set since the read set was generated by the execution of the transaction. The transactions in the block are tagged as being valid or invalid. Further, in step 295, each peer node 281-283 adds the block to the channel's chain and, for each valid transaction, the write set is committed to the current state database. Events are published to inform the client application that the transaction (invocation) has been immutably added to the chain and to inform whether the transaction has been validated or invalidated.

[0078] FIG. 3A illustrates an example of a permissioned blockchain network 300, which features a distributed, decentralized, peer-to-peer architecture. In this example, a blockchain user 302 may initiate a transaction to a permissioned blockchain 304. In this example, the transaction may be a deploy, invoke, or query, and may be issued via a client-side application utilizing an SDK, directly via an API, etc. The network may provide access to regulators 306, such as auditors. A blockchain network operator 308 manages member permissions, such as registering regulators 306 as “auditors” and blockchain users 302 as “clients.” Auditors may be limited to only querying the ledger, while clients may be given permission to deploy, invoke, and query certain types of chaincode.

[0079] A blockchain developer 310 can write chaincode and client-side applications. Through an interface, the blockchain developer 310 can deploy the chaincode directly to the network. To include authentication information from traditional data sources 312 in the chaincode, the developer 310 can use an out-of-band connection to access the data. In this example, a blockchain user 302 connects to the permissioned blockchain 304 through a peer node 314. Before initiating any transactions, the peer node 314 obtains a certificate of the user's registration and transaction from a certificate authority 316 that manages the user's roles and permissions. In some cases, blockchain users must possess their digital certificates to execute transactions on the permissioned blockchain 304. On the other hand, users seeking to utilize chaincode may need to verify their user's authentication information on traditional data sources 312. To verify the user's authorization, the chaincode can use an out-of-band connection to this data through a traditional processing platform 318.

[0080] FIG. 3B illustrates another example of a permissioned blockchain network 320, which features a distributed, decentralized, peer-to-peer architecture. In this example, a blockchain user 322 may submit a transaction to the permissioned blockchain 324. In this example, the transaction may be a deploy, invoke, or query, and may be issued via a client-side application utilizing an SDK, directly via an API, etc. The network may provide access to regulators 326, such as auditors. A blockchain network operator 328 manages member permissions, such as registering regulators 326 as “auditors” and blockchain users 322 as “clients.” Auditors may be limited to only querying the ledger, while clients may be given permission to deploy, invoke, and query certain types of chaincode.

[0081] A blockchain developer 330 writes the chaincode and client-side applications. Through an interface, the blockchain developer 330 can deploy the chaincode directly to the network. To include authentication information from traditional data sources 332 in the chaincode, the developer 330 can use an out-of-band connection to access the data. In this example, a blockchain user 322 connects to the network through a peer node 334. The peer node 334 obtains a certificate of the user's registration and transaction from a certificate authority 336 before initiating any transactions. In some cases, blockchain users must possess their digital certificates to execute transactions on the permissioned blockchain 324. On the other hand, users seeking to utilize the chaincode may need to verify their user's authentication information on traditional data sources 332. To verify the user's authorization, the chaincode can use an out-of-band connection to this data through a traditional processing platform 338.

[0082] In some embodiments, the blockchain herein may be a permissionless blockchain. In contrast to a permissioned blockchain, which requires permission to participate, anyone can participate in a permissionless blockchain. For example, to participate in a permissionless blockchain, a user may create a personal address and begin interacting with the network by submitting transactions, thus adding entries to the ledger. Additionally, any participant may choose to run a node on the system and adopt a mining protocol to help validate transactions.

[0083] FIG. 3C illustrates a process 350 of a transaction being processed by a permissionless blockchain 352 that includes multiple nodes 354. A sender 356 wishes to transmit a payment or other form of value (e.g., a deed, medical record, contract, goods, services, or any other asset that can be encapsulated in a digital record) to a receiver 358 via the permissionless blockchain 352. In one embodiment, the sender device 356 and the receiver device 358 may each have a digital wallet (associated with the blockchain 352) that provides user interface controls and display of transaction parameters. In response, the transaction is broadcast to the nodes 354 throughout the blockchain 352. Depending on the network parameters of the blockchain 352, the nodes validate (360) the transaction based on rules (which may be predefined or dynamically assigned) established by the creator of the permissionless blockchain 352. For example, this validation may include verifying the identities of the parties involved, etc. The transaction may be validated immediately, or the transaction may be placed in a queue with other transactions and node 354 determines whether the transaction is valid based on a set of network rules.

[0084] Within the structure 362, valid transactions are formed into blocks and sealed using a lock (hash). This process may be performed between nodes 354 by mining nodes. Mining nodes may utilize additional software to, among other things, mine and create blocks of the permissionless blockchain 352. Each block may be identified by a hash (e.g., a 256-bit number) created using an algorithm agreed upon by the network. Each block may contain a header, a pointer or reference to the hash of the header of the previous block in the chain, and a group of valid transactions. The reference to the hash of the previous block is associated with the creation of a secure, independent chain of blocks.

[0085] Before a block can be added to the blockchain, it must be validated. Validation of a permissionless blockchain 352 may involve Proof of Work (PoW), which is the solution to a puzzle derived from the block's header. Another process for validating a block, not shown in the example of FIG. 3C, is Proof of Stake. Unlike Proof of Work, where an algorithm rewards miners for solving a mathematical problem, in Proof of Stake, the creators of new blocks are selected in a deterministic way depending on their wealth (also defined as "stake"). Similar proofs are then performed by the selected nodes.

[0086] In mining 364, nodes attempt to solve a block by making incremental changes to one variable until the solution meets a network-wide target. This creates a proof of work, thereby guaranteeing a correct answer. In other words, a possible solution must prove that computational resources were expended in solving the problem. In some types of permissionless blockchains, miners may be rewarded with value (e.g., coins) for successfully mining a block.

[0087] Here, the PoW process makes it extremely difficult to modify the blockchain with block changes, since an attacker must modify all subsequent blocks to accept a change to one block. Furthermore, as new blocks are mined, the difficulty of modifying a block increases, and the number of subsequent blocks increases. At distribution 366, the successfully validated block is distributed throughout the permissionless blockchain 352, and all nodes 354 add the block to the majority chain, which is an auditable ledger of the permissionless blockchain 352. Furthermore, the value in the transaction submitted by the sender 356 is deposited or otherwise transferred to the digital wallet of the receiving device 358.

[0088] 4A illustrates a flow diagram 400 of an example method for inter-network identity provisioning in a blockchain network, according to an example embodiment. With reference to FIG. 4A, the method 400 may include one or more of the steps described below.

[0089] 4A illustrates a flow chart of an exemplary method performed by the identity provisioning node 102 (see FIG. 1). It should be understood that the method 400 illustrated in FIG. 4A may include additional operations and that some of the operations described herein may be removed and / or modified without departing from the scope of the method 400. The description of the method 400 is made with reference to the features illustrated in FIG. 1 for illustrative purposes. In particular, the processor 104 of the identity provisioning node 102 may perform some or all of the operations included in the method 400.

[0090] 4, in block 412, the processor 104 may connect blockchain 1 to blockchain 2. In block 414, the processor 104 may create an interoperable identity network (IIN) for blockchain 1 and blockchain 2 as an instance of a self-sovereign identity (SSI) network. In block 416, the processor 104 may execute a smart contract to invoke an IIN access control policy, map attributes and permissions of blockchain 1 to attributes and permissions of blockchain 2 based on the IIN access control policy, and generate a valid and verifiable credential (VC) for the IIN in blockchain 1 and blockchain 2 based on the mapped attributes and permissions.

[0091] FIG. 4B illustrates a flow diagram 450 of an exemplary method according to an example embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4B, the method 450 may include one or more of the following steps: At block 452, the processor 104 may execute a smart contract to apply an IIN access control policy to define entities in blockchain 1 that are authorized to connect to blockchain 2 and invoke functions in blockchain 2. At block 454, the processor 104 may execute a smart contract to verify VCs of the IIN in blockchain 1 and blockchain 2 based on the DID of the SSI network. At block 456, the processor 104 may use the IIN for identity provisioning between networks of multiple blockchain networks. At block 458, the processor 104 may execute a smart contract to verify the identity and authorization of the presented verifiable against the IIN access control policy. Note that the SSI network may be configured to store decentralized identifiers (DIDs) between networks. The SSI network may include an IIN-specific schema that defines the structure of the associated DID document.

[0092] FIG. 5A illustrates an example system 500 including a physical infrastructure 510 configured to perform various operations according to example embodiments. With reference to FIG. 5A, the physical infrastructure 510 includes a module 512 and a module 514. The module 514 includes a blockchain 520 and a smart contract 530 (which may reside in the blockchain 520) that may perform any of the operational steps 508 (within the module 512) included in any of the example embodiments. The steps / operations 508 may include one or more of the embodiments described or illustrated in the figures and may represent information written or read, outputted, or written from one or more smart contracts 530 and / or the blockchain 520. The physical infrastructure 510, the module 512, and the module 514 may include one or more computers, servers, processors, memories, or wireless communication devices, or combinations thereof. Additionally, the module 512 and the module 514 may be the same module.

[0093] FIG. 5B illustrates another exemplary system 540 configured to perform various operations according to example embodiments. Referring to FIG. 5B, the system 540 includes modules 512 and 514. Module 514 includes a blockchain 520 and a smart contract 530 (which may reside in the blockchain 520) that may perform any of the operational steps 508 (in module 512) included in any of the example embodiments. The steps / operations 508 may include one or more of the embodiments described or illustrated in the figures and may represent information written or read, outputted, or written from one or more smart contracts 530 and / or blockchain 520. Modules 512 and 514 may include one or more computers, servers, processors, memories, or wireless communication devices, or combinations thereof. Additionally, modules 512 and 514 may be the same module.

[0094] FIG. 5C illustrates an exemplary system configured to utilize an intermediary server configured to configure smart contracts between contracting parties and enforce the terms of the smart contracts on a blockchain, according to an example embodiment. With reference to FIG. 5C, configuration 550 may represent a communication session, an asset transfer session, or a process or procedure operated by a smart contract 530 that explicitly identifies one or more user devices 552 and / or 556. The execution, operation, and results of the execution of the smart contract may be managed by a server 554. The contents of the smart contract 530 may require digital signatures by one or more of the entities 552 and 556 that are participants in the smart contract transaction. The results of the execution of the smart contract may be written to the blockchain 520 as a blockchain transaction. The smart contract 530 resides on the blockchain 520, which may reside on one or more computers, servers, processors, memories, and / or wireless communication devices.

[0095] FIG. 5D illustrates a system 560 including a blockchain, according to an example embodiment. Referring to the example of FIG. 5D, an application programming interface (API) gateway 562 provides a common interface for accessing the logic (e.g., smart contracts 530 or other chaincode) and data (e.g., distributed ledger, etc.) of the blockchain. In this example, the API gateway 562 is a common interface for performing transactions (calls, queries, etc.) against the blockchain by connecting one or more entities 552 and 556 to blockchain peers (i.e., servers 554). Here, the servers 554 are peer components of the blockchain network that hold copies of the world state and the distributed ledger, which allow clients 552 and 556 to query data about the world state and submit transactions to the blockchain network, which executes the smart contracts 530 according to the smart contracts 530 and signing policies.

[0096] The foregoing embodiments may be implemented in hardware, in a computer program executed by a processor, in firmware, or in a combination thereof. The computer program may be embodied in a computer-readable medium, such as a storage medium. For example, the computer program may be present in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), or any other form of storage medium known in the art.

[0097] An exemplary storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components.

[0098] FIG. 6A illustrates a process 600 of a new block being added to the distributed ledger 620 according to an example embodiment, and FIG. 6B illustrates the contents of a blockchain new data block structure 630 according to an example embodiment. The new data block structure 630 may include a mapping of attributes and permissions for blockchains 1 and 2. With reference to FIG. 6A, a client (not shown) may submit a transaction to blockchain nodes 611, 612, or 613, or a combination thereof. A client may be an instruction received from any source to specify an activity on the blockchain 620. As an example, a client may be an application acting on behalf of a requester, such as a device, person, or entity proposing a blockchain transaction. Multiple blockchain peers (e.g., blockchain nodes 611, 612, and 613) may maintain copies of the blockchain network state and the distributed ledger 620. Various types of blockchain nodes / peers may exist in a blockchain network, including signing peers that simulate and sign transactions proposed by clients, and commit peers that verify signatures, validate transactions, and commit transactions to the distributed ledger 620. In this example, blockchain nodes 611, 612, and 613 may perform the role of signer nodes, committer nodes, or both.

[0099] The distributed ledger 620 includes a blockchain that stores immutable ordered records in blocks, and a state database 624 (current world state) that maintains the current state of the blockchain 622. There may be one distributed ledger 620 per channel, with each peer maintaining its own copy of the distributed ledger 620 for each channel in which it is a member. The blockchain 622 is a transaction log structured as hash-linked blocks, with each block containing a sequence of N transactions. A block may include various components, such as those shown in FIG. 6B. Block links (illustrated by arrows in FIG. 6A) may be generated by adding a hash of the previous block's header into the block header of the current block. In this way, all transactions on the blockchain 622 are ordered and cryptographically linked together, preventing tampering with the blockchain data without breaking the hash links. Furthermore, because of these links, the most recent block in the blockchain 622 represents all transactions that came before it. The blockchain 622 may be stored in the file system (local or attached storage) of a peer that supports additional dedicated blockchain workloads.

[0100] The current state of the blockchain 622 and distributed ledger 620 may be stored in a state database 624, where the current state data represents the latest values ​​of all keys ever included in the chain transaction log of the blockchain 622. Chaincode invocations execute transactions against the current state in the state database 624. To make those chaincode interactions highly efficient, the latest values ​​of all keys are stored in the state database 624. The state database 624 may contain an indexed view into the blockchain 622 transaction log, and therefore may be regenerated off-chain at any time. The state database 624 may be automatically restored (or generated if necessary) at peer startup and before transactions are received.

[0101] A signing node receives transactions from clients and signs the transactions based on the simulation results. The signing node holds a smart contract that simulates the transaction proposal. When the signing node signs a transaction, it generates a signature for the transaction, which is a signed response from the signing node to the client application indicating the signature of the simulated transaction. The way in which the transaction is signed depends on a signature policy that may be specified in the chaincode. An example of a signature policy is "a majority of the signing peers must sign the transaction." Different channels may have different signature policies. The signed transaction is forwarded by the client application to the ordering service 610.

[0102] The ordering service 610 receives signed transactions, orders them into blocks, and distributes the blocks to committing peers. For example, the ordering service 610 may start a new block when a transaction threshold is reached, a timer times out, or another condition. In the example of FIG. 6A, the blockchain node 612 is a committing peer that receives a new data block 630 of new data for storage in the blockchain 620. The first block in a blockchain may be called a genesis block, which contains information about the blockchain, the members of the blockchain, the stored data, etc.

[0103] The ordering service 610 may consist of a cluster of ordering nodes. The ordering service 610 does not process transactions, smart contracts, or maintain a shared ledger. Rather, the ordering service 610 may receive signed transactions and specify the order in which those transactions are committed to the distributed ledger 620. The architecture of the blockchain network may be designed such that a particular implementation of “ordering” (e.g., Solo, Kafka, BFT, etc.) is a pluggable component.

[0104] Transactions are written to the distributed ledger 620 in a consistent order. The order of transactions is established to ensure that updates to the state database 624 are valid when transactions are committed to the network. Unlike cryptocurrency blockchain systems (e.g., Bitcoin) where ordering occurs through solving cryptographic puzzles or through mining, in this example, the participants in the distributed ledger 620 may choose the ordering mechanism that best suits their network.

[0105] The ordering service 610 may initialize a new data block 630, which may be broadcast to the committing peers (e.g., blockchain nodes 611, 612, and 613). In response, each committing peer may verify the validity of the transaction in the new data block 630 by checking to ensure that the read set and write set still match the current world state in the state database 624. In particular, the committing peer may determine whether the read data that existed when the signer simulated the transaction is identical to the current world state in the state database 624. If the committing peer verifies the validity of the transaction, the transaction is written to the blockchain 622 of the distributed ledger 620, and the state database 624 is updated with the write data from the read / write set. If a transaction fails, i.e., if a commit peer detects that its read / write set does not match the current world state in state database 624, the transactions ordered in the block are still included in the block but are marked as invalid and state database 624 is not updated.

[0106] With reference to FIG. 6B, a new data block 630 (also referred to as a data block) stored in the blockchain 622 of the distributed ledger 620 may include multiple data segments, such as a block header 640, block data 650, and block metadata 660. It should be understood that the various illustrated blocks and their contents, such as the new data block 630 and its contents illustrated in FIG. 6B, are examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the example embodiments. The new data block 630 may store transaction information for N (e.g., 1, 10, 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, etc.) transactions in the block data 650. The new data block 630 may include a link to a previous block (e.g., on the blockchain 622 of FIG. 6A) in the block header 640. In particular, the block header 640 may include a hash of the header of the previous block. The block header 640 may include a unique block number for the new data block 630, a hash of the block data 650, etc. The block numbers for the new data block 630 are unique and may be assigned in various orders, such as a progressive / consecutive order starting from 0.

[0107] The block data 650 may store transaction information for each transaction recorded in the new data block 630. For example, the transaction data may include one or more of the following: transaction type, version, timestamp, distributed ledger 620 channel ID, transaction ID, epoch, payload visibility, chaincode path (deploy transaction), chaincode name, chaincode version, inputs (chaincode and function), client (creator) identification such as public key and certificate, client signature, signer identification, signer signature, proposal hash, chaincode event, response status, namespace, write set (e.g., list of keys and versions read by transaction), write set (e.g., list of keys and values), start key, end key, list of keys, Merkle tree query summary, etc. Transaction data may be stored for each of the N transactions.

[0108] In some embodiments, the block data 650 may store new data 662 that adds additional information to the hash-linked chain of blocks in the blockchain 622. The additional information may include one or more of the steps, features, processes, or operations, or combinations thereof, described or illustrated herein. Accordingly, the new data 662 may be stored in an immutable log of blocks on the distributed ledger 620. Some of the advantages of storing such new data 662 are reflected in the various embodiments disclosed and illustrated herein. In FIG. 6B, the new data 662 is illustrated in the block data 650, but it may also be in the block header 640 or block metadata 660. The new data 662 may include mappings of attributes and permissions of the blockchains 1 and 2.

[0109] The block metadata 660 may store multiple fields of metadata (e.g., as a byte array, etc.). The metadata fields may include a signature at the time of block creation, a reference to the last constituent block, a transaction filter that identifies valid and invalid transactions in the block, the last persistent offset of the ordering service that ordered the block, etc. The signature, the last constituent block, and the ordering node metadata may be added by the ordering service 610. Meanwhile, the committer of the block (e.g., blockchain node 612) may add valid / invalid information based on signature policy, validation of read / write sets, etc. The transaction filter may include a byte array of size equal to the number of transactions in the block data 650, and a validation code that identifies whether the transaction was valid / invalid.

[0110] FIG. 6C illustrates an embodiment of a blockchain 670 for digital content, according to embodiments described herein. Digital content may include one or more files and associated information. These files may include media, images, video, audio, text, links, graphics, animations, web pages, documents, or other forms of digital content. The immutable, append-only characteristics of blockchain serve as a safeguard to protect the integrity, validity, and authenticity of digital content, making blockchain appropriate for use in legal proceedings where admissibility rules apply, or in other settings where evidence is considered or the presentation and use of digital information is otherwise subject. In this case, the digital content may be referred to as digital evidence.

[0111] A blockchain may be formed in a variety of ways. In one embodiment, digital content may be contained in and accessed from the blockchain itself. For example, each block of the blockchain may store a hash value of reference information (e.g., headers, values, etc.) along with the associated digital content. The hash value and the associated digital content may then be encrypted together. Thus, the digital content of each block may be accessed by decrypting each block in the blockchain, and the hash value of each block may be used as a basis to reference the previous block.

[0112] This may be shown as follows. Block 1 B Rock 2 ... Block N Hash value 1 Hash value 2 Hash value N Digital Content 1 Digital Content 2 Digital Content N

[0113] In one embodiment, the digital content may not be included in the blockchain. For example, the blockchain may store an encrypted hash of the contents of each block that does not contain digital content. The digital content may be stored in a separate storage area or memory address in association with the hash value of the original file. The other storage area may be the same storage device used to store the blockchain, or may be a different storage area or a separate relational database. The digital content of each block may be referenced or accessed by obtaining or querying the hash value of the block in question and then searching the storage area for the hash value stored that corresponds to the actual digital content. This operation may be performed, for example, by a database gatekeeper. This may be shown as follows: Blockchain Storage Space Hash value of block 1 Hash value of block 1...Contents Hash value of block N Hash value of block N...Contents

[0114] In the example embodiment of FIG. 6C , the blockchain 670 comprises a number of blocks 678 that are cryptographically linked in an ordered sequence. 1 , 678 2 , ...678 N where N≧1. Block 678 1 , 678 2 , ...678 N The encryption used to link the , ... 1 , 678 2 , ...678 N is subjected to a hash function (where n is 256 or another number) that generates an n-bit alphanumeric output from the input based on the information in the block. Examples of such hash functions include, but are not limited to, SHA-type (SHA stands for Secure Hash Algorithm) algorithms, the Merkle-Dangard algorithm, the HAIFA algorithm, the Merkle Tree algorithm, nonce-based algorithms, and non-collision resistant PRF algorithms. In another embodiment, block 678 1 , 678 2 , ...678 N may be cryptographically linked by a function different from the hash function. For illustrative purposes, the following description is given with reference to a hash function (eg, SHA-2).

[0115] Block 678 in the blockchain 1 , 678 2 , ...678 NEach of the files includes a header, a version of the file, and a value. The header and value vary from block to block as a result of hashing in the blockchain. In one embodiment, the value may be included in the header. As described in more detail below, the version of the file may be the original file or a different version of the original file.

[0116] The first block in the blockchain: 678 1 It is called the genesis block and has header 672 1 , original file 674 1 , and the initial value 676 1 The hashing scheme used for the genesis block (and in fact for all subsequent blocks) may vary. For example, the first block, 678 1 All information in may be hashed together at the same time, or the first block 678 1 Each or a portion of the information in may be hashed separately and then a hash of the separately hashed portions may be performed.

[0117] Header 672 1 may include one or more initialization parameters, such as a version number, a timestamp, a nonce, route information, difficulty, agreement protocol, duration, media format, source, descriptive keywords, or the original file 674 1 or other information associated with the blockchain or both, or a combination thereof. 1 may be generated automatically (e.g., by blockchain network management software) or manually by participants in the blockchain. 2 ~678 N Unlike the header in the genesis block, the header in 672 1 does not refer to a previous block, because there is simply no previous block.

[0118] Original file 674 in the genesis block 1 may be, for example, data captured by a device, with or without processing prior to inclusion in the blockchain. 1 is received from a device, media source, or node through an interface of the system. 1 The metadata may be associated with the original file 674, and the metadata may be generated, for example, by a user, a device, or a system processor, or a combination thereof, either manually or automatically. 1 In relation to the first block 678 1 may be included in

[0119] Value 676 in the genesis block 1 The original file 674 1 In one embodiment, the one or more unique attributes are generated based on the one or more unique attributes of the original file 674. 1 hash value of the original file 674 1 The metadata and other information associated with the file may be included. 1 may be based on the following unique attributes: 1) The hash value calculated for the original file using SHA-2 2) Calling device ID 3) The start timestamp of the original file 4) The initial storage location of the original file 5) The blockchain network member ID of the software that currently controls the original file and associated metadata

[0120] 678 other blocks in the blockchain 2 ~678 N also contains a header, file, and value. But the first block 672 1 Unlike the header 672 in other blocks 2 ~672N Each of the remaining blocks contains the hash value of the immediately preceding block, which may simply be a hash of the previous block's header, or may be a hash value of the entire previous block. By including the hash value of the preceding block in each of the remaining blocks, a block-by-block trace can be performed back from the Nth block to the genesis block (and associated original file), as indicated by arrow 680, establishing an auditable and immutable evidential chain of custody.

[0121] Header 672 in another block 2 ~672 N Each of the may generally include other information (e.g., a version number, a timestamp, a nonce, root information, difficulty, consensus protocol, or other parameters or information associated with the corresponding file or blockchain or both, or a combination thereof).

[0122] File 674 in other blocks 2 ~674 N may be the same as the original file in the genesis block or may be a modified version of the original file, depending, for example, on the type of processing performed. The type of processing performed may vary from block to block. Processing may include any modification of the file in the preceding block, such as, for example, editing information or otherwise changing the content of information, removing information from the file, or adding information to the file.

[0123] Additionally or alternatively, processing may include simply copying a file from a previous block, changing the storage location of the file, analyzing a file from one or more previous blocks, moving a file from one storage or memory location to another storage or memory location, or performing operations on the file and / or associated metadata on the blockchain. Processing including analyzing a file may include, for example, adding, including, or otherwise associating various analyses, statistics, or other information associated with the file.

[0124] Another block in another block 676 2 ~676 N The value contained in each of the blocks is unique and different as a result of the operations that were performed. For example, the value in any one block corresponds to an updated version of the value in the previous block. This update is reflected in the hash of the block to which the value was assigned. The value of a block thus provides an indication of what operations were performed in the block, and also makes it possible to trace the blockchain back to the original file. This tracing confirms the evidential integrity of the file throughout the blockchain.

[0125] For example, consider the case where a portion of a file in a previous block is edited, blocked, or pixelated to protect the identity of a person indicated in the file. In this case, the block containing the edited file will include metadata associated with the edited file, such as how the edit was performed, who performed the edit, a timestamp when the edit occurred, etc. This metadata may be hashed to form a value. Because the metadata of the block is different from the information hashed to form the value in the previous block, the values ​​are different from each other and may be recovered when decrypted.

[0126] In one embodiment, the value of the previous block may be updated (e.g., a new hash value may be calculated) to form the value of the current block if any one or more of the following occurs: The new hash value, in this example embodiment, may be calculated by hashing all or part of the information set forth below: a) A new SHA-2 computed hash value whenever the file is processed in any way (e.g., when the file is edited, copied, modified, accessed, or any other action is performed on it). b) The new storage location of the file c) Identified new metadata associated with the file. d) Transfer of access or control of a file from one blockchain participant to another blockchain participant

[0127] FIG. 6D illustrates an embodiment of a block that may represent the structure of a block in a blockchain 690, according to one example embodiment. i ) is header 672 i , File 674 i , and the value 676 i Contains:

[0128] Header 672 i is the previous block (block i-1 ) and additional reference information, which may be any type of information (e.g., header information containing references, properties, parameters, etc.). Every block references the hash of the previous block, except of course for the genesis block. The hash of the previous block may simply be a hash of the header in the previous block, or it may be a hash of all or part of the information in the previous block, including files and metadata.

[0129] File 674 icontains multiple data, such as Data 1, Data 2, ..., Data N, in turn. The data are tagged with Metadata 1, Metadata 2, ..., Metadata N, describing content and / or characteristics associated with the data. For example, the metadata for each data may include information to indicate a timestamp for the data, keywords indicative of the process of the data, people or other content depicted in the data, or other characteristics that establish the validity and content of the file as a whole and can be particularly useful for using digital evidence, for example as described in connection with the embodiments described below, or a combination thereof. In addition to the metadata, each data may include a reference (references) to previous data to prevent tampering, gaps in the file, and successive references throughout the file. 1 ,reference 2 ,...,reference N ) may be tagged.

[0130] After metadata is assigned to data (e.g., via a smart contract), it cannot be changed without changing the hash, which can be easily identified as invalid. Thus, the metadata creates a data log of information that may be accessed for use by participants in the blockchain.

[0131] Value 676 i is a hash value or other value calculated based on any of the types of information previously described. For example, i ), the value of that block may be updated to reflect the operation performed on that block (e.g., a new hash value, a new storage location, new metadata for the associated file, control or access transfer, an identifier, or other operation or added information). Although the values ​​in each block are shown as being separate from the metadata of the file and header data, in alternative embodiments the values ​​may be based in part or in whole on this metadata.

[0132] At any point after the blockchain 670 is formed, an immutable evidence-based copy of the file may be obtained by querying the blockchain for the transaction history of values ​​across blocks. This query or trace procedure may begin by decrypting the value of the last included block (e.g., the last (Nth) block), and then continue to decrypt the values ​​of other blocks until the genesis block is reached and the original file is recovered. Decryption may further include decrypting the header and file and associated metadata at each block.

[0133] Decryption is performed based on the type of encryption performed on each block. This decryption may involve the use of a private key, a public key, or a public and private key pair. For example, if asymmetric encryption is used, a blockchain participant or a processor in the network may generate a public and private key pair using a predefined algorithm. The public and private keys are related to each other by some mathematical relationship. The public key may be distributed publicly to serve as an address (e.g., an IP address or a home address) for receiving messages from other users. The private key is kept secret and is used to digitally sign messages sent to other blockchain participants. The signature is included in the message so that the recipient can verify it using the sender's public key. In this way, the recipient can be sure that only the sender could have sent this message.

[0134] Generating a key pair is similar to creating an account on the blockchain, but in reality, there is no need to register anywhere. Also, every transaction performed on the blockchain is digitally signed by the sender using a private key. This signature ensures that only the account owner can track and process files on the blockchain (if within the scope of their permissions, as determined by the smart contract).

[0135] 7A and 7B illustrate additional use cases for blockchain that may be incorporated and used herein. In particular, FIG. 7A illustrates an example 700 of a blockchain 710 storing machine learning (artificial intelligence) data. Machine learning relies on large amounts of historical data (or training data) to build predictive models for accurate predictions on new data. Machine learning software (e.g., neural networks, etc.) can sift through millions of records to discover often non-intuitive patterns.

[0136] In the example of FIG. 7A, a host platform 720 builds and deploys machine learning models for predictive monitoring of assets 730, where the host platform 720 may be a cloud platform, an industrial server, a web server, a personal computer, a user device, etc. The assets 730 may be any type of asset (e.g., machinery or equipment, etc.), such as an aircraft, a locomotive, a turbine, a medical device, an oil and gas device, a boat, a ship, a vehicle, etc. As another example, the assets 730 may be intangible assets, such as stocks, currencies, digital coins, insurance, etc.

[0137] The blockchain 710 may be used to significantly improve both the machine learning model training process 702 and the prediction process 704 based on the trained machine learning model. For example, in 702, historical data may be stored on the blockchain 710 by the asset 730 itself (or through an intermediary not shown) rather than requiring a data scientist / technologist or other user to collect the data. This can significantly reduce the collection time required by the host platform 720 when performing training of the predictive model. For example, smart contracts can be used to transfer data directly and reliably from its original location to the blockchain 710. The smart contracts can send data directly from the asset to the individual who uses the data to build the machine learning model by using the blockchain 710 to ensure the security and ownership of the collected data. This allows for the sharing of data between the assets 730.

[0138] The collected data may be stored in the blockchain 710 based on a consensus mechanism. The consensus mechanism controls (authorized nodes) to ensure that the data being recorded is verified and accurate. The recorded data is time-stamped, cryptographically signed, and immutable. Thus, the recorded data is auditable, transparent, and secure. By adding IoT devices that write directly to the blockchain, it is possible to increase the frequency and accuracy with which data is recorded in certain cases (i.e., in the case of supply chain, healthcare, logistics, etc.).

[0139] Additionally, training the machine learning model on the collected data may require a series of refinements and tests by the host platform 720. Each refinement and test may be based on additional data or data not previously considered to help expand the knowledge of the machine learning model. At 702, the different training and testing steps (and associated data) may be stored in the blockchain 710 by the host platform 720. Each refinement of the machine learning model (e.g., changes in variables, weights, etc.) may be stored in the blockchain 710. This provides verifiable proof of how the model was trained and what data was used to train the model. Additionally, when the host platform 720 realizes the final trained model, the resulting model may be stored in the blockchain 710.

[0140] After the model is trained, it may be deployed into a live environment and predictions / decisions may be made based on the execution of the final trained machine learning model. For example, at 704, the machine learning model may be used for condition-based maintenance (CBM) for assets such as aircraft, wind turbines, medical machines, etc. In this example, data fed back from the asset 730 may be input into the machine learning model and used to make event predictions such as failure events, error codes, etc. Decisions made by the execution of the machine learning model on the host platform 720 may be stored on the blockchain 710 to provide auditable / verifiable proof. As one non-limiting example, the machine learning model may predict a future outage / failure on a part of the asset 730 and create an alert or notification to replace the part. The data behind this decision may be stored on the blockchain 710 by the host platform 720. In one embodiment, the features and / or operations described and / or illustrated herein may occur on or with respect to the blockchain 710.

[0141] New transactions in the blockchain can be collected together in a new block and added to an existing hash value. This hash value is then encrypted to produce a new hash for the new block. This new hash is added to the next list of transactions as they are encrypted, and so on. The result is a chain of blocks, each containing the hash values ​​of all the blocks that preceded it. The computers that store these blocks periodically compare the hash values ​​of the blocks to make sure they are all in agreement. Any computers that are not in agreement discard the offending record. This method is good at guaranteeing that the blockchain is tamper-proof, but it is not perfect.

[0142] One way to rig the system is for a malicious user to modify the list of transactions in a way that does not change the hash. This can be done by a brute force attack, in other words by modifying the record, encrypting the result, and checking if the hash value is the same. If the hash value is not the same, it tries again and again until it finds a matching hash. The security of the blockchain is based on the idea that a normal computer can only perform this kind of brute force attack over totally impractical timescales, such as the age of the universe. Quantum computers, by contrast, are very fast (thousands of times faster) and therefore pose a very large threat.

[0143] FIG. 7B shows an example 750 of a quantum secure blockchain 752 that implements quantum key distribution (QKD) to protect against quantum computing attacks. In this example, blockchain users can verify each other's identities using QKD, which uses quantum particles such as photons to transmit information that cannot be copied by an eavesdropper without being corrupted. In this way, senders and receivers can verify each other's identities via the blockchain.

[0144] In the example of Figure 7B, there are four users (754, 756, 758, and 760). Each pair of users can share a secret key 762 (i.e., QKD) between themselves. Since there are four nodes in this example, there are six pairs of nodes, and therefore, QKD AB , QKD AC , QKD AD , QKD BC , QKD BD , and QKD CDSix different private keys 762 are used, including . Each pair can create QKD by using quantum particles such as photons to transmit information that cannot be copied by an eavesdropper without being corrupted. In this way, pairs of users can verify each other's identities.

[0145] The operation of the blockchain 752 is based on two steps: (i) the creation of a transaction, and (ii) the construction of a block that collects new transactions. New transactions may be created in the same way as in a traditional blockchain network. Each transaction may contain information about the sender, the recipient, the time of creation, the amount (or value) to be transferred, a list of reference transactions that justify the sender having funds for the operation, etc. This transaction record is then sent to all other nodes and entered into the pool of unconfirmed transactions. Now, two parties (i.e., a pair of users among 754-760) authenticate the transaction by providing a shared secret key 762 (QKD). This quantum signature is attached to every transaction, making it extremely difficult to tamper with. Each node checks the transaction entry with respect to its local copy of the blockchain 752 and verifies that each transaction has sufficient funds. However, the transaction is not yet confirmed.

[0146] Rather than performing a traditional mining process on a block, a broadcast protocol may be used to create blocks in a distributed manner. At a predefined time period (e.g., seconds, minutes, hours, etc.), the network may apply the broadcast protocol to any unconfirmed transactions, thereby achieving Byzantine consensus (agreement) on the correct version of the transaction. For example, each node may possess a private value (that particular node's transaction data). First, the nodes send the private value to each other. Then, the nodes communicate the information they previously received from other nodes. Now, the authentic node can create a complete set of transactions in a new block. This new block can be added to the blockchain 752. In one embodiment, the features and / or operations described and / or illustrated herein may occur in or with respect to the blockchain 752.

[0147] 8 illustrates an exemplary system 800 supporting one or more of the example embodiments described and / or illustrated herein. The system 800 includes a computer system / server 802 that can operate in numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, or configurations that may be suitable for use with the computer system / server 802 include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set-top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of these systems or devices.

[0148] The computer system / server 802 may be described in the general context of computer system executable instructions, such as program modules being executed by the computer system. Typically, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The computer system / server 802 may be executed in a distributed cloud computing environment where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer system storage media, including memory storage devices.

[0149] 8, a computer system / server 802 in a cloud computing node 800 is shown in the form of a general purpose computing device. Components of the computer system / server 802 may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units 804, a system memory 806, and a bus coupling various system components including the system memory 806 to the processor 804.

[0150] A bus may represent one or more of any of a number of types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures, including, by way of example only, Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus.

[0151] The computer system / server 802 typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. Such media may be any available media accessible by the computer system / server 802, including volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. The system memory 806, in one embodiment, implements the flow diagrams of the other figures. The system memory 806 may include computer system readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 810 and / or cache memory 812. The computer system / server 802 may further include other removable / non-removable, volatile / non-volatile computer system storage media. By way of example only, a storage system 814 may be provided for reading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic medium (not shown, typically referred to as a "hard drive"). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a "floppy disk"), and an optical disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk, such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or other optical media, may be provided. In such an example, each may be connected to the bus by one or more data media interfaces. As shown and described in more detail below, the memory 806 may include at least one program product comprising a set of (e.g., at least one) program modules configured to perform the functions of various embodiments of the present application.

[0152] For example, programs / utilities 816 including a set of (at least one) program modules 818 may be stored in memory 806, including, but not limited to, an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, or a combination thereof, may include an implementation of a network environment. The program modules 818 typically perform the functions and / or methods of the various embodiments of the present application described herein.

[0153] As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, aspects of the present application may be embodied as a system, method, or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.), or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects, all of which may be referred to generally herein as a "circuit," "module," or "system." Additionally, aspects of the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied therein.

[0154] The computer system / server 802 may also communicate with one or more external devices 820, such as a keyboard, pointing device, display 822, one or more devices that allow a user to interact with the computer system / server 802, or any device that allows the computer system / server 802 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., network cards, modems, etc.), or a combination thereof. Such communication may occur through an I / O interface 824. Additionally, the computer system / server 802 may communicate with one or more networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), or a public network (e.g., the Internet), or a combination thereof, through a network adapter 826. As shown, the network adapter 826 communicates with other components of the computer system / server 802 through a bus. It should be understood that other hardware and / or software components, not shown, may be used with the computer system / server 802. Examples include, but are not limited to, microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archive storage systems.

[0155] Although at least one example embodiment of the system, method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing detailed description, it will be understood that the present application is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but may be subject to numerous rearrangements, modifications, and substitutions, as illustrated and defined by the following claims. For example, the functions of the various illustrated systems may be performed by one or more of the modules or components described herein, or in a distributed architecture, and may include pairs of transmitters, receivers, or both. For example, all or a portion of the functions performed by individual modules may be performed by one or more of those modules. Furthermore, the functions described herein may be performed at various times, with respect to various events, within or outside the modules or components. Also, information transmitted between the various modules may be transmitted between the modules via at least one of a data network, the Internet, a voice network, an Internet Protocol network, a wireless device, a wired device, or via multiple protocols, or a combination thereof. Additionally, a message sent or received by any of the modules may be sent or received directly, via one or more of the other modules, or both.

[0156] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the "system" may be embodied as a personal computer, a server, a console, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computing device, a smartphone, or any other suitable computing device or combination of devices. Presenting the foregoing functions performed by the "system" is in no way intended to limit the scope of this application, but rather to provide one example of many embodiments. Indeed, the methods, systems, and apparatus disclosed herein may be implemented in a local or distributed fashion consistent with computing technology.

[0157] It should be noted that some of the features of the systems described herein have been presented as modules to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a module may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very large-scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, graphics processing units, etc.

[0158] The modules may be implemented at least partially in software for execution by various types of processors. For example, an identified unit of executable code may comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may be organized as, for example, an object, a procedure, or a function. Nevertheless, the executableness of the identified modules need not be physically located together, but may include heterogeneous instructions stored in different locations, which, when logically combined together, comprise a module and achieve the stated purpose of the module. Furthermore, the modules may be stored on a computer-readable medium, which may be, for example, a hard disk drive, a flash device, a random access memory (RAM), a tape, or any other medium used to store data.

[0159] In practice, a module of executable code can be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may be distributed across several different code segments, among different programs, and across multiple memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and depicted herein within modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. Operational data may be collected as a single data set or may be distributed across different locations, including different storage devices, and may exist, at least in part, as merely electronic signals over a system or network.

[0160] It will be readily understood that the components of the present application, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, can be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, and thus, the detailed description of the embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of the present application as claimed, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present application.

[0161] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that it is possible to practice the foregoing using steps in an order other than that disclosed, or using hardware elements other than those in the disclosed configurations, or both. Thus, while the application has been described based on these preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain modifications, variations, and alternative constructions will be apparent.

[0162] While preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, it should be understood that the described embodiments are merely examples, and that the scope of this application, when considered along with the full scope of equivalents and modifications thereto (e.g., protocols, hardware devices, software platforms, etc.), is to be defined solely by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A processor; and a memory having machine-readable instructions stored thereon, the machine-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the processor to: Connecting blockchain 1 to blockchain 2; Creating an interoperable identity network (IIN) for said blockchain 1 and said blockchain 2 as an example of a self-sovereign identity (SSI) network; Execute the smart contract and Invokes the IIN access control policy; Mapping attributes and permissions of the blockchain 1 to attributes and permissions of the blockchain 2 based on the IIN access control policy; and generating valid and verifiable credentials (VCs) of the IIN in the blockchain 1 and in the blockchain 2 based on the mapped attributes and the permissions.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the SSI network is configured to store inter-network Distributed Identifiers (DIDs).

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the SSI network includes an INN-specific schema that defines a structure of associated DID documents.

4. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to execute the smart contract and apply the IIN access control policy to define entities of the blockchain 1 that are permitted to connect to the blockchain 2 and invoke functions of the blockchain 2.

5. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to execute the smart contract and verify the VC of the IIN in the blockchain 1 and the blockchain 2 based on a DID of the SSI network.

6. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to use the IIN for inter-network identity provisioning of a plurality of blockchain networks.

7. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to execute the smart contract and verify verifiable submitted identity and permissions against the IIN access control policy.

8. connecting the blockchain 1 to the blockchain 2 by an identity provisioning node; creating an interoperable identity network (IIN) for said blockchain 1 and said blockchain 2 by an identity provisioning node as an example of a self-sovereign identity (SSI) network; An identity provisioning node: Execute the smart contract and Invokes the IIN access control policy; Mapping attributes and permissions of the blockchain 1 to attributes and permissions of the blockchain 2 based on the IIN access control policy; and generating a valid and verifiable credential (VC) for the IIN in the blockchain 1 and in the blockchain 2 based on the mapped attributes and the permissions.

9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the SSI network is configured to store inter-network Distributed Identifiers (DIDs).

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the SSI network includes an INN-specific schema that defines a structure of associated DID documents.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising an identity provisioning node executing the smart contract and applying the IIN access control policy to define entities of the blockchain 1 that are permitted to connect to the blockchain 2 and invoke functions of the blockchain 2.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising an identity provisioning node executing the smart contract and verifying the VC of the IIN in the blockchain 1 and in the blockchain 2 based on the DID of the SSI network.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising an identity provisioning node using the IIN for inter-network identity provisioning of multiple blockchain networks.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising an identity provisioning node executing the smart contract and verifying the verifiable presented identity and permissions against the IIN access control policy.

15. A computer program product causing a computer to carry out a method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

16. 16. A computer readable medium having recorded thereon the computer program of claim 15.

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