Anonymous Constrained Computation in Distributed Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
In distributed systems, performing computations that respect client-related constraints while maintaining anonymity is challenging, as it is difficult for the server to determine which constraints to apply to which clients without revealing their identities, especially when client-dependent restrictions are involved.
Innovation Solution
A method where clients encrypt and transmit limit amounts to each other, forming doubly encrypted representations, which are then decrypted by the server to compute an optimized solution without knowing the clients' identities, allowing the server to apply these limits anonymously and distribute the results without revealing client information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the server computes constrained optimal solutions using client requests, then the computation accuracy is improved, but the client identity anonymity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the computation process into separate phases: clients independently encrypt their constraints and send them to the server, the server computes the solution without decrypting individual constraints, and then clients independently decrypt and apply their specific constraints to receive personalized results. This segmentation allows accurate computation while preserving anonymity by ensuring the server never sees unencrypted client-specific data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces encrypted representations of constraints as an intermediary mechanism. Instead of directly transmitting plain-text constraints that would reveal client identity, clients encrypt their constraints using public-key cryptography. The server operates on these encrypted intermediaries, computing solutions without ever exposing the underlying client identity information, thus maintaining anonymity while enabling accurate computation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the server applies client-dependent restrictions anonymously, then the adaptability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by having each client independently encrypt their own constraints using their private key and public key pair, and later independently decrypt the computed results using their private key. This eliminates the need for the server to manage complex client identity mappings or perform decryption operations, reducing server-side complexity while maintaining adaptability to client-specific restrictions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the nature of constraint transmission by changing the parameter state from plain-text to encrypted format. This parameter change allows the system to handle client-dependent restrictions adaptively while the computational complexity of encryption/decryption is distributed to client devices rather than集中 on the server, effectively managing overall system complexity.
3Loss of information
If clients encrypt and transmit limit amounts to each other, then the anonymity is preserved, but the communication complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having clients pre-generate public-private key pairs and prepare their encryption mechanisms before participating in the computation. Clients also pre-encrypt their constraint data using their private keys before transmission. This preliminary preparation simplifies the actual communication phase, as clients only need to perform straightforward encryption/decryption operations rather than complex real-time cryptographic negotiations, thus managing communication complexity while preserving anonymity.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of computation executed by a server is provided, wherein constraints on results of the computation from a group of client devices in a distributed system are used in a way that makes it unnecessary to identify the client devices. The constraints from each client device include limit amounts applicable to respective other client devices in the group in combination with the client device. The client devices each form doubly encrypted representations of the limit amounts and send messages with requests and its decryption key to the server. The server doubly decrypts the doubly encrypted representations of the limit amounts using the keys from the messages and determines which pairs of the messages include description keys that produce verified results. The server computes a solution that satisfies the requests from the messages, subject to the limit amounts from the verified results, applied in conjunction with the requests from said pairs of the messages.