Blockchain Attestation Service Using Transaction Chains for Data Ordering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blockchain systems struggle to maintain a definitive order of data items being propagated and mined into blocks, which is crucial for certain applications where the order of changes matters, such as database implementations.
Innovation Solution
An attesting node receives a sequence of data items, determines their order, and attests to this order by including them in successive blockchain transactions with locking and unlocking scripts, ensuring each transaction references the previous one, thereby maintaining the order and allowing the transactions to be recorded on the blockchain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If transactions are propagated and mined independently without order tracking, then network throughput and mining efficiency are improved, but the ability to maintain a definitive order of data items deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary ordering mechanism using unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) as ordered containers. Each UTXO acts as a mediator that carries a sequence number and references previous outputs, creating an ordered chain without requiring centralized coordination. This allows independent transaction propagation while maintaining order through the UTXO reference structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by assigning sequence numbers and establishing order references before transactions are fully mined. The ordering information is embedded in the transaction structure itself (through UTXO references and sequence numbers), so that when transactions are later mined independently, the order is already predetermined and cannot be changed, thus resolving the contradiction between throughput and order definitiveness.
2Device complexity
If data items are stored without order references, then storage simplicity is improved, but the ability to prevent out-of-order processing deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the UTXO structure universal by using it for multiple purposes: it serves as both the transaction output container and the ordering mechanism. The same UTXO structure that handles value transfer also embeds sequence numbers and references to previous outputs, creating an ordered storage structure without adding separate complexity layers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements nesting by embedding order information within the transaction structure itself. Sequence numbers and order references are nested inside the UTXO and transaction objects, creating a compact structure where the ordering metadata is contained within the data structure rather than being separate, thus maintaining simplicity while ensuring order maintenance.
3Speed
If transactions are processed without cryptographic ordering, then processing speed is improved, but the immutability of order records deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical ordering systems (centralized counters, timestamps, or sequential processing) with a cryptographic ordering system based on UTXO references and sequence numbers. The order is established through cryptographic links between transactions rather than temporal processing sequence, allowing parallel processing while maintaining immutable order records through the cryptographic chain.
Data Source
AI summary
A method comprising, at an attesting node of a network: receiving a sequence of data items from one or more client nodes of the network, determining an order of the sequence of data items, and attesting to the order by: including an indication of a respective set of one or more of the data items in each of a series of blockchain transactions. Each successive transaction comprises a respective input pointing to an output of the respective preceding transaction, wherein the output of the respective preceding transaction comprises a locking script, and the input of the respective successive transaction includes an unlocking script comprising a respective signature based on a respective key in a series of keys. The respective signature in each successive transaction signs a portion of the respective successive transaction including at least the indication of the respective set of data items.