Blockchain Contract Workflow State Registration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current workflow management systems are inefficient and prone to errors due to unreliable notification processes among multiple parties, especially as the complexity and number of parties increase, leading to significant resource wastage in ensuring accurate and timely notifications.
Innovation Solution
A blockchain-based system for registering subscribable states, where a blockchain contract is generated and deployed to update the current state of a workflow, allowing subscribers to receive notifications automatically without constantly checking the blockchain, and enabling customization and privacy for state subscriptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If parties manually notify each other of workflow stage completion, then notification can be sent directly by involved parties, but reliability decreases and errors increase especially as the number of parties and workflow complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a blockchain-based intermediary system that automatically manages workflow state transitions and notifications. Instead of parties directly notifying each other (which causes errors), the blockchain contract acts as a neutral mediator that records state changes immutably and automatically triggers notifications to subscribed parties, eliminating manual notification errors while maintaining system complexity through automated smart contract execution
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements automated feedback mechanisms where the blockchain contract continuously monitors workflow state changes and automatically sends notifications to relevant parties. This feedback loop ensures that all parties receive timely, accurate updates without manual intervention, improving reliability while the automated nature prevents the complexity that would arise from manual coordination
2Loss of information
If parties constantly check the blockchain for state updates, then they can obtain the latest workflow information, but computational power usage increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The blockchain contract performs self-service by automatically detecting its own state changes and triggering notifications to subscribed parties. Parties don't need to actively query the blockchain for updates; instead, the system serves itself by monitoring state transitions and proactively pushing notifications, thus eliminating the need for continuous checking while maintaining information timeliness
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares notification mechanisms in advance by having parties subscribe to specific workflow states before the workflow begins. When state changes occur, pre-configured notification routes are immediately activated, eliminating the need for parties to constantly check the blockchain while ensuring they receive timely updates through pre-established communication channels
3Reliability
If decentralized blockchain nodes maintain and update the entire blockchain, then data storage is distributed and secure, but significant resources are required for validating and storing all workflow data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the blockchain data structure by creating dedicated state channels for specific workflow contracts. Instead of all nodes maintaining the entire blockchain, only relevant nodes need to validate and store specific workflow-related blocks and state transitions. This segmentation reduces the computational burden on individual nodes while maintaining the decentralized security model, as each node only processes the subset of data relevant to its assigned workflows
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for registering subscribable states in blockchain are provided. One of the methods includes: obtaining a request for registering a workflow comprising one or more states; generating a blockchain contract comprising the workflow; and deploying the blockchain contract in a blockchain, wherein the deployed blockchain contract is executable to update a current state of the workflow among the one or more states.