Blockchain Contribution Tree for Hierarchical Attestation Records
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blockchain systems struggle to efficiently record a potentially complex history of contributions by contributors in a potentially complex hierarchy, lacking an effective method to capture hierarchical relationships between transactions.
Innovation Solution
A collaborative attestation protocol is implemented, utilizing blockchain transactions to create a tree data structure that captures hierarchical relationships between contributions through pointers and transaction signatures, leveraging existing transaction structures for immutably timestamping information flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a blockchain system stores detailed contribution history and hierarchical relationships, then the completeness and reliability of contribution records is improved, but the device complexity and data storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a tree data structure where each transaction contains pointers to parent and child transactions, creating a nested hierarchical organization. Contribution history is stored in nested levels where root transactions represent top-level contributors and leaf transactions represent subordinate contributors, allowing complex relationships to be represented through systematic nesting of transaction references
Solution Approach 2:
The contribution history is segmented into discrete transaction units, each representing a specific contribution event. By dividing the overall contribution record into individual transaction segments with standardized fields (pointers, signatures, timestamps), the system achieves reliable comprehensive recording without requiring a monolithic complex data structure
2Measurement precision
If blockchain transactions include additional data to capture hierarchical relationships, then the measurement precision of contribution hierarchy is improved, but the quantity of data and storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential hierarchical information needed to represent contribution relationships: transaction pointers (parent and child references) and cryptographic signatures. By extracting and storing only these critical elements rather than complete contribution details, the system achieves precise hierarchical measurement with minimal data overhead
Solution Approach 2:
The transaction structure is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously: it records the contribution event itself, establishes hierarchical relationships through pointers, provides cryptographic verification through signatures, and enables temporal ordering through timestamps. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated data fields for each purpose
3Reliability
If the blockchain records detailed contribution hierarchies with multiple contributors, then the reliability of contribution attribution is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring relationships increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes hierarchical relationships in advance by embedding parent and child transaction pointers directly in each transaction at the time of creation. This preliminary structuring of relationships eliminates the need for complex post-processing analysis to detect and measure contribution hierarchies, as the relationships are already encoded in the transaction data itself
Data Source
AI summary
Contributions to a work by contributors having respective levels in a defined hierarchy are recorded in one or more blockchain transactions. One or more lower-level contributors provide, to a higher-level contributor, one or more lower-level contributions respectively, and the higher-level contributor provides a higher-level contribution responsive to the one or more lower-level contributions. A higher-level contributor transaction comprises one or more inputs, which in turn comprise: one or more pointers to one or more spendable outputs of one or more lower-level contributor transactions and one or more transaction signatures. The transactions contain contributions commitments which, together with the one or more pointers, represent the relationship between the higher-level contributor and the lower-level contributors within the defined hierarchy. The one or more transaction signatures prove that relationship.