Blockchain Migration via Segmented Ledger and Intermediary Indexing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Blockchain systems face issues with infinite growth in storage size, leading to decreased performance due to the accumulation of stale data, which exceeds the limited storage capacity and indexing challenges as the number of keys increases.
Innovation Solution
A method for migrating a blockchain to a replacement blockchain, involving initialization, user enrollment, data block imaging, and rights management to switch users and transactions, allowing for a controlled transition and storage of asset units, thereby managing storage size and performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data is continuously stored in the blockchain, then data integrity and history are maintained, but storage size increases indefinitely leading to performance degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the blockchain data into two parts: a permanent immutable ledger storing only critical metadata (hashes, timestamps, essential transaction data) and a separate removable storage system for the bulk historical data. This segmentation allows the main blockchain to remain small and performant while preserving complete data history in the external storage system, resolving the contradiction between maintaining data integrity and controlling storage size.
2Loss of information
If all historical data is retained in the blockchain, then complete audit trail is maintained, but indexing performance deteriorates as the number of keys increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary indexing layer that sits between the permanent blockchain ledger and the removable historical data storage. This intermediary maintains optimized indexes for fast data retrieval while the actual historical data resides in external storage. The indexing structure references data in the removable storage rather than embedding all historical data directly in the blockchain, thus maintaining complete audit trails without degrading indexing performance.
3Measurement precision
If the blockchain continues to grow without replacement, then historical accuracy is preserved, but system capacity is exceeded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a copying mechanism where critical data representations (hashes, essential metadata) are permanently stored in the blockchain while full copies of historical data are maintained in removable storage systems. This copying approach preserves historical accuracy through the immutable blockchain references while avoiding the capacity constraints of storing all raw historical data within the blockchain itself, allowing the system to scale beyond its original capacity limits.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for migration of a blockchain to be replaced, called the first blockchain, to a replacement blockchain, called the second blockchain. The migration method comprises: an initialisation of the second blockchain, the initialisation comprising a generation, in a main blockchain configured to supervise access to the first and second blockchains, of a zone of supervision (250) of the second blockchain; the entry of a user comprising a registration in a directory of users in the main blockchain of a secondary address allocated to this user for the connection to the second blockchain; a generation in the second blockchain of a set of blocks of data corresponding to an image of the first blockchain; a switch of all or some of the users of the first blockchain to the second blockchain so as to prevent registration of transactions in the name of these users in the first blockchain and to permit the registration of transactions in the name of these users in the second blockchain.