Blockchain Data Management via Off-Chain Storage Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ethereum's blockchain platform faces limitations in data storage capacity and processing time due to its immutable nature, making it inefficient for handling large data volumes and incurring high operation costs, especially when trying to manage and delete target data.
Innovation Solution
An information management system that employs an information management device, an information holding device, and an information using device, where target information is encrypted with a public key, stored on a blockchain, and decrypted using a secret key, allowing flexible data management and secure exchange without capacity restrictions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If target data is added to the blockchain, then the data is permanently recorded and cannot be deleted, but the system cannot flexibly manage or delete data when needed
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments data management into two parts: cryptographic operations (hashing, encryption) are performed on-chain to ensure immutability and verification, while actual data storage is performed off-chain in distributed storage. This segmentation allows the blockchain to maintain its immutable ledger of data references without being burdened by large data volumes, enabling both data reliability and management flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary storage layer between the blockchain and actual data. The blockchain stores hashed references and metadata, while the intermediary distributed storage system holds the actual data. This intermediary enables flexible data management (including deletion) while the blockchain maintains immutable verification records, resolving the contradiction between immutability and flexibility.
2Quantity of substance
If large data is stored on the blockchain platform, then applications requiring large data storage can be supported, but processing time increases and operation costs become huge
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts large data volumes from the blockchain platform and stores them in distributed off-chain storage systems. Only essential cryptographic elements (hashes, encryption keys, metadata) remain on the blockchain. This extraction enables the system to support large data storage applications while maintaining fast blockchain processing speeds and reducing operation costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a single-dimension storage approach (all data on blockchain) to a multi-dimensional architecture where data exists in different layers: immutable cryptographic references on-chain and mutable actual data off-chain. This dimensional change allows simultaneous optimization of both storage capacity and processing efficiency.
3Quantity of substance
If high spec computers are used to form the blockchain platform to handle large data, then sufficient data capacity is achieved, but operation costs become high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses cryptographic hashing to create compact representations (copies) of large data sets. Instead of storing actual large data on the blockchain, the system stores hashed copies that are tiny in size but provide verification capability. This copying approach enables the blockchain to verify large data integrity without requiring high-spec computers, significantly reducing operation costs.
Data Source
AI summary
An information using device 300 adds an encryption public key held to a blockchain, an information holding device 200 transmits encrypted information as a result of acquiring the encryption public key from the blockchain 400 and encrypting the target information, the information management device 100 stores the encrypted information received, and transmits a storage destination address, the information holding device 100 adds the storage destination address of the encrypted information received to the blockchain 400, the information using device 300 acquires the storage destination address of the encrypted information, and accesses the storage address, the information management device 100 transmits the encrypted information at the storage destination address, in response to the access from the information using device 300, and the information using device 300 decrypts the encrypted information received, using an encryption secret key held.