Distributed Ledger Platform for Hybrid Cloud Resource Billing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hybrid cloud platforms face challenges in accurately tracking resource consumption and invoicing customers for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) resources, lacking a reliable and efficient method for usage-based billing.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform to enable usage-based tracking and invoicing of resources consumed, utilizing cryptocurrency for payment, and smart contracts to manage resource transactions, ensuring transparency and accuracy in billing through a decentralized ledger system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional centralized databases are used for resource tracking, then centralized control and administration are achieved, but reliability and transparency in resource consumption tracking deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the centralized database into multiple distributed nodes, where each node maintains a copy of the ledger. This segmentation eliminates single points of failure and enables transparent, verifiable resource tracking across the hybrid cloud infrastructure, directly resolving the reliability issue while distributing complexity across multiple independent components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces smart contracts as intermediary automated agreements that mediate between resource providers and consumers. These self-executing contracts embedded in the distributed ledger automatically enforce resource allocation and billing terms, reducing the need for complex centralized administration while improving reliability through automated, transparent execution.
2Measurement precision
If manual resource consumption tracking is used, then simplicity in implementation is maintained, but measurement precision and accuracy in billing deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The distributed ledger system enables self-service tracking where each node automatically records and verifies resource consumption transactions. The system autonomously captures usage data, validates it against smart contract terms, and updates the ledger without manual intervention, achieving high measurement precision through automated, consistent recording across all participants.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuous feedback loops where resource consumption data is automatically captured, verified by multiple nodes, and immediately reflected in the ledger. This real-time feedback mechanism ensures measurement accuracy by continuously validating transactions against predefined smart contract rules and providing immediate detection of any discrepancies.
3Reliability
If centralized administration is used for invoicing, then ease of operation is maintained, but transparency and trust in billing deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The distributed ledger serves multiple functions simultaneously: it tracks resource consumption, enforces smart contracts, records billing transactions, and provides transparent verification for all parties. This multi-functionality achieves billing transparency through a single unified system that all participants can verify, eliminating the need for separate centralized billing processes while maintaining operational simplicity through automated workflows.
4Measurement precision
If per-unit resource tracking is implemented, then billing accuracy is improved, but device complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-defining smart contracts that encode resource allocation rules, pricing terms, and tracking parameters before actual resource consumption occurs. This advance configuration enables automatic per-unit tracking without complex real-time calculations, as the verification logic is already embedded in the smart contracts that execute automatically when resources are consumed.
Data Source
AI summary
A distributed ledger system is described. The system includes a provider to provide a plurality of infrastructure resources, a client to access a first set of the plurality of resources; and an operator platform to facilitate access to the first set of resources from the providers, including a processor to generate one or more blocks of transaction data associated with each resource in the first set of resources to update chain code and measure of usage the first set of resources measure, wherein the chain code is stored in a distributed ledger database shared between the operator platform and the client.