Distributed Ledger Side Chains for Offline Node Data Integrity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current blockchain frameworks fail to support transactions from offline nodes, disrupting temporal order and data uniformity, particularly in IoT applications with limited network connectivity, leading to inefficiencies and incomplete data retrieval.
Innovation Solution
Implementing side chains that record data from offline nodes, maintaining temporal order by pegging them to the main chain, allowing data retrieval even when nodes reconnect.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If strict blockchain design rejects transactions from offline nodes to maintain security, then data integrity is improved, but adaptability to IoT devices with limited network connectivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The blockchain system is segmented into main chain and side chains. Offline nodes write transactions to side chains when disconnected, which are later merged with the main chain when the nodes reconnect. This segmentation allows the system to maintain security on the main chain while accommodating offline operations on side chains.
Solution Approach 2:
Side chains act as intermediaries between offline nodes and the main blockchain. When nodes are offline, they interact with side chains instead of the main chain. The side chains then serve as mediators to eventually merge the offline transactions with the main chain, preserving both security and offline capability.
2Stability of the object's composition
If blockchain proceeds with data from online nodes only when offline nodes are disconnected, then temporal order is maintained, but data completeness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Offline nodes perform preliminary actions by writing transactions to side chains before they can connect to the main chain. This preliminary recording ensures data is not lost during offline periods, and the side chains preserve the temporal order of transactions for later merging.
3Reliability
If transactions from offline nodes are discarded at protocol level, then security is improved, but productivity of the system deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the blockchain into main chain and side chains, the system can discard transactions from offline nodes on the main chain (maintaining security) while simultaneously recording them on side chains (maintaining productivity). The side chains preserve these transactions for later merging.
Solution Approach 2:
The system discards transactions from offline nodes on the main chain to maintain security, but recovers them through side chains. The side chains act as backup storage, allowing the system to recover and eventually include these transactions once the offline nodes reconnect.
4Reliability
If nodes must be online to interact with main blockchain, then data synchronisation is improved, but ease of operation for IoT devices deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Side chains serve as intermediaries that allow IoT devices to operate offline. Devices can write to side chains without network connectivity, and the side chains later synchronize with the main chain, eliminating the requirement for continuous online operation while maintaining data synchronization.
Data Source
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Figure 3A
AI summary
A system (100) and a method (200) for writing and retrieval of data in a distributed ledger (300) comprises receiving a first dataset comprising data entries between a start instant and an end instant of a current regular time interval from nodes that are online and recording in a current main block (312, 314, 316, 318); and receiving one or more second datasets comprising data entries between respective start instants, preceding the current regular time interval, and respective end instants of corresponding one or more given regular time intervals, from nodes that were offline at the respective end instants of the corresponding one or more given regular time intervals and are online then and recording in corresponding one or more current temporal side blocks (314', 316'); and pegging the temporal side blocks (314', 316') to the main block (312, 314, 316, 318), and committing to the distributed ledger (300).