Distributed Network Notarization Rounds for Asynchronous Consensus
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing distributed networks face challenges in achieving efficient consensus, particularly in asynchronous environments, with existing consensus protocols being time-consuming and energy-intensive, and lacking advanced mechanisms for high throughput and security.
Innovation Solution
A distributed network system utilizing notarization rounds with consecutive notarization and finality procedures, involving validity, consistency, and finality checks, allowing for asynchronous consensus protocols with pipelined and staggered operations to increase throughput and security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If proof-of-work consensus protocol is used, then security and consensus are achieved, but processing time and energy consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The consensus process is segmented into distinct phases: proposal phase, voting phase, and commitment phase. This allows nodes to process different aspects of consensus in parallel rather than sequentially, reducing overall processing time while maintaining security through structured validation at each stage.
Solution Approach 2:
Nodes perform preliminary validation and preparation of consensus data before the actual voting process. This includes pre-computing hashes, validating transaction formats, and organizing data structures in advance, so that the actual consensus reaching process can proceed faster without compromising security checks.
2Reliability
If traditional consensus protocols are used, then consensus is reached, but throughput is limited due to sequential processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains continuous consensus operations by allowing multiple proposal phases to overlap. While one set of nodes is voting on previous proposals, other nodes can simultaneously create and validate new proposals, ensuring the consensus machinery never idles and throughput is maximized.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension to consensus processing by implementing pipelined phases where proposal creation, voting, and commitment occur in overlapping time windows rather than strict sequence. This dimensional transformation allows multiple consensus operations to progress concurrently at different stages.
3Adaptability or versatility
If asynchronous consensus protocol is implemented, then network flexibility is improved, but idle time increases due to waiting for node availability
Solution Approach 1:
Nodes prepare consensus data structures and validate transactions in advance, storing them in ready-to-process formats. When a node becomes available, it can immediately continue the consensus process without idle waiting time, while still maintaining asynchronous operation flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces intermediary data structures and buffering mechanisms that decouple node availability from consensus progress. These intermediaries hold partial consensus states and allow the protocol to continue advancing even when individual nodes are temporarily unavailable.
4Reliability
If multiple validation checks are performed, then security is enhanced, but processing complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple security validation checks are segmented into distinct phases: structural validation, cryptographic verification, and logical consistency checks. Each phase handles a specific aspect of security, making the overall complex process more manageable and allowing parallel execution of independent validation tasks.
Data Source
AI summary
An aspect of the invention relates to a distributed network comprising a plurality of network nodes. The distributed network is configured to perform a method for reaching a consensus on a sequence of values in an advantageous manner. The method performs consecutive notarization rounds. The notarization rounds comprise steps of creating value proposals to be added to the sequence, communicating the value proposals to a notarization subset of the plurality of nodes and performing a validity check of received value proposals. The notarization rounds may comprise further steps of executing individual notarization signatures on a subset of the value proposals that are valid. The notarization rounds may further comprise performing a consistency check of the value proposals and executing consistency signatures on a subset of the value proposals. The method may further comprise a finality procedure to finalize a value proposal once a predefined finality rule set has been fulfilled.