Hybrid Blockchain Ledger for Asynchronous Relational Integrity

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Solution Overview

Problem

Traditional methods for determining data integrity in relational databases are complex, costly, and inefficient, particularly in untrusted environments, and do not support rich data modeling or integration of sensitive data with regular data.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a cryptographic hybrid blockchain ledger that maintains a history of changes in relational databases using hierarchical hash structures, generating block receipts for verifying data integrity asynchronously, and supporting mixed database operations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If distributed ledgers and blockchains are used to determine data integrity in untrusted environments, then data integrity and reliability are improved, but system complexity and deployment cost increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata integrityVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential cryptographic verification components (hash functions, digital signatures) from the complex blockchain consensus mechanism. It implements a simplified ledger that maintains immutability and tamper-evidence without requiring distributed consensus protocols, thereby reducing system complexity while preserving data integrity guarantees.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a trusted intermediary component (the ledger system with cryptographic verification) that mediates between untrusted database operations and the need for data integrity. This intermediary provides verification capabilities without requiring full distributed blockchain infrastructure, simplifying the overall system architecture.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If distributed consensus mechanisms are implemented for multi-party computation, then reliability and trust are improved, but processing speed and efficiency deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemulti-party trustVSAvoidprocessing speed

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the verification process into independent cryptographic operations that can be performed asynchronously without requiring synchronous consensus. Each transaction can be verified individually using pre-computed cryptographic proofs, eliminating the need for slow distributed consensus while maintaining trust guarantees.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary cryptographic setup and proof generation before transactions occur. By pre-computing verification materials and establishing trust relationships in advance, the system enables fast transaction processing without requiring real-time consensus, thus improving productivity while maintaining reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If cryptographic verification is performed synchronously for each transaction, then data integrity is ensured, but system performance and scalability are reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata integrity verificationVSAvoidsystem performance

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements periodic or batch verification instead of synchronous verification for every transaction. The ledger can verify multiple transactions in batches using efficient cryptographic techniques, reducing the performance overhead while maintaining integrity guarantees. This allows the system to scale better while ensuring data integrity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

4Device complexity

If traditional key-value pair validation is used, then simplicity is maintained, but relational data modeling and query capabilities are lost

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevalidation simplicityVSAvoidrelational data modeling

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates a universal ledger system that can handle both simple key-value validations and complex relational data modeling. The cryptographic verification mechanism is designed to be agnostic to the data structure, allowing it to work with flat documents, relational tables, hierarchical data, and other formats, thus providing versatility while maintaining simplicity in the verification layer.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS12512999B2Asynchronously determining relational data integrity using cryptographic data structures

Publication Date: 2025.12.30 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

Methods for asynchronously determining relational data integrity using cryptographic data structures are performed by systems and devices. Changes in current tables of relational databases are reflected in associated history tables. Cryptographic hybrid blockchain ledgers are updated with transaction records, for entry changes in current and history tables, including transaction information and hash values of corresponding entry changes. Hybrid blockchain ledgers also include root hash values of Merkle trees of transaction records in current blocks, and hash values of prior blocks. A current block receipt is asynchronously generated and provided as a single hash value from which the validity states of the tables and ledger are able to be verified. Cryptographic receipts of specific transactions reflected in table entry changes are generated and provide immutable evidence of specific transaction existence for users. Ledger-enabled tables are provided for mixed database operations with ledger-disabled tables, and temporal history table database operations are enabled.