Idempotent Transaction Processing in Real-Time Ledgers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing payment systems face challenges in securing and validating multi-server electronic communications, particularly in processing transactions with idempotency in real-time ledgers, which requires effective and efficient ledgering of all impacted accounts and complex money movements.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a receiver processor that utilizes an extensible and flexible chart of accounts to model customer hierarchies, supports transaction authorization from pre-paid and post-paid balances, and atomically moves money across multiple financial accounts, while using a virtual-account table to track sensitive data securely.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional payment systems are used to process transactions across multiple servers, then transaction processing can be performed, but security and validation of multi-server electronic communications are compromised and financial risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a receiver processor as an intermediary component that sits between multiple servers and the ledger system. This receiver processor validates and secures electronic communications across the distributed system, providing centralized security control without requiring complex security implementations at each server level, thus improving reliability while managing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the payment system into distinct functional components: servers for transaction initiation, a receiver processor for validation and security, and a ledger system for recording. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in its function, improving overall system security and reliability while making the complexity manageable through clear separation of concerns.
2Measurement precision
If real-time ledgering is implemented for all impacted accounts, then accurate real-time balances are achieved, but processing time and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having the receiver processor validate and prepare transaction data before ledgering, and by maintaining pre-computed account balances. This allows the system to quickly determine balance changes without performing complex real-time calculations during the actual ledgering process, achieving accurate real-time balances while minimizing processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The ledger system is designed to automatically update balances for all impacted accounts without requiring manual intervention or complex coordination. The system self-manages the ledgering process by automatically identifying affected accounts and updating their balances in real-time, improving both accuracy and efficiency.
3Loss of information
If sensitive data is stored in the main ledger, then complete transaction information is recorded, but data security and privacy are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts sensitive data from the main ledger and stores it in a separate, secure location. The receiver processor identifies sensitive information and removes it from the public ledger, storing it in a protected database with restricted access. This maintains complete transaction information in the system while protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access, thus preserving both transaction completeness and data security.
4Reliability
If idempotency is implemented in transaction processing, then duplicate transactions are prevented, but validation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by assigning unique transaction identifiers and validating them before processing transactions. The receiver processor checks whether a transaction has already been processed by examining its identifier against previously processed transactions, preventing duplicates without requiring complex validation logic during the main processing flow, thus ensuring transaction integrity while managing validation complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a first network event corresponding to a first transaction, the first network event being assigned a unique transaction group identifier, authorizing the first transaction based on a balance value of a ledger account recorded in an account ledger, recording a first update in the account ledger, comprising recording the unique transaction group identifier in association with the first update and the ledger account and modifying the balance value of the ledger account, receiving a second network event corresponding to a second transaction, determining that a unique transaction group identifier assigned to the second network event matches the unique transaction group identifier associated with the first update and the ledger account, and recording a second update in the account ledger, comprising recording the unique transaction group identifier in association with the second update without modifying the balance value of the ledger account.