Immutable Ledger-Backed Database for Trustless Transaction Integrity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Distributed computing and storage systems lack assurance of transaction integrity due to the lack of complete user control, making it difficult for users and service providers to verify the integrity of transactions within these systems.
Innovation Solution
A method is provided where a database reflects contents from a cryptographically secured ledger, allowing only read operations while write transactions are either ignored or discarded, ensuring the immutability of transactions by updating the ledger directly, and using cryptographic proofs for authority verification to ensure trustless verification of transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a distributed computing and storage system is used, then computing resources and storage capacity are improved, but transaction integrity assurance deteriorates due to lack of complete user control
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a blockchain as an intermediary layer between users and the distributed computing/storage system. This blockchain ledger records all transactions immutably with cryptographic proofs, serving as a trusted mediator that ensures transaction integrity without requiring users to fully control or trust the underlying distributed system operators.
2Reliability
If a read-only database reflecting ledger contents is provided, then data integrity is improved through immutability, but database write capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional database write model by making the ledger itself the source of truth for all data modifications. Instead of allowing direct writes to the database and then syncing to the ledger, the system requires that all changes first occur on the immutable ledger through cryptographic transactions, and the database merely reflects these ledger changes. This ensures data integrity while providing write functionality through the ledger's transaction mechanism.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A database table, such as may be implemented by a non-relational database, is provided to present information and states associated with that information as memorialized in a cryptographically secured ledger. The semantics of the database table elements, as well as the relationships between various objects therein, may be defined and/or enforced by a schema, a database engine, and/or an application layer. For example, the disclosed methods and systems may be used to implement an asset tracking tool that does not require trust of the implementing system for verification of the system's contents.