Distributed Ledger Data Sharing for Trusted Process Plant Records

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Solution Overview

Problem

There is a lack of trust and security in the storage and sharing of big data generated by process plants due to vulnerabilities in centralized storage centers, leading to concerns about data privacy and integrity, which can result in cyber intrusions that threaten equipment, product, and human safety.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of a distributed ledger system, such as a blockchain, where data contributors encrypt their measurement data and send it to storage centers, which then maintain a secure and immutable record of transactions, allowing data subscribers to verify the authenticity of the data through a distributed ledger network.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If centralized storage centers are used to store big data from process plants, then data storage and sharing become easier, but security and trustworthiness deteriorate due to vulnerabilities to cyber intrusions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata storage and sharingVSAvoiddata security and trustworthiness

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the centralized storage system into a distributed ledger network where data is stored across multiple nodes rather than a single centralized location. Each node maintains a copy of the ledger, eliminating the single point of failure vulnerability while preserving data accessibility and sharing capabilities.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces cryptographic hash functions and digital signatures as intermediaries between data contributors and storage centers. These cryptographic mechanisms verify data integrity and authenticity without requiring trust between parties, resolving the security concern while maintaining ease of data storage and sharing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If data is encrypted and distributed across multiple storage centers using a distributed ledger, then data security and integrity improve, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata security and integrityVSAvoidsystem architecture

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses cryptographic hash copies of data stored across the distributed ledger network rather than storing the actual data repeatedly. This allows verification of data integrity through hash comparison while avoiding the complexity of managing multiple encrypted data copies, thus improving security without proportionally increasing system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The distributed ledger serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a storage mechanism, a verification system, a trust establishment protocol, and a data sharing platform. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require separate complex systems into a single unified infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Reliability

If a distributed ledger network is implemented for data verification, then data authenticity and trustworthiness improve, but data access and retrieval time increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata authenticityVSAvoiddata retrieval time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary cryptographic hashing and verification setup during data ingestion into the distributed ledger. This preliminary action ensures that data authenticity is pre-verified and recorded, allowing for rapid retrieval and verification later without time-consuming real-time cryptographic operations during data access.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11782421B2Framework for privacy-preserving big-data sharing using distributed ledgers

Publication Date: 2023.10.10 FISHER ROSEMOUNT SYST INC

AI summary

To provide a trusted, secure, and immutable record of storage operations executed by a storage center for storing measurement data provided by a process plant, techniques are described for utilizing a distributed ledger. When a data contributor such as a process plant generates measurement data, an encrypted version of a set of measurement data is transmitted to a storage center for secure storage of the measurement data. In some instances, the data contributor divides the set of measurement data into several subsets and transmits each subset of encrypted measurement data to a different storage center. Furthermore, the storage center generates a transaction for the storage operation which is recorded in a distributed ledger. When a data subscriber retrieves the encrypted measurement data from a storage center, the data subscriber can verify the authenticity of the data based on the information recorded in the distributed ledger.