Distributed Ledger Partitioning via Trusted Execution Hardware
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Distributed ledgers face scalability issues due to the need for all validators to have a copy of all transactions, resulting in a large number of network messages and significant storage requirements, which hinders their ability to scale effectively.
Innovation Solution
Implementing secure partitioning using trusted execution hardware to create unique node identifiers for each node, allowing them to be assigned to validation groups, thereby reducing the number of transactions each validator must process and store, and enabling parallel processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all validators maintain a copy of all transactions in the distributed ledger, then the ledger maintains consistency and validity across the network, but the storage requirements and network message volume increase significantly, hindering scalability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the distributed ledger into multiple partitions, where each validator node is assigned to maintain only a specific subset of partitions rather than the entire ledger. This segmentation allows validators to store fewer transactions locally while the complete ledger state is distributed across the network, directly reducing individual storage requirements while maintaining overall ledger consistency through the partition structure and consensus mechanisms.
2Reliability
If all validators broadcast and process all transactions across the network, then the ledger achieves universal consensus on transaction validity, but the number of network messages increases dramatically, reducing system efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partitioning of the validator network into multiple groups, where each group processes and validates transactions for specific ledger partitions. This reduces the number of validators that need to communicate for each transaction, decreasing network message volume from O(n²) to approximately O(n/k²) where k is the number of partitions, thereby improving transaction processing efficiency while maintaining consensus through inter-group coordination.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimensional organization to the validator network by creating hierarchical or multi-dimensional partition structures. Validators are organized not just as a flat network but with structured groups and layers, allowing transactions to be processed within specific dimensional slices (partitions) before being aggregated to the full network, reducing the communication overhead while preserving consensus properties.
3Loss of information
If the distributed ledger continuously grows to include all valid transactions, then the ledger provides complete transaction history and auditability, but the storage burden on each validator increases, limiting system scalability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complete transaction history into multiple partitions distributed across different validator nodes. Each validator maintains a manageable subset of the total transaction history for its assigned partitions, while the complete ledger state is reconstructed by aggregating data from multiple validators. This approach preserves full transaction history availability for auditability while distributing the storage burden across the network, enabling system scalability.
Data Source
AI summary
An automated method to verify a block record for a digital ledger involves a first validation node (FVN) which receives a block record from a second validation node (SVN). The block record comprises a digital signature for the block record. In response to receiving the block record, the FVN automatically obtains a node identifier for the SVN, based on the digital signature for the block record. The first validator node uses the node identifier for the SVN to determine whether the SVN belongs to a validation group that comprises the FVN. The FVN uses an attestation service to determine whether the node identifier for the SVN belongs to a node with a trusted processor. The FVN determines whether the digital signature for the block record was created with a private key that corresponds to the node identifier for the SVN.