Distributed Ledger Weighted Voting Consensus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing distributed ledger systems face inefficiencies in synchronization between entities due to time-consuming and computationally intensive mechanisms, particularly when multiple entities manage overlapping data subsets.
Innovation Solution
A method for maintaining a distributed ledger that involves assigning voting weights to nodes, allowing them to generate and transmit votes on proposed updates, determining the update's fate based on weighted votes, and applying or discarding updates accordingly, while also handling node outages and data recovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If bi-directional requests and responses or bulk exports and imports are used for synchronization between entities, then data consistency is maintained, but synchronization becomes time-consuming and computationally intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a distributed ledger as an intermediary data structure that all entities can access and update. Instead of entities directly exchanging data through complex request-response mechanisms, they all interact with the shared ledger, which automatically maintains consistency through its append-only structure and distributed consensus, thereby reducing synchronization time while maintaining data consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple data subsets from different entities into a single distributed ledger. By merging the data storage and synchronization functions into one shared structure that all entities access, the system eliminates the need for separate synchronization protocols between each pair of entities, reducing both time and computational complexity.
2Reliability
If bi-directional requests and responses or bulk exports and imports are used for synchronization between entities, then data consistency is maintained, but computational load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The distributed ledger acts as a mediator that simplifies the data exchange process. Instead of entities performing complex computational operations to ensure consistency through multiple request-response cycles or bulk transfers, the ledger's inherent structure (append-only blocks with cryptographic hashing) automatically ensures consistency, significantly reducing the computational load on individual entities.
Solution Approach 2:
The distributed ledger is self-synchronizing through its design. When a new block is added to the ledger, all entities automatically receive and store it in their local copies. The ledger's structure with cryptographic hashes and sequential blocks ensures that all entities independently verify and maintain consistency without requiring complex coordination computations, allowing the system to self-manage data consistency with minimal computational overhead.
3Productivity
If weighted voting is implemented for consensus decisions, then synchronization efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of node influence from equal weighting to weighted voting based on factors like data quality, node reliability, or contribution level. This parameter change allows the system to make more efficient consensus decisions by giving more weight to reliable nodes, improving synchronization efficiency. The complexity increase is managed by implementing the weighting mechanism at the application layer rather than requiring fundamental changes to the ledger structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-assigning voting weights to nodes based on their characteristics and historical performance. These weights are determined in advance and stored in the system, allowing nodes to quickly participate in consensus decisions without real-time calculations. This preliminary setup reduces the computational complexity during actual consensus operations while maintaining high synchronization efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of maintaining a distributed ledger at a client node includes: storing a distributed ledger defining a plurality of records each containing a set of values; storing (i) a local voting weight corresponding to the client node, and (ii) respective remote voting weights for a plurality of remote client nodes; obtaining a proposed update to a record of the distributed ledger; generating a local vote to apply or discard the proposed update and transmitting the local vote to the remote client nodes; receiving remote votes to apply or discard the proposed update from the remote client nodes; determining whether to permit the proposed update based on (i) the local vote and the local voting weight, and (ii) the remote votes and the corresponding remote voting weights; and according to the determination, applying the proposed update to the distributed ledger or discarding the proposed update.