Privacy-Preserving Distributed Ledger Consensus via Digital Signatures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current distributed ledger systems face challenges in achieving consensus efficiently, particularly in high-speed and high-volume transaction systems, as they require energy-intensive mining or proof of work processes, which are costly and time-consuming, and often compromise privacy and scalability.
Innovation Solution
The method involves creating a consensus agreement rule (CAR) with digital certificates and SignedData messages that allow parties to demonstrate consensus without revealing sensitive information, using cryptographic techniques to sign hashes of content rather than the content itself, thereby reducing the need for extensive mining or proof of work processing and ensuring privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mining or proof of work processes are used to achieve consensus, then security and decentralization are improved, but energy consumption and time cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential consensus verification element (digital signature) from the entire transaction data, posting only the signature to the distributed ledger while keeping the transaction content private. This eliminates the need for energy-intensive mining processes while maintaining consensus security through cryptographic verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of what is posted to the ledger from complete transaction data to a condensed digital signature representation. This parameter change reduces the data size and computational requirements for consensus verification, thereby reducing energy consumption while maintaining security.
2Reliability
If complete transaction data is posted to the distributed ledger, then transparency and verification are improved, but privacy of sensitive information deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential verification element (digital signature) from the complete transaction data and posts it to the distributed ledger. The actual transaction content containing sensitive information is kept private between the transacting parties, achieving both verification and privacy protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the transaction information into two parts: the public verification element (digital signature) that is posted to the ledger, and the private content (transaction details) that remains confidential. This segmentation allows simultaneous achievement of transparency for verification and privacy for sensitive data.
3Reliability
If mining or proof of work processes are used, then consensus security is improved, but transaction speed and scalability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the consensus verification function from energy-intensive mining processes and implements it through direct digital signature verification. This extraction enables faster transaction processing and higher throughput while maintaining consensus security through cryptographic methods.
4Reliability
If detailed transaction information is posted to the distributed ledger, then transparency is improved, but storage requirements and computational overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential verification data (digital signature) from the complete transaction information and posts it to the distributed ledger. This extraction dramatically reduces the storage volume required on the ledger while maintaining transaction transparency through signature verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses digital signatures as cryptographic copies that contain all necessary verification information without requiring storage of the original large transaction data. This copying approach reduces storage requirements while maintaining verification capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes receiving a consensus agreement rule (“CAR”) comprising identities of a first party and second party; receiving a first SignedData message comprising first content and a first digital signature; creating a second SignedData message comprising a second digital signature of the second party on a hash of the second content and an acceptance indication; verifying, based on the acceptance indication and based on the identities on the CAR matching the identities on the signatures, that the second party accepted the terms of the agreement; and transmitting the second SignedData message to a trusted party for posting to a distributed ledger, wherein the terms of the agreement are kept private while the second SignedData message is posted to the distributed ledger, and wherein the terms of the agreement are formatted as a smart contract whose execution causes a transfer of value in response to a fulfillment of a condition.