Proxy Agents and Proxy Ledgers for Low-Latency Blockchain Consensus
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional blockchain networks face significant latency issues and throughput limitations due to the need for distributed consensus among nodes, particularly in permissioned systems, which hinder scalability and performance.
Innovation Solution
Implementing proxy agents and proxy ledgers at each node to facilitate localized transaction processing and consensus, allowing for flexible smart contract logic and access control, while maintaining an aggregate ledger across nodes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If distributed consensus is implemented among all nodes, then reliability and trust are improved, but latency increases and throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the node network into endorsing nodes and ordering nodes with distinct roles. Endorsing nodes perform local validation and endorsement of transactions independently, while ordering nodes handle consensus and transaction ordering. This segmentation allows parallel processing of endorsement operations across multiple nodes without blocking the entire system for consensus, thereby reducing latency while maintaining reliability through distributed validation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary ordering service that mediates between endorsing nodes and the ledger. The ordering service receives endorsed transactions from multiple endorsing nodes, manages the consensus process, and coordinates transaction ordering. This intermediary layer decouples the endorsement phase from the consensus phase, allowing endorsing nodes to operate with lower latency while the ordering service ensures reliable distributed consensus.
2Stability of the object's composition
If all nodes process transactions through smart contract layer, then consistency is maintained, but device complexity and processing burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments transaction processing into two distinct phases: endorsement phase handled by endorsing nodes executing smart contracts locally, and ordering/consensus phase handled by ordering nodes. This segmentation reduces the processing burden on individual nodes by dividing work across specialized node types, maintaining ledger consistency through coordinated operation while reducing device complexity at each node level.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a multi-functional node architecture where nodes can serve multiple roles (endorsing node, ordering node, or both) depending on configuration. This universality allows the system to maintain consistency through distributed participation while reducing individual node complexity by allowing nodes to specialize or combine functions based on operational needs, rather than requiring all nodes to perform all functions simultaneously.
3Adaptability or versatility
If permissioned blockchain system uses traditional consensus mechanism, then access control is maintained, but productivity and throughput are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the blockchain system into endorsing nodes that handle transaction validation and ordering nodes that handle consensus, enabling parallel processing. This segmentation allows the system to maintain access control through permissioned endorsing nodes while significantly improving throughput by distributing the consensus workload across multiple ordering nodes rather than requiring all permissioned nodes to participate in every consensus operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a model where not all permissioned nodes must participate in every consensus operation. Endorsing nodes perform partial action by validating and endorsing transactions locally, while ordering nodes perform the excessive action of coordinating consensus across the network. This partial participation model maintains access control for permissioned nodes while improving overall system throughput by avoiding unnecessary participation from all nodes in every operation.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A
AI summary
An example operation may include one or more of identifying a blockchain transaction requiring processing at a first blockchain node, executing a smart contract associated with the blockchain transaction by the first blockchain node and by one or more proxy agents co-located with the first blockchain node, the one or more proxy agents are also associated with other blockchain nodes on a blockchain network, determining to commit the blockchain transaction, and storing the blockchain transaction in a ledger maintained by the first blockchain node.