Smart Contract Management via Immutable Event Stream
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Typical computer systems for managing operations or relationships are inflexible in adding new rule sets and modifying existing rules, and their data sets are limited, vulnerable to retroactive modification, and lack integrity, making them ineffective in managing agreements among parties.
Innovation Solution
A system for managing smart contracts that includes a smart contract management compute device, an immutable database management compute device, and an event stream compute device, which enables self-execution of contract terms, maintains an immutable record of events, and allows for easy modification of smart contract logic.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If hard-coded rules are used in typical computer systems, then the system structure is simple and easy to implement, but the system becomes inflexible when new rule sets need to be added or existing rules need to be modified
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the rule set into discrete, independently deployable smart contract modules stored on a blockchain. Each rule can be added, modified, or removed as a separate unit without affecting the entire system, enabling flexible adaptation while maintaining manageable complexity through modular organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from static hard-coded rules to dynamic smart contracts that can be updated on the blockchain. The rule set becomes adaptable and changeable over time, allowing the system to respond to new scenarios without requiring complete system redesign or complex reconfiguration procedures.
2Reliability
If data is stored in typical computer systems, then storage and retrieval is straightforward, but the data becomes vulnerable to retroactive modification and lacks integrity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary hashing of data before storage on the blockchain. Each data element is cryptographically hashed and stored immutably, preventing retroactive modification. This preliminary cryptographic processing ensures data integrity while the underlying blockchain structure provides the immutability guarantee without requiring complex additional verification mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The blockchain acts as an intermediary layer between the smart contract system and external data sources. Event streams are captured, hashed, and stored on the blockchain, creating an immutable record that mediates between the application logic and the underlying data, ensuring integrity while simplifying the trust model for system participants.
3Adaptability or versatility
If fixed data sources are used in typical systems, then the system is simple to manage, but it cannot handle new situations or integrate with other data sources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal event stream interface that can capture and process data from multiple diverse sources including mainframes, servers, and other authoritative systems. The standardized event subscription mechanism allows the smart contract system to universally interact with different data sources through a common interface, enabling handling of new situations without complicating system management through standardized operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Technologies for managing smart contracts include a compute device. The compute device includes circuitry configured to obtain a smart contract indicative of a condition and a responsive action to be performed upon satisfaction of the condition. The circuitry is also configured to write the smart contract to a centrally managed immutable database, obtain, from an event stream, data indicative of an event published to the event stream, determine, as a function of the event published to the event stream and the smart contract, whether the condition has been satisfied, and perform, in response to a determination that the condition has been satisfied, the responsive action.