Smart Contract Execution via Offloaded Service Providers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current blockchain systems, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, face limitations in enabling expressive smart contracts that can store state and interact with funds directly, leading to scalability and privacy issues, and reliance on trusted third parties or single points of failure.
Innovation Solution
The method allows for expressive smart contract execution by offloading contract execution to a set of chosen service providers, storing contract state in a multisig output, and using Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to ensure security and flexibility, enabling fast, concurrent, and asynchronous execution without race conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If smart contracts are executed on the blockchain using traditional methods (e.g., Ethereum's virtual machine), then expressive smart contracts can be deployed, but scalability is limited and execution time is constrained by block intervals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments smart contract execution from the main blockchain by introducing side chains. The blockchain handles only state storage and transaction validation, while computation-intensive contract execution is offloaded to side chains. This segmentation enables parallel processing of multiple contracts without blocking the main chain, significantly improving throughput and eliminating block interval constraints on execution speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension to the system architecture by introducing side chains as a separate execution layer. Instead of executing all smart contracts on the main blockchain, the system creates a hierarchical structure where the blockchain provides state management and the side chains provide high-speed computation. This dimensional separation allows concurrent execution of multiple contracts in different dimensions, improving overall productivity.
2Reliability
If all nodes in the network execute smart contracts, then consensus is achieved, but computational resources are consumed and scalability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the computationally intensive smart contract execution function from the consensus process. Instead of having all nodes execute contracts to achieve consensus, the system extracts execution to side chains while maintaining a simplified consensus mechanism on the main blockchain for state validation. This extraction reduces the computational burden on network nodes while preserving consensus accuracy through the multisig verification mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces side chains as intermediary execution layers between the blockchain and smart contract interpreters. These intermediaries handle the computational workload independently, allowing the main blockchain to maintain lightweight consensus. The side chains act as mediators that process contracts and return results to the blockchain, eliminating the need for all nodes to participate in execution while ensuring reliable state transitions.
3Stability of the object's composition
If smart contracts store state on the blockchain, then persistence is guaranteed, but privacy is compromised and scalability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments state storage between the blockchain and side chains. The blockchain stores only critical state information (inputs and outputs) that requires persistence and public verification, while detailed contract state and execution data are stored on side chains. This segmentation maintains the stability and persistence guarantees of blockchain while preserving privacy by keeping sensitive information off-chain, accessible only to authorized participants through the side chain interface.
4Ease of operation
If a single service provider executes smart contracts, then execution is simplified, but single point of failure risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing different trust models for different contract execution scenarios. Instead of requiring uniform execution across all contracts, the system allows individual contracts to specify their own service provider selection and trust requirements. Each contract can be executed by a single trusted provider if needed, or distributed across multiple providers if higher reliability is required, allowing the system to adapt the execution model to local contract requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic execution model selection where the system can adapt between single-provider and multi-provider execution modes based on contract requirements. The execution architecture is dynamic rather than static, allowing flexibility in choosing the appropriate level of distribution. This dynamic approach enables the system to optimize between operational simplicity and reliability based on the specific needs of each contract deployment.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for executing smart contracts in a cryptocurrency, wherein the state of the smart contract is stored on the cryptocurrency's blockchain (3). In the method a smart contract creator (1) executes the steps of determining a distributed set of service providers (2), deploying a smart contract and defining a trust model that allows the distributed set of service providers (2) to perform a transaction that effects a state transition of the smart contract if a predefined or configurable quorum of the service providers (2) of the distributed set of service providers (2) attests to the validity of the transaction, and offloading contract execution to the distributed set of service providers (2) and, in case of achieving the quorum, including the state transition effected by the transaction in the blockchain (3).