Systems and methods for efficient and secure processing, accessing and transmission of data via a blockchain network

Inventors: Craig Steven Wright (London, GB); Owen Vaughan (London, GB); Jack Owen Davies (London, GB); Chloe Ceren Tartan (London, GB)

Assignee: nChain Licensing AG

H04L9/3247 G06F16/2379 G06F21/6218 G06Q20/38215 G06Q20/3827 G06Q20/3829 H04L9/08 H04L9/0825 H04L9/0836 H04L9/30 H04L9/3033 H04L9/3073 H04L9/3239 H04L9/3242 H04L9/3249 H04L9/50 H04L2209/56

View Patent ↗

Loading inventors, assignments & file history…

Monitor This Case

Get email alerts when status or documents change.

Order Certified Copies

Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.

Order via The Patent Place →

Pre-filled with this patent's details

Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12,231,573
App. No.: 17/296,953
Granted: Feb 18, 2025
Kind: B2

External Links

USPTO Patent Center↗ Full Patent PDF↗

Abstract

The disclosure provides improved methods and systems for processing, storing, sharing, retrieving, writing and accessing data (content) on a blockchain e.g. Bitcoin. The invention may form part of a protocol for storing, searching and accessing the data. In particular, improved efficiency and also enhanced access control permissions are provided. An embodiment of the disclosure comprises the step of processing at least one blockchain transaction (Tx) comprising: a protocol flag; a discretionary public key (DPK); and a discretionary transaction ID (DTxID). These are discretionary in the sense that they are not required as part of the underlying blockchain protocol but in accordance with the present invention. This combination of features enables portions of data to be identified, retrieved and shared on a blockchain, and also to be linked/associated with one another when provided in a plurality of transactions. It enables a graph or tree-like structure to be constructed, which reflects the hierarchical relationships between portions of data, facilitating their processing, searching and sharing.

Claims (34)

1. A computer-implemented method comprising the step of:

providing or using a plurality of blockchain transactions in a hierarchy such that a portion of data provided or referenced in at least one further transaction in a lower level of the hierarchy can be accessed or identified by comparison with a cryptographic key used to sign a first transaction in a higher level of the hierarchy.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , and further comprising the step of storing and/or maintaining a mapping between the cryptographic key used to sign the first transaction and at least one further transaction in a lower level of the hierarchy.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the first transaction and/or at least one further transaction in a lower level of the hierarchy comprises: a transaction ID (TxID); a protocol flag; a discretionary public key (DPK); and a discretionary transaction ID (DTxID).

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3 , wherein: the portion of data or reference to the portion of data, the protocol flag, the discretionary public key (DPK) and/or the discretionary transaction ID (DTxID) are provided within an output (UTXO) of the first or at least one further transaction, preferably within a locking script associated with the output (UTXO).

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3 , wherein the portion of data, reference to the portion of data, the protocol flag, the discretionary public key (DPK), and/or the discretionary transaction ID (DTxID) are provided within the first transaction or further transaction (Tx) at a location following a script opcode for marking an output as invalid for subsequent use as an input to a subsequent transaction.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein: the first transaction and/or at least one further transaction comprises one or more attributes.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 6 , wherein: the one or more attributes comprises a keyword, tag or identifier associated with: i) a portion of data provided within or referenced within the first transaction and/or at least one further transaction; and/or ii) the first transaction and/or at least one further transaction.

8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3 , wherein the first transaction and/or at least one further transaction further comprises an input including: a parent public key (PPK) associated with a logical parent transaction (LPTx), wherein the logical parent transaction (LPTx) is identified by the discretionary transaction ID (DTxID); and

a signature generated using the parent public key (PPK).

9. The computer-implemented method according to claim 8 , and further comprising the step of:

using the discretionary public key (DPK) and the transaction ID (TxID) to identify the first transaction, the at least one further transaction and/or the logical parent transaction within a blockchain.

10. A computer-implemented system comprising:

a processor; and

memory including executable instructions that, as a result of execution by the processor, cause the system to perform any embodiment of the computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1 .

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, as a result of being executed by a processor of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least perform an embodiment of the method as claimed in claim 1 .

12. A computer-implemented method including the step of:

using a first blockchain transaction to provide or prohibit access to a portion of data provided or referenced in at least one further transaction in a lower level in a hierarchy of blockchain transactions based on a cryptographic key used to sign the first blockchain transaction.

13. The computer-implemented method according to claim 12 , and further comprising the step of storing and/or maintaining a mapping between the cryptographic key used to sign the first transaction and at least one further transaction in a lower level of the hierarchy.

14. The computer-implemented method according to claim 12 , wherein the first transaction and/or at least one further transaction in a lower level of the hierarchy comprises: a transaction ID (TxID); a protocol flag; a discretionary public key (DPK); and a discretionary transaction ID (DTxID).

15. The computer-implemented method according to claim 14 , wherein: the portion of data or reference to the portion of data, the protocol flag, the discretionary public key (DPK), and/or the discretionary transaction ID (DTxID) are provided within an output (UTXO) of the first or at least one further transaction, preferably within a locking script associated with the output (UTXO).

16. The computer-implemented method according to claim 14 , wherein the portion of data, reference to the portion of data, the protocol flag, the discretionary public key (DPK), and/or the discretionary transaction ID (DTxID) are provided within the first transaction or further transaction (Tx) at a location following a script opcode for marking an output as invalid for subsequent use as an input to a subsequent transaction.

17. The computer-implemented method according to claim 12 , wherein:

the first transaction and/or at least one further transaction comprises one or more attributes.

18. The computer-implemented method according to claim 17 , wherein:

the one or more attributes comprise a keyword, tag, or identifier associated with:

i) a portion of data provided within or referenced within the first transaction and/or at least one further transaction; and/or

ii) the first transaction and/or at least one further transaction.

19. The computer-implemented method according to claim 14 , wherein the first transaction and/or at least one further transaction further comprises an input including: a parent public key (PPK) associated with a logical parent transaction (LPTx), wherein the logical parent transaction (LPTx) is identified by the discretionary transaction ID (DTxID); and a signature generated using the parent public key (PPK).

20. The computer-implemented method according to claim 19 , and further comprising the step of: using the discretionary public key (DPK) and the transaction ID (TxID) to identify the first transaction, the at least one further transaction and/or the logical parent transaction within a blockchain.

21. A computer-implemented system comprising:

a processor; and

memory including executable instructions that, as a result of execution by the processor, cause the system to perform any embodiment of the method as claimed in claim 12 .

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, as a result of being executed by a processor of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least perform an embodiment of the method as claimed in claim 12 .

Assignments (9)