Granted Patent B2

US 12,278,899 · App. 18/380,644 · Granted Apr 15, 2025

Inventor: Gavin Allen (London, GB)

Assignee: NCHAIN LICENSING AG

H04L9/14G06F21/305G06F21/645G06Q20/065G06Q20/0658G06Q20/36G06Q20/3829G06Q20/389H04L9/0637H04L9/0643H04L9/0861H04L9/3247H04L9/3263H04W4/70H04L9/50H04L2209/56

Abstract

Claims (31)

1. A computer-implemented control method comprising:

automatically generating a blockchain transaction comprising a locking script for an output and a corresponding redeem script, wherein the corresponding redeem script:

i) specifies a plurality of public keys, each associated with a corresponding private key, wherein each public key is uniquely associated with a potential state of at least one data source, and each public key represents a Boolean value indicative of the potential state; and

ii) comprises logic arranged to provide a result based on which one or more of the corresponding private keys is used to sign an unlocking script,

wherein a minimum number of said corresponding private keys must be used to sign the unlocking script of a further blockchain transaction in order to spend the output.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the blockchain transaction is generated by a computing agent.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the further blockchain transaction is generated by a computing agent.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3 , wherein the computing agent generates the respective blockchain transaction based upon input received from a sensor or other signal source.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein logic is arranged to implement functionality of a logic gate.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 5 , wherein the logic gate is a NOT, AND, OR, NOR, XOR, IMPLY, NAND, NONIMPLY, or XNOR gate.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 2 , wherein one or more of the plurality of public keys or the corresponding private key are generated or derived from a base key.

8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 7 , wherein the key generation is performed using a deterministic key generation technique.

9. A computer-implemented system comprising:

at least one computer-based resource arranged to:

automatically generate a blockchain transaction comprising a locking script for an output and a corresponding redeem script, wherein the corresponding redeem script:

i) specifies a plurality of public keys, each associated with a corresponding private key, wherein each public key is uniquely associated with a potential state of at least one data source and each public key represents a Boolean value indicative of the potential state of the at least one data source; and

ii) comprises logic arranged to provide a result based on which one or more of the corresponding private keys is used to sign an unlocking script,

wherein a minimum number of said corresponding private keys must be used to sign the unlocking script of a further blockchain transaction in order to spend the output.

10. The computer-implemented system according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one computer-based resource is arranged to:

submit a transaction to a blockchain network;

generate a transaction;

digitally sign a locking script; and/or

generate a public/private cryptographic key.

11. The computer-implemented system according to claim 9 , wherein the result is used to control or influence execution or operation of a process or apparatus.

12. The computer-implemented system according to claim 9 , further comprising at least one sensor or signal generation component arranged and configured to provide an input to the at least one computer-based resource.

13. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the state of the at least one data source is determined by a computing agent.

14. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3 , wherein the computing agent is in communication with a control computing agent.

15. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the result is a Boolean result.

16. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

associating, for each of the at least one data source, a public key of the plurality of public keys with the potential state of the data source,

such that all possible states of the data source are represented by a respective public key.

Assignments (4)

Priority Claims (3)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (129)