TECHNIQUES FOR INCREASING THE PROBABILITY THAT A TRANSACTION WILL BE INCLUDED IN A TARGET BLOCK OF A BLOCKCHAIN

• US 20180294967A1
• Filed: 04/06/2018
• Published: 10/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Citizen Hex Co.
• Original Assignee: Citizen Hex Co.
• Inventors: Roberts, Benjamin Mark, Bergmann, Brett David
• Granted Patent: US 10,812,270 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3236 using cryptographic hash functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3255 using group based signatures, e.g. ring or threshold signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3297 involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/50 using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments include techniques to increase the probability that network validators will include a specific transaction in a target block of a blockchain. The method includes creating and signing in real-time a transaction and loading copies of the transaction at agent nodes connected to a network of peer nodes. An agent node can obtain an indication of an opportunity to write the transaction to a target block. The method can further include broadcasting the transaction to the network of peer nodes based on the obtained indication of the opportunity to write the transaction, to improve a probability of having the transaction written to the target block.

Claims

1. A method for increasing a probability of having a transaction written to a target block of a blockchain, the method comprising:

loading a plurality of copies of a transaction at a plurality of agent nodes connected to a network of peer nodes;

obtaining, by an agent node, an indication of an opportunity to write the transaction to a target block; and

propagating copies of the transaction to the network of peer nodes based on the obtained indication of the opportunity to write the transaction, to improve a probability of having the transaction written to the target block.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the copies of the transaction are propagated to a subset of peer nodes that includes a peer node selected as a validator node to write a transaction to the target block.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the opportunity to write the transaction to the target block is sent by a subset of peer nodes.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication is of another block of the blockchain relative to the target block.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of agent nodes is globally distributed such that each agent node is located at a different geographic region that includes a different subset of peer nodes.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the blockchain is a decentralized public blockchain.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each agent node is configured to independently monitor a peer node and propagate a transaction to the peer node.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each agent node is configured to independently monitor a peer node, propagate a transaction to the peer node, and attempt to be selected by the network of peer nodes to write a transaction to a block of the blockchain.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein an agent node is randomly selected as a validator node to write a next block of the blockchain.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein any agent node that wins an auction for an opportunity to write a transaction to a block of the blockchain is selected as a validator node to write a next block of the blockchain.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein each agent node is operable to adapt based on changing conditions of the network of peer nodes.

12. The method of claim 1 propagating the copies of the transactions further comprises:

responsive to obtaining the indication of the opportunity to write the transaction, broadcasting the copies of the transaction by the agent node to any peer nodes in a geographic region that includes the agent node.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising, prior to propagating the copies of the transactions:

monitoring the network of peer nodes to determine a probability that the target block will be created at a pre-selected point in time or at a pre-selected point in time relative to a previous block.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

sharing obtained information among the plurality of agent nodes.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein propagating copies of the transaction comprises:

calculating when to broadcast the copies of the transaction based on an analysis of;

a plurality of transactions written in prior blocks of the blockchain;

a time delay between when a transaction is received and written to a block of the blockchain;

a characteristic of a pending transaction or transaction written to a block of the blockchain;

a characteristic of a block that is not included in the blockchain;

a propagation time for each agent node to receive information indicative of a transaction, creation of a block, a change of validation fees, a change of a quantity of validators, or a statistic of the network of peer nodes;

or

a test transaction sent to the network of peer nodes to test, monitor, and gather data about conditions of the network of peer nodes.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein propagating copies of the transaction comprises:

calculating when to broadcast the copies of the transaction based on an analysis of a threshold of fees required for a transaction to be written to the target block by a validator including any of current validator rewards, changes in validator rewards, or changes in validation difficulty in response to an increase or decrease in a quantity of active validators.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction is pre-signed or created and signed in real-time.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein propagating copies of the transaction comprises:

broadcasting the copies of the transactions sequentially beginning prior to an estimated point in time when creation of the target block is expected.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising, prior to propagating the copies of the transaction:

setting an optimal fee associated with the transaction to a value greater than any fee associated with other transactions available to write to the target block.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the optimal fee is determined by:

estimating computational resources that the transaction will use;

analyzing fees collected by validators; and

analyzing fees included in other transactions.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the target block is associated with a point in time at which the transaction is to be written to the blockchain.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction is a purchase of a limited supply of assets of an initial offering.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction is one of a temporally ordered set of transactions available for writing to the target block.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the blockchain implements a decentralized asset exchange such that the transaction indicates a purchase or sale of an asset.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein a peer node selected as a validator node is operable to select which of a plurality of transactions is written to the target block.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtained indication is of a previous block of the blockchain on which a transaction was written.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the target block is a next block of the blockchain.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the target block is a block other than a next block of the blockchain.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein a network latency of the network of peer nodes is greater than a network latency of the plurality of agent nodes.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of agent nodes belongs to a backend network configured to obtain information of the network of peer nodes, load copies of pre-signed transactions or load copies of transactions created and signed in real time, propagate the copies of transactions to the network of peer nodes, and exchange information about the network of peer nodes among the plurality of agent nodes.

31. The method of claim 1 further comprising, prior to propagating the copies of the transactions:

prioritizing the transaction from a plurality of different transactions for the network of peer nodes.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein propagating copies of the transaction further comprises:

calculating a point in time to broadcast the transaction based on an analysis of a group of peer nodes with pooled resources that increase a probability that the group of peer nodes will write a next block of the blockchain.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein propagation of the transaction depends on a group of peer nodes with pooled resources that increase a probability that the group will write a next block of the blockchain.

34. A method performed by a server computer of a network including a plurality of peer nodes configured to maintain a blockchain, the method comprising:

obtaining information associated with the network of peer nodes; and

propagating copies of a transaction to the network of peer nodes based on the obtained information to increase the probability that the transaction will be recorded to a target block of the blockchain.

35. A server computer comprising:

a processor; and

a memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the server computer to;

load a plurality of copies of a transaction at a plurality of agent nodes connected to a network of peer nodes;

obtain an indication of an opportunity to write the transaction to a target block; and

propagate copies of the transaction to the network of peer nodes based on the obtained indication of the opportunity to write the transaction, to improve a probability of having the transaction written to the target block.