Patent Application
20210241372
The present disclosure relates generally to the trading of information over computer networks, and more particularly, to systems, apparatuses, and methods for trading data based on blockchain.
With reference to
The foregoing data trading method is executed directly between the data purchaser and the data provider, and thus relies on the data purchaser becoming aware of the data available from the data provider and initiating a transaction. It may be beneficial to involve a third-party trading system that matches data providers with data purchasers, thus removing the burden of having to locate data of interest from the data purchaser. It, however, may be difficult to introduce third-party data partners into the data trading process in that the additional third party may lead to mistrust among the various parties, under various scenarios:
With reference to
With reference to
It is therefore desirable to provide a user the ability to centralize the storage of her user information and the ability to control access to user information. The concepts disclosed below address this need and others.
A method of trading data includes posting, in a data trading system, data information related to data that is located in a storage apparatus independent of the data trading system and available for purchase; and receiving, from a purchaser device, a compensation for the data. The method also includes facilitating, at least partially through a smart contract on a blockchain, a transfer of the data directly from the storage apparatus to the purchaser device; and facilitating, at least partially through the smart contract on a blockchain, a transfer of the compensation from the data trading system to a provider account.
The data information may be posted by appending the data information to the smart contract on the blockchain. Data products of interest may be found by searching the data information posted in the smart contract on the blockchain against a search query received from the purchaser device. At least a portion of the data information from the blockchain is made available to a system server when the search query results in a match by transmitting the portion of the data information from the blockchain to the system server. The data information is output by the system server for display on a user interface at the purchaser device.
The transfer of data is facilitated by generating through the smart contract on a blockchain, a data-product token comprising at least a portion of the data information corresponding to the data; appending the data-product token to the smart contract together with a signature of the data trading system; and transmitting the data-product token to the purchaser device. Data transfer is further facilitated by receiving, from a provider device, a verified token indicating that the transfer of the data associated with the data-product token has been completed. The transfer of the compensation is facilitated by transferring through the smart contract on a blockchain, to the account associated with the data, an amount corresponding to the compensation for the data.
An apparatus for trading data, includes a network interface, a memory, and a processor coupled to the network interface and the memory. The processor is configured to post, in a data trading system, data information related to data that is located in a storage apparatus independent of the data trading system and available for purchase. The processor is also configured to receive, from a purchaser device, a compensation for the data. The processor is further configured to facilitate, at least partially through a smart contract on a blockchain, a transfer of the data directly from the storage apparatus to the purchaser device; and to facilitate, at least partially through the smart contract on a blockchain, a transfer of the compensation from the data trading system to a provider account.
A mechanism for trading data includes a collection/posting module configured to post, in a data trading system, data information related to data that is located in a storage apparatus independent of the data trading system and available for purchase; and a search/purchase module configured to receive, from a purchaser device, a compensation for the data. The mechanism for trading data also includes a data transfer module configured to facilitate, at least partially through a smart contract on a blockchain, a transfer of the data directly from the storage apparatus to the purchaser device; and a payment module configured to facilitate, at least partially through the smart contract on a blockchain, a transfer of the compensation from the data trading system to a provider account.
It is understood that other aspects of methods, apparatuses and mechanisms, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein various aspects are shown and described by way of illustration.
Various aspects of systems, apparatuses, and methods will now be presented in the detailed description by way of example, and not by way of limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Disclosed in detail below are a system, apparatus, and method for trading data based on blockchain. The apparatus, which may be a node in a decentralized network of nodes, is configured to implement various functions of a data trading mechanism including the posting of information related to data that is available for purchase, and the execution of blockchain functions to facilitate the purchase of data and the transferring of data. The data trading mechanism employs a smart contract on a blockchain and an asymmetric cryptographic authentication mechanism on the blockchain to ensure that third-party data trading systems participate in the matching data trading transaction in a trusted manner.
With reference to
The nodes 308 within the decentralized network 306 may be grouped into one or more application shards. While a large number of nodes and shards may be present in a decentralized network, for ease of illustration, a reduced number of nodes and a single application shard 310 are shown in
In one configuration, the data trading mechanism 304 is embodied as a decentralized application (DAPP) that is run by the nodes 312 associated with the application shard 310. The nodes 312 in the application shard 310 may be configured and coordinated to perform certain sub-mechanisms or functions of the data trading mechanism 304 via a smart contract on a blockchain 410. As used herein, a smart contract on a blockchain 410 is a piece of code that is deployed on a shared, replicated ledger that maintains its state, controls its assets, and responds to incoming external information or assets. The model defined by the smart contract is a computer program running on a replicable, shared book that can process information, receive, store, and send value. In one embodiment, the smart contract complies with the ERC721 standard and is configured to store multiple signature information.
The certain functions executed by the smart contract on the blockchain 410 may include: 1) a collection/posting function 402 that receives data information from a data provider and posts some or all of the information to the smart contract on a blockchain 410 and sometimes to the system server 302, 2) a search/purchase function 404 that enables access to data information posted on the system server 302 and processes the purchase of data by a data purchaser, 3) a data transfer function 406 that generates a data-product token that enables the transfer of purchased data from the data provider to the data purchaser, and 4) a payment function 408 that transfers financial consideration paid by the data purchaser to the data provider after successful transfer of the purchased data to the data purchaser.
With continued reference to
With reference to
The client-side data trading application 318 also enables the provider device 314 to submit the data information to the node 312a for posting to a smart contract on a blockchain 410. For example, the client-side data trading application 318 may cause the provider device 314 to display a “submit information” button, which when activated causes the provider device to communicate the data information to the data trading mechanism 304 through the node 312a. To this end, the provider device 314 includes a communication interface configured to establish a communication link with the node 312a and to transmit the data information over the communication link.
From the perspective of the data trading system 300, the data trading mechanism 304 operating in accordance with the collection/posting function 402 of the smart contract on the blockchain 410 receives the data information from the provider device 314 and posts some or all of the data information in the smart contract on the blockchain 410. With regard to posting in the smart contract on blockchain 410, the data trading mechanism 304 enters or appends a data structure corresponding to the data information to a smart contract on a blockchain.
The data structure appended to the smart contract on the blockchain 410 includes the meta data of the data information, but not the data itself. The meta data may include, for example, the description of the data, the purchase price for the data, the data interface, e.g., an API URL that references the location of the data, and the duration of the availability of the data. In some cases, to be described later below, some of the data information stored in the smart contract on the blockchain 410 may be posted to a web page in the system server 302 to enable potential purchasers to browse potential information of interest. To this end, the smart contract on the blockchain 410 may be configured to invoke a node 312 of the data trading mechanism 304 to establish a communication link with the system server 302 and to transmit the data information to the system server. The information posted to the system server may be a subset of the information posted to the smart contract. For example, the information posted to the system server 302 may include the description, purchase price and duration of availability information, but not the data interface information.
Continuing with reference to
In cases where a search of the data information posted in the smart contract on a blockchain 410 results in one or more matches, the data trading mechanism 304 enables the purchaser device 316 to display the data information corresponding to the search query matches, for viewing an browsing by the purchaser. To this end, the data trading mechanism 304 may establish a communication link with the system server 302 and transmit the data information corresponding to the search query matches to the system server.
Upon locating data of interest, the purchaser device 316 operating in accordance with a client-side data trading application 318 resident on the device may purchase data through the data trading mechanism 304 using data-purchase tokens that are purchased in advance by the data purchaser. To this end, the purchaser device 316 may establish a communication link with a node 312b of the data trading mechanism 304 and transmit a purchase data request to the data trading system 300 over the communication link, through a node 312b of the data trading mechanism 304.
From the perspective of the data trading system 300, the node 312b receives the purchase request from the purchaser device 316. The purchase request may include, for example, an identifier of the data that is being purchased and compensation information, e.g., data-purchase token information, necessary to complete the purchase. Upon receipt of the purchase request, the smart contract on the blockchain 410 operating in accordance the search/purchase function 404 processes the purchase, e.g., receives the appropriate data-purchase token. The smart contract on the blockchain 410 is also configured to retain the compensation, e.g., data-purchase token, associated with the purchase for subsequent transfer to the data provider.
Continuing with
The data trading mechanism 304 then provides the signed smart contract with the data-product token to the purchaser device 316. For example, a node 312b of the data trading mechanism 304 includes a communication interface configured to establish a communication link with the purchaser device 316 and to transmit the smart contract with the data-product token over the communication link. Alternatively, the data trading mechanism 304 may provide one or more location identifiers that inform the purchaser device 316 of the location of the smart contract with the data-product token within the blockchain.
From the perspective of the purchaser device 316, upon receipt of the smart contract with data-product token from the data trading mechanism 304, the purchaser device operating in accordance with the client-side data trading application 318 resident on the purchaser device may, through a node 312b of the data trading mechanism 304, invoke the smart contract on the blockchain 410 to append a second unique identification code, e.g., purchaser's signature, to the smart contract. This second unique identification code corresponds to the private key signature of the purchaser and is received by the smart contract through the purchaser device 316. The smart contract at this stage of the data transfer function 406 includes the data-product token, the signature of the data trading system and the signature of the purchaser. The data-product token includes the data information, e.g., a description of the data, a purchase price for the data, a data interface, e.g., an API URL that references the location of the data and a duration of the availability of the data, corresponding to the purchased data.
The purchaser device 316 operating in accordance with the client-side data trading application 318 resident on the purchaser device reads the data interface, e.g., the API URL of the data provider from the data structure of the data-product token. The purchaser device 316 initiates a call to the provider device 314 using the data interface present in the data-product token, and transfers the smart contract with the data-product token directly to the provider device. To this end, each of the provider device 314 and the purchaser device 316 include a communication interface configured to establish a communication link with other devices for purposes of receiving and transmitting data, information, tokens, etc.
From the perspective of the provider device 314, upon receipt of the data call and the smart contract with the data-product token from the purchaser device 316, the provider device operating in accordance with the client-side data trading application 318 resident on the provider device, invokes, through a node 312a of the data trading mechanism 304, the smart contract on the blockchain 410 to resolve the signatures in the smart contract to confirm that the first unique identification code corresponds to the signature of the data trading system 300 and the second unique identification code corresponds to the signature of the purchaser. Upon verification of the signatures, the provider device 314 sends the purchased data to the purchaser device 316. The provider device 314 also generates a verified token and sends the verified token to the data trading system 300. The verified token is a cryptocurrency that includes data access verification information corresponding to the signature of the data trading system and the signature of the purchaser.
From the perspective of the data trading system 300, upon receipt of the verified token from the provider device 314, the data trading mechanism 304 operating in accordance with the payment function 408 implemented by the smart contract on the blockchain 410 transfers payment to the data provider. To this end, the smart contract on the blockchain 410 may be configured to use the private key signature information of the data trading system 300 included in the verified token to process a payment to the data provider corresponding to the purchase payment, e.g., data-purchase token, submitted by the data purchaser to the data trading system 300.
The disclose data trading system 300 and data trading mechanism 304 have several beneficial aspects. For example, the system and mechanism ensure that data providers and data purchasers conduct secure data transactions through third-party data exchanges. The mechanism further ensures that third-party data exchange systems do not have direct access to the data. Due to the open consensus attribute of the smart contract on the blockchain 410, all aspects of a data transaction are completely transparent to all three parties; and the three parties, i.e., data provider, data purchaser, and data exchange system, may complete a transaction without concern for the trustworthiness of the other parties. Also, the data transaction settlement can be verified at any time on the blockchain
Having described the operation of the data trading system and mechanism, a detailed description of a single data trading transaction executed by the trading system of
At operation 502, a node 312a associated with the data trading system 300 and executing the collection/posting function 402 receives data information from a provider device 314 that is registered with the data trading system. To these ends, a provider device 314 operating in accordance with a client-side data trading application 318 resident on the device may access a node 312a and invoke a smart contract on a blockchain 410 that is configured to perform certain tasks of the data trading mechanism 304 related to the collection and posting of data information.
Data information is entered into the provider device 314 through a user interface and submitted to the data trading system 300 through a node 312a. In one embodiment, the data information includes: a) identity information of the data provider, which information is confirmed by the data provider's account public key; b) a description of the data, including name, type, data source, expiration date, content category, and data sample; c) purchase price for the data; and d) the data interface, e.g., API URL, that that references the location of the data.
At operation 504, upon receiving the data information, a node 312a associated with the data trading mechanism 304 invokes a smart contract on a blockchain 410 of the data trading mechanism to execute a collection/posting function 402. In accordance with this function, the smart contract creates a record of data information based on the received information. The record of data information is posted as an entry in the smart contract on a blockchain 410.
At operation 506, the data trading system 300 enables the searching of data products that have been posted to the blockchain. To this end, a node 312b associated with the data trading system 300 receives a search query from a purchaser device 316 that is registered with the data trading system. For its part, the purchaser device 316 operating in accordance with a client-side data trading application 318 resident on the device accesses a node 312b and submits the search query. In response to the search query, the node 312b associated with the data trading system 300 executes a search component of the search/purchase function 404. This search component invokes a smart contract on a blockchain 410 that is configured to search the content of the blockchain for data products having data information that satisfies or matches the search query.
In cases where data information in the smart contract on a blockchain 410 satisfies or matches the search query, the node 312b executing a search component of the search/purchase function 404 forwards the data information and other data product information to the system server 302. The system server 302 operating in accordance with a server-side data trading application 320 makes the data information and description of the matching data product available to browse by the purchaser device 316. To this end, the system server functions as an application server that hosts the web site of the data trading system, and post the matching information to the user interface of the web site for display on the purchaser device 316. The system server 302, however, refrains from making the identity information of the data provider and the data interface available for browsing.
At operation 508, a node 312b associated with the data trading mechanism 304 invokes the smart contract on the blockchain 410 to execute a search/purchase function 404. In accordance with this function, the smart contract receives a request to purchase a data product from a purchaser device 316 that is registered with the data trading system 300. As noted above with reference to
At operation 510, a node associated with the data trading mechanism 304 invokes the smart contract on the blockchain 410 to execute an aspect of a data transfer function 406. In accordance with this aspect, the smart contract on a blockchain 410 generates a data-product token for the purchased data and appends the data-product token to the smart contract on the blockchain. The data-product token includes one or more pieces of the data information of the purchased data. For example, the data-product token may include the data description, the data price, and the data interface, e.g., an API URL, that references the location of the data. As part of a data purchase and data-product token generation, the data trading mechanism 304 signs an identity key attribute in the data-product token with a unique identification code using the private key of the data trading system 300, and saves the key in the attributes of the smart contract. The signature process is based on the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) algorithm.
It is noted that the data-product token generated by the smart contract has no pre-defined amount, and may be generated on request for different kinds of data. In one embodiment, the generated data-product token is a type of ERC721 token that can hold rich data information. ERC721 is a free, open standard that describes how to build non-fungible or unique tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. While most tokens are fungible (every token is the same as every other token), ERC721 tokens are all unique.
At operation 512, a node associated with the data trading mechanism 304 invokes another aspect of a data transfer function 406. In accordance with this aspect of the data transfer function, the data trading mechanism 304 sends the data-product token associated with the data purchase to the purchaser device 316 through a node 312 associated with the data trading system 304.
At operation 514, the purchaser device 316, operating in accordance with a client-side data trading application 318 and a smart contract on a blockchain 410, determines the legality of the data-product token and then signs the identity key attribute. To determine the legality of the data-product token, the client-side data trading application 318 adopts the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) algorithm, and performs an elliptic curve (EC) recover operation on the data-product token to obtain the public address information of the data trading system 300, thereby confirming that the data-product token was generated by and signed by the data trading system. To sign the data-product token, the client-side data trading application 318 resident on a purchaser device 316 receives input from a purchaser corresponding to the private key of the purchaser. The private key functions as the purchaser's signature for the data-product token. At operation 514, the purchaser device 316 also obtains the data information from the data-product token in the smart contract, including the data interface, e.g., an API URL that references the location of the purchased data.
At operation 516, the purchaser device 316, operating in accordance with a client-side data trading application 318, sends the provider device 314 the data-product token with the signed identity key when calling the data location. This operation is performed directly between the purchaser device 316 and the provider device 314 and does not invoke the smart contract on the blockchain 410 of the data trading mechanism 304.
At operation 518, the provider device 314 receives the API call and the data-product token with the signed identity key from the purchaser device 316. The provider device 314, operating in accordance with a client-side data trading application 318, verifies that the data-product token includes the signature of the data purchaser and the signature of data trading system 300. To this end, an algorithm resident in the provider device 316 or resident in the data trading mechanism 304 but accessible by the provider device uses v, r, s in Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) to verify if the signed information was from the public key of trading system 300
At operation 520, the provider device 314, operating in accordance with a client-side data trading application 318, sends the purchased data to the purchaser device 316. This operation is performed directly between the purchaser device 316 and the provider device 314 and does not invoke the smart contract on the blockchain 410 of the data trading mechanism 304.
At operation 522, a node associated with the data trading mechanism 304 receives a verified token from the provider device 314. This operation is performed directly between the provider device 314 and the node 312 and does not invoke the smart contract on the blockchain 410 of the data trading mechanism 304. The verified token is generated by the provider device 314 and is a cryptocurrency that includes data access verification information corresponding to the signature of the data trading system and the signature of the purchaser. The verified token confirms that the purchased data was sent by the provider to the purchaser.
At operation 524, a node associated with the data trading mechanism 304 invokes the smart contract on the blockchain 410 to execute a payment function 408. In accordance with this function, the smart contract credits an account associated with the data provider an amount based on the price of the data-purchase token paid for by the provider.
At block 602, a node of the data trading mechanism 304 receives one or more inputs corresponding to the data information from a provider device. The data information may include a data interface that references a location of the data within the storage apparatus, a description of the data, and a price for the data. The data information posted in the data trading system does not include identity information of a provider of the data. This prevents the data purchaser from being able to directly contact a data provider and bypass the data trading system.
At block 604, a node of the data trading mechanism 304 posts data information related to data that is located in a storage apparatus independent of the data trading system and available for purchase in a data trading system. The storage apparatus may be, for example, associated with the provider device. The data information is posted by appending the data information to the smart contract on the blockchain.
The data information posted in the smart contract on the blockchain may be searched against a search query received from the purchaser device. If relevant data information is located during a search, at least a portion of the located data information may be transmitted from the blockchain to a system server and output from the system server for display at the purchaser device.
At block 606, a node of the data trading mechanism 304 receives a compensation for the data from a purchaser device. The compensation may be a data-purchase token in the form of a cryptocurrency.
At block 608, a node of the data trading mechanism 304 facilitates a transfer of the data directly from the storage apparatus to the purchaser device. To this end, the node generates via the smart contract on a blockchain, a data-product token that includes at least a portion of the information corresponding to the purchased data. The node also appends the data-product token to the smart contract together with a signature of the data trading system, and transmits smart contract with the data-product token to the purchaser device.
At block 610, a node of the data trading mechanism 304 facilitates, at least partially through the smart contract on a blockchain, a transfer of the compensation from the data trading system to a provider account. To this end, the node receives, from a provider device, a verified version of the smart contract with the data-product token indicating that the transfer of the purchased data associated with the data-product token has been completed. The node then transfers an amount corresponding to the compensation for the data to the account associated with the purchased data.
The apparatus 700 may include one or more processors 702 configured to access and execute computer-executable instructions stored in at least one memory 704. The processor 702 may be implemented as appropriate in hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. Software or firmware implementations of the processor 702 may include computer-executable or machine-executable instructions written in any suitable programming language to perform the various functions described herein. The processor 702 may include, without limitation, a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computer (CISC) processor, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a System-on-a-Chip (SOC), or any combination thereof. The apparatus 700 may also include a chipset (not shown) for controlling communications between the processor 702 and one or more of the other components of the apparatus 700. The processor 702 may also include one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or application-specific standard products (ASSPs) for handling specific data processing functions or tasks.
The memory 704 may include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), flash RAM, magnetic media storage, optical media storage, and so forth. The memory 704 may include volatile memory configured to store information when supplied with power and/or non-volatile memory configured to store information even when not supplied with power. The memory 704 may store various program modules, application programs, and so forth that may include computer-executable instructions that upon execution by the processor 702 may cause various operations to be performed. The memory 704 may further store a variety of data manipulated and/or generated during execution of computer-executable instructions by the processor 702.
The apparatus 700 may further include one or more network interfaces 706 that may facilitate communication between the apparatus 700 and one or more other nodes using any suitable communications standard. For example, a LAN interface may implement protocols and/or algorithms that comply with various communication standards of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), such as IEEE 802.11, while a cellular network interface implement protocols and/or algorithms that comply with various communication standards of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and 3GPP2, such as 3G and 4G (Long Term Evolution), and of the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance, such as 5G.
The memory 704 may store various program modules, application programs, and so forth that may include computer-executable instructions that upon execution by the processor 702 may cause various operations to be performed. For example, the memory 704 may include an operating system module (O/S) 708 that may be configured to manage hardware resources such as the network interface 706 and provide various services to applications executing on the apparatus 700.
The memory 704 stores additional program modules such as collection/posting module 710, the search/purchase module 712, the data transfer module 714, and the payment module 716, each of which includes functions in the form of logic and rules that respectively support and enable the collection/posting, the search/purchase, the data transfer, and the payment function described above with reference to
The apparatus 700 and modules 710, 712, 714, 716 disclosed herein may be implemented in hardware or software that is executed on a hardware platform. The hardware or hardware platform may be a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic component, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, or any other suitable component designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing components, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP, or any other such configuration.
Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium may include, by way of example, a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., card, stick, key drive), random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a general register, or any other suitable non-transitory medium for storing software.
The various aspects of this disclosure are provided to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the present invention. Various modifications to exemplary embodiments presented throughout this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects of this disclosure, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. All structural and functional equivalents to the various components of the exemplary embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”
