SATELLITE-BASED BLOCKCHAIN ARCHITECTURE

Abstract

The present invention discloses a satellite-based blockchain architecture, including a terrestrial blockchain miner network, a constellation system, and a consensus protocol coordinating the constellation system and the terrestrial blockchain miner network. In each round, a satellite generates an oracle, and satellites broadcast the oracle to the terrestrial blockchain miner network. The oracle selects a terrestrial miner as a winner of the current round based on a specific rule. The winning terrestrial miner has the right to generate a new block in the round, and broadcasts the new block to other miners by using the terrestrial blockchain miner network. Other miners receiving the new block check the validity of the block, and if the check succeeds, the block is broadcast to other miners by using the terrestrial blockchain miner network. The present invention significantly improves the efficiency and throughput of a blockchain, and optimizes and reduces the energy consumption of executing a consensus protocol by a terrestrial blockchain miner network.

Claims

1. A novel satellite-based blockchain architecture, comprising a terrestrial blockchain miner network, a constellation system, and a consensus protocol coordinating the constellation system and the terrestrial blockchain miner network, wherein the terrestrial blockchain miner network comprises more than one terrestrial miner, and the terrestrial miners are communicatively connected via a network; the constellation system is formed by three or more satellites, the satellites are communicatively connected to each other via a network, and the satellites and the terrestrial miners are communicatively connected to each other via a network; and the consensus protocol coordinating the constellation system and the terrestrial blockchain miner network is used for generating an oracle by a satellite in the constellation system and controlling the constellation system to broadcast the oracle to the terrestrial blockchain miner network; a corresponding terrestrial miner in the terrestrial blockchain miner network has the right to generate a new block, and broadcasts the new block to other terrestrial miners by using the terrestrial blockchain miner network; and other terrestrial miners receiving the new block checks the validity of the block, and if the check succeeds, the block is broadcast to other terrestrial miners by using the terrestrial blockchain miner network.

2. The novel satellite-based blockchain architecture according to claim 1, wherein the consensus protocol coordinating the constellation system and the terrestrial blockchain miner network comprises the following working steps: step 1: generating, by a satellite, an oracle based on a specific scheme in each round; step 2: broadcasting, by the satellites, the oracle to the terrestrial blockchain miner network, wherein the oracle is a random number used for determining a winning terrestrial miner in each round; step 3: receiving, by terrestrial miners by using terrestrial receiving terminals, the oracle generated in step 1, and determining, according to a specific rule, whether the terrestrial miner is selected; step 4: generating, by a selected terrestrial miner, a new block, and broadcasting the new block to the other terrestrial miners by using the terrestrial blockchain miner network; and step 5: checking, the validity of the new block after the other terrestrial miners receive the new block; and if the check fails, discarding the block; or if the check succeeds, broadcasting the block to other terrestrial miners by using the terrestrial blockchain miner network.

3. The novel satellite-based blockchain architecture according to claim 2, wherein the satellite generates the oracle based on the specific scheme by using two methods, denoted as a first oracle generation method and a second oracle generation method; in the first oracle generation method, a geostationary earth orbit satellite measures cosmic rays, hydromagnetic waves, and instantaneous radiations in real time by using satellite-borne measuring instruments, and numerical conversion is performed to obtain the oracle; and in the second oracle generation method, a satellite is used to broadcast a data packet for satellite television, a global positioning system or other use to the ground, and numerical conversion is performed to generate the oracle.

4. The novel satellite-based blockchain architecture according to claim 3, wherein the specific rule comprises the following steps: mapping the oracle to an index in a list of currently generated crypto-currencies, and an owner of a crypto-currency corresponding to the index is a selected terrestrial miner in a current round.

5. The novel satellite-based blockchain architecture according to claim 4, wherein in the first oracle generation method, the consensus protocol determines a sequence in a pseudorandom manner, and the satellites in the constellation system generate oracles in turn according to the sequence; and in the second oracle generation method, the consensus protocol gives a predefined protocol to determine a specific satellite, and the satellite broadcasts a data packet for specific use in a specific time slot at a specific frequency band to generate the oracle.

6. The satellite-based blockchain architecture according to claim 5, wherein the satellites comprise geostationary earth orbit satellites, medium earth orbit satellites, and low earth orbit satellites.

7. The novel satellite-based blockchain architecture according to claim 6, wherein the constellation system provides ultra-wide ground coverage, ubiquitous connectivity, and stable downlinks.

8. The satellite-based blockchain architecture according to claim 7, wherein the terrestrial receiving terminal comprises a portable mobile receiver and a miniature-antenna Earth station.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a satellite-based blockchain architecture.

[0029] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a working procedure of a satellite-based blockchain architecture.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a blockchain evolution mode of a satellite-based blockchain architecture.

[0031] FIG. 4 is a simulation diagram of relationships between normalized throughput and security of the blockchain and a proportion of malicious terrestrial miners at different proportions of malicious satellites. It can be seen that when a proportion of malicious miners is higher, the normalized throughput and the security of the blockchain are lower. When the proportion of malicious satellites increases, the normalized throughput and the security of the blockchain also decrease.

[0032] FIG. 5 is a simulation diagram of relationships between normalized throughput and security of the blockchain and a proportion of malicious entities (including malicious satellites and malicious miners) in the blockchain at different success probabilities of satellite transmission. It can be seen that when the proportion of malicious entities in the blockchain is higher, the normalized throughput and the security of the blockchain are lower.

[0033] FIG. 6 is a simulation diagram of a relationship between normalized throughput of the blockchain and the network transmission delay. It can be seen that when the network transmission delay is lower, the normalized throughput of the blockchain is higher.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0034] The present invention is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that these examples are intended only to describe the present invention but not to limit the scope of the present invention. Various modifications in equivalent form made to the present invention by those skilled in the art after reading the present invention all fall within the scope defined by the appended claims of the present application.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the satellite-based blockchain architecture includes a constellation system formed by three geostationary earth orbit satellites, a terrestrial blockchain miner network formed by five terrestrial miners, and a consensus protocol coordinating the constellation system and the terrestrial blockchain miner network. [0036] 1) A satellite measures physical data such as cosmic rays, hydromagnetic waves, and instantaneous radiations in real time by using satellite-borne measuring instruments, and integration and numerical conversion are performed on the physical data to generate an oracle. [0037] 2) The satellite broadcasts the oracle generated by the satellite to the five miners in the terrestrial blockchain miner network. [0038] 3) A terrestrial miner receives, by using a terrestrial receiving terminal such as a portable mobile receiver and a miniature-antenna Earth station, the oracle generated by the satellite. As shown in FIG. 1, according to the principle of proof of stake, the lowermost terrestrial miner is selected in the first round, and receives the oracle broadcast by the satellite. [0039] 4) The terrestrial miner generates a new block, and broadcasts the new block to other terrestrial miners by using the terrestrial blockchain miner network. [0040] 5) A remaining terrestrial miner checks the validity of the new block after receiving the new block. After the check succeeds, the block continues to be broadcast to other terrestrial miners by using the terrestrial blockchain miner network.

[0041] However, the network delay and the presence of misconduct of a satellite or miner may lead to various emergencies. For ease of description of various cases, FIG. 3 gives a schematic diagram of the blockchain evolution mode based on the novel blockchain consensus mechanism.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 3(a), in normal cases, according to the rule of proof of stake, a terrestrial miner w.sub.2 is selected by an oracle as the winner in the second round. w.sub.2 receives the oracle broadcast by a satellite, and then w.sub.2 collects transactions in the terrestrial blockchain miner network, verifies the transactions, and packs the transactions. Next, w.sub.2 generates a new block b.sub.2 following a block b.sub.1 generated by the winner Wt in the first round, and uses the terrestrial blockchain miner network to broadcast b.sub.2. b.sub.2 includes a hash pointer pointing to b.sub.2. When w.sub.2 is selected in the third round, w.sub.1 repeats a process similar to that of w.sub.2 to generate b.sub.3. This cycle is repeated, and the blockchain keeps growing.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 3(b), in the second round, due to an interruption in a satellite link, the terrestrial miner w.sub.2 fails to receive the oracle broadcast by the satellite. Therefore, no new block is generated in the second round. In this case, the winning miner w.sub.2, in the third round directly generates one block b.sub.2 pointing to the block b.sub.1.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 3(c), when generating the new block the winning miner w.sub.2 in the third round fails to receive the block b.sub.2 broadcast by the miner w.sub.2 due to the network delay. w.sub.2 generates the block b.sub.2. pointing to the block b.sub.1. In this case, the blockchain forks, and a winner in next round determines whether or b.sub.2 is finally included in the main chain.

[0045] FIG. 3(d) reflects a case that the winning winner w in the second round may have misconduct, generating an invalid block b.sub.2. FIG. 3(e) reflects a case that the miner w.sub.2, may forge an identity to generate an invalid block b.sub.2′. It is very easy to discover the foregoing two cases during the verification of the block by other nodes. Therefore, the invalid blocks in the two cases are both excluded from the main chain.

[0046] FIG. 3(f) reflects a case that the winning w.sub.2 in the second round may publish two new blocks at once, that is, the block b.sub.2′ and a block b.sub.2″, causing the blockchain to fork. Generally, honest miners discard such blocks.

[0047] FIG. 3(g) reflects a case that a malicious miner may privately mine in a fraudulent branch. When attacked transactions has been confirmed and the length of the fraudulent branch exceeds the length of the current main chain, the fraudulent branch is published, to achieve a “double-spending” attack.

[0048] Referring to FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, to show the performance of the present invention during actual work, actual tests were performed and data was recorded for typical embodiments of the present invention. Analysis results are as follows.

[0049] FIG. 4 reflects relationships between normalized throughput and security of the blockchain and the proportion of malicious terrestrial miners at different proportions of malicious satellites. If the proportion of malicious satellites is constant, when the proportion of malicious miners in the terrestrial blockchain miner network is higher, the throughput of the blockchain is lower, the error confirmation probability is higher, and the security is lower. Similarly, if the proportion of malicious miners in the terrestrial miner network is constant, when the proportion of malicious satellites is higher, the throughput of the blockchain is lower, the error confirmation probability is higher, and the security is lower.

[0050] FIG. 5 reflects relationships between normalized throughput and security of the blockchain and the proportion of malicious entities in the blockchain at different success probabilities of satellite transmission and comparison between the present invention and PoW in terms of throughput and security. The analysis results show that in the case of the same security performance, the present invention has higher throughput compared with PoW. The throughput of the blockchain in the present invention largely depends on the quality of the satellite broadcast channel, that is, the transmission success probability. As the quality of the satellite channel improves, the transmission success probability is higher, and the throughput of the blockchain also increases correspondingly.

[0051] FIG. 6 reflects the relationship between throughput of the blockchain and the information propagation delay at different transmission success probabilities and different proportions of malicious entities. It can be seen that if the proportion of malicious entities is constant, when the proportion of new block miners is higher, the information propagation delay of the terrestrial blockchain miner network is lower, and the throughput of the blockchain is higher.

[0052] The present invention fully utilizes the advantages of wide coverage, ubiquitous connectivity, and stable downlinks of satellites to build a satellite-based blockchain architecture, so that the efficiency of the blockchain is significantly improved, and the energy consumption of executing the consensus protocol by a terrestrial blockchain miner network is optimized and reduced. The blockchain consensus mechanism is improved by fully utilizing the advantages of wide coverage, ubiquitous connectivity, and stable downlinks of satellites, so that compared with the conventional PoW consensus mechanism, the resource consumption is greatly reduced, and the system throughput is significantly improved.

[0053] The foregoing descriptions are preferred implementations of the present invention. It should be noted that for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several improvements and modifications may further be made without departing from the principle of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be deemed as falling within the protection scope of the present invention.