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EP-4555672-B1 - TRACKING SUBSEA TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSET CAPACITY AND SPECTRUM

EP4555672B1EP 4555672 B1EP4555672 B1EP 4555672B1EP-4555672-B1

Inventors

  • WEBSTER, Matthew Paul
  • KURBANICK, Sean Christopher
  • GARCIA, Agnetha

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20230711

Claims (15)

  1. A computer-implemented method (400) executed by data processing hardware (14) of a first entity (12a) that causes the data processing hardware (14) to perform operations comprising: generating a first asset token (210a), the first asset token (210a) representing control, by the first entity (12a), of a portion (250) of an asset (20), the first asset token (210a) comprising: an unencrypted identity (260a) of the first entity (12a); and an unencrypted location (260b) of the asset (20); publishing, to a distributed ledger (220), ownership of the first asset token (210a); receiving, from a second entity (12b), a request (30) to control the portion (250) of the asset (20) represented by the first asset token (210a); and in response to receiving the request (30): generating a second asset token (210b), the second asset token (210b) representing control, by the second entity (12b), of the portion (250) of the asset (20), the second asset token (210b) comprising: the unencrypted identity (260a) of the first entity (12a); an unencrypted identity (260d) of the second entity (12b); the unencrypted location (260b) of the asset (20); contractual information (260) encrypted by a data encryption key (310D), the contractual information (260) associated with transferring control of the portion (250) of the asset (20) from the first entity (12a) to the second entity (12b); and the data encryption key encrypted by a public key associated with the second entity; publishing, to the distributed ledger (220), ownership of the second asset token (210b); and transferring, using the distributed ledger (220), ownership of the second asset token (210b) to the second entity (12b).
  2. The method (400) of claim 1, wherein: the asset (20) comprises a subsea telecommunications asset; and control of the portion (250) of the asset (20) comprises controlling a respective portion (250) of a bandwidth capacity of the subsea telecommunications asset.
  3. The method (400) of claim 1, wherein generating the second asset token (210b) comprises: generating the data encryption key (310D); and encrypting the contractual information (260) with the data encryption key (310D).
  4. The method (400) of any of claims 1-3, wherein: the second asset token (210b) further comprises an expiration; and a smart contract (320), using the distributed ledger (220), automatically removes the second asset token (210b) from circulation upon expiration of the second asset token (210b).
  5. The method (400) of any of claims 1-4, wherein generating the first asset token (210a) comprises signing the first asset token (210a) with a private encryption key associated with the first entity (12a), and/or wherein transferring ownership of the second asset token (210b) to the second entity (12b) comprises transferring ownership of the second asset token (210b) to an address of the distributed ledger (220) associated with a public encryption key of the second entity (12b).
  6. The method (400) of any of claims 1-5, further comprising: in response to receiving the request (30): removing the first asset token (210a) from circulation on the distributed ledger (220), wherein removing the first asset token (210a) from circulation on the distributed ledger (220) comprises transferring ownership of the first asset token (210a) to an address of the distributed ledger (220) associated with an unknown private encryption key.
  7. The method (400) of any of claims 1-6, wherein the operations further comprise: generating a third asset token (210), the third asset token (210) representing control, by a third entity (12c), of a second portion (250) of the asset (20) different from the portion (250) of the asset (20) represented by the first asset token (210a); publishing, to the distributed ledger (220), ownership of the third asset token (210); and transferring, using the distributed ledger (220), ownership of the third asset token (210) to the third entity (12c).
  8. The method (400) of any of claims 1-7, wherein the location (260b) of the asset (20) comprises: a first end of a subsea communication cable (20U); and a second end of the subsea communication cable (20U).
  9. A system (100) comprising: data processing hardware (14) of a first entity (12a); and memory (16) hardware in communication with the data processing hardware (14), the memory (16) hardware storing instructions that when executed on the data processing hardware (16) cause the data processing hardware (16) to perform operations comprising: generating a first asset token (210a), the first asset token (210a) representing control, by the first entity (12a), of a portion (250) of an asset (20), the first asset token (210a) comprising: an unencrypted identity (260a) of the first entity (12a); and an unencrypted location (260b) of the asset (20); publishing, to a distributed ledger (220), ownership of the first asset token (210a); receiving, from a second entity (12b), a request (30) to control the portion (250) of the asset (20) represented by the first asset token (210a); and in response to receiving the request (30): generating a second asset token (210b), the second asset token (210b) representing control, by the second entity (12b), of the portion (250) of the physical communication asset (20), the second asset token (210b) comprising: the unencrypted identity (260a) of the first entity (12a); an unencrypted identity (260d) of the second entity (12b); and the unencrypted location (260b) of the physical communication asset (20); contractual information (260) encrypted by a data encryption key (310D), the contractual information (260) associated with transferring control of the portion (250) of the asset (20) from the first entity (12a) to the second entity (12b); and the data encryption key encrypted by a public key associated with the second entity; publishing, to the distributed ledger (220), ownership of the second asset token (210b); and transferring, using the distributed ledger (220), ownership of the second asset token (210b) to the second entity (12b).
  10. The system (100) of claim 9, wherein: the asset (20) comprises a subsea telecommunications asset; and control of the portion (250) of the asset (20) comprises controlling a respective portion (250) of a bandwidth capacity of the subsea telecommunications asset.
  11. The system (100) of claim 9, wherein generating the second asset token (210b) comprises: generating the data encryption key (310D); and encrypting the contractual information (260) with the data encryption key (310D).
  12. The system (100) of any of claims 9-11, wherein: the second asset token (210b) further comprises an expiration; and a smart contract (320), using the distributed ledger (220), automatically removes the second asset token (210b) from circulation upon expiration of the second asset token (210b).
  13. The system (100) of any of claims 9-12, wherein generating the first asset token (210a) comprises signing the first asset token (210a) with a private encryption key associated with the first entity (12a), and/or wherein transferring ownership of the second asset token (210b) to the second entity (12b) comprises transferring ownership of the second asset token (210b) to an address of the distributed ledger (220) associated with a public encryption key of the second entity (12b), and/or wherein the memory (16) hardware storing the instructions that when executed on the data processing hardware (16) further cause the data processing hardware (16) to perform operations comprising: in response to receiving the request (30): removing the first asset token (210a) from circulation on the distributed ledger (220), wherein removing the first asset token (210a) from circulation on the distributed ledger (220) comprises transferring ownership of the first asset token (210a) to an address of the distributed ledger (220) associated with an unknown private encryption key.
  14. The system (100) of any of claims 9-13, wherein the operations further comprise: generating a third asset token (210), the third asset token (210) representing control, by a third entity (12c), of a second portion (250) of the asset (20) different from the portion (250) of the asset (20) represented by the first asset token (210a); publishing, to the distributed ledger (220), ownership of the third asset token (210); and transferring, using the distributed ledger (220), ownership of the third asset token (210) to the third entity (12c).
  15. The system (100) of any of claims 9-14, wherein the location (260b) of the asset (20) comprises: a first end of a subsea communication cable (20U); and a second end of the subsea communication cable (20U).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to tracking subsea telecommunications asset capacity and spectrum. BACKGROUND A blockchain is a tamper-evident shared distributed digital ledger that records settlement and transaction processes in a defined public or private peer-to-peer network. Blockchains have built in efficiency of tracking, tracing, and management of records. Blockchains permanently record transactions via a sequential chain of cryptographic hash-linked "blocks." The history of transactions (e.g., asset exchanges) is distributed to some or all member nodes within the network. Each of the confirmed and validated transaction blocks are linked and chained sequentially from the beginning of the chain to the most current block (i.e., a blockchain). A blockchain thus acts as an instantaneous single source of truth for members. Prior art solutions are disclosed in documents NANDI MEGHALI ET AL: "A secured land registration framework on Blockchain", 2020 THIRD ISEA CONFERENCE ON SECURITY AND PRIVACY (ISEA-ISAP), IEEE, 27 February 2020 (2020-02-27), pages 130-138 and US 2019/279204 A1 SUMMARY The objects of the present invention are achieved by means of the appended set of claims. One aspect of the disclosure provides a method for tracking telecommunications asset capacity. The computer-implemented method, when executed by data processing hardware of a first entity, causes the data processing hardware to perform operations. The operations include generating a first asset token that represents control, by the first entity, of a portion of a physical communication asset. The first asset token includes information indicating an identity of the first entity and a location of the physical communication asset. The operations include publishing, to a distributed ledger, ownership of the first asset token and receiving, from a second entity, a request to control the portion of the physical communication asset represented by the first asset token. In response to receiving the request, the operations include removing the first asset token from circulation on the distributed ledger and generating a second asset token representing control, by the second entity, of the portion of the physical communication asset. The second asset token includes information indicating the identity of the first entity, an identity of the second entity, and the location of the physical communication asset. The operations also include publishing, to the distributed ledger, ownership of the second asset token and transferring, using the distributed ledger, ownership of the second asset token to the second entity. Implementations of the disclosure may include one or more of the following optional features. In some implementations, the physical communication asset includes a subsea telecommunications asset and control of the portion of the physical communication asset includes controlling a respective portion of a bandwidth capacity of the subsea telecommunications asset. The second asset token may further include contractual information with a data encryption key. The contractual information may be associated with transferring control of the portion of the physical communication asset from the first entity to the second entity. In some of these examples, generating the second asset token includes generating the data encryption key, encrypting the contractual information with the data encryption key, and transferring the data encryption key to the second entity. In some examples, the second asset token further includes an expiration and a smart contract, using the distributed ledger, automatically removes the second asset token from circulation upon expiration of the second asset token. Optionally, generating the first asset token includes signing the first asset token with a private encryption key associated with the first entity. Transferring ownership of the second asset token to the second entity may include transferring ownership of the second asset token to an address of the distributed ledger associated with a public encryption key of the second entity. In some implementations, removing the first asset token from circulation on the distributed ledger includes transferring ownership of the first asset token to an address of the distributed ledger associated with an unknown private encryption key. In some examples, the operations further include generating a third asset token representing control, by a third entity, of a second portion of the physical communication asset different from the portion of the physical communication asset represented by the first asset token. In these examples, the operations further include publishing, to the distributed ledger, ownership of the third asset token and transferring, using the distributed ledger, ownership of the third asset token to the third entity. Optionally, the location of the physical communication asset includes a first end of a subsea communication cable and a second end of the subsea