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US-12627516-B2 - Quantum-computing secure digital and physical proof of work

US12627516B2US 12627516 B2US12627516 B2US 12627516B2US-12627516-B2

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for proof-of-work for generating and validating a block of a blockchain using at least one printing device is disclosed. The printing device is configured for generating at least one digital image depending on a printer control setting. The method comprises the following steps: i) ( 110 ) determining a plurality of number strings by solving at least one cryptographic puzzle; ii) ( 118 ) selecting one of the number strings of the determined plurality of number strings as mining printer control setting; iii) ( 120 ) printing at least one initial digital image ( 116 ) comprising a plurality of colored pixels by using the printing device with the selected mining printer control setting ( 112 ) and scanning the printed image by using at least one scanning device, thereby generating a mining digital image ( 122 ) having a plurality of colored pixels different from the initial digital image ( 116 ); iv) ( 124 ) comparing the colored pixels of the mining digital image ( 122 ) and a task digital image ( 114 ) by using at least one processing device, wherein the task digital image ( 114 ) comprises a plurality of colored pixels being different from the initial digital image ( 116 ). The method comprises repeating steps ii) ( 118 ) to iv) ( 124 ) until the colored pixels of the mining digital image ( 122 ) and the task digital image ( 114 ) are found to be identical. In each case in step ii) ( 118 ) a different mining printer control setting ( 112 ) is selected. The mining printer control setting ( 112 ) for which the mining digital image ( 122 ) and the task digital image ( 114 ) are found to be identical, at least within tolerances, is used as the proof-of-work for generating and validating the block of the blockchain.

Inventors

  • Lothar Seidemann
  • Holger Kai Peter JELICH

Assignees

  • BASF SE

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20230130
Priority Date
20220131

Claims (15)

  1. 1 . A computer-implemented method for proof-of-work for generating and validating a block of a blockchain using at least one printing device, wherein the printing device is configured for generating at least one digital image depending on a printer control setting, the method comprising the following steps: i) determining a plurality of number strings by solving at least one cryptographic puzzle; ii) selecting one of the number strings of the determined plurality of number strings as mining printer control setting; iii) printing at least one initial digital image comprising a plurality of colored pixels by using the printing device with the selected mining printer control setting and scanning the printed image by using at least one scanning device, thereby generating a mining digital image having a plurality of colored pixels different from the initial digital image; iv) comparing the colored pixels of the mining digital image and a task digital image by using at least one processing device, wherein the task digital image comprises a plurality of colored pixels being different from the initial digital image; wherein the method comprises repeating steps ii) to iv) until the colored pixels of the mining digital image and the task digital image are found to be identical, wherein in each case in step ii) a different mining printer control setting is selected, wherein the mining printer control setting for which the mining digital image and the task digital image are found to be identical, at least within tolerances, is used as the proof-of-work for generating and validating the block of the blockchain.
  2. 2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein solving the cryptographic puzzle comprises finding numerals which generate a cryptographic hash value having a defined number of leading numerals.
  3. 3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein solving the cryptographic puzzle comprises finding hexadecimal numerals which generate a cryptographic hash value having a defined number of leading hexadecimal numerals.
  4. 4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the cryptographic hash value is generated by using at least one hash function having a block number of the block, data stored in the block and the cryptographic hash of a previous block as input.
  5. 5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method comprises applying the found numerals as mining printer control setting and checking, if one of the mining control setting transfers the initial digital image into the task digital image.
  6. 6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the block comprises a header comprising information about a block version number, a cryptographic hash of a previous block header, a cryptographic hash of the block, time, bits and a nonce, wherein the nonce is the mining printer control setting found to transfer of the initial digital image into the task digital image, wherein the bits define a number of pixels of the initial digital image and/or the number of pixels of the task digital image.
  7. 7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mining printer control setting found to transfer the initial digital image into the task digital image is used for generating a numeral to be applied as nonce for generating and validating the block of the blockchain, wherein a size of the nonce is set before printing by an information defining color intensities of each color of a color space used for printing.
  8. 8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises generating the initial digital image by converting at least one part of a cryptographic hash of a previous block header into color values of the colored pixels.
  9. 9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises generating the task digital image by converting at least one part of the cryptographic hash value other than used for generating the initial digital image into at least one color value of the colored pixels and/or by using at least one random algorithm, and/or by transforming digital information of transaction of a block in color values.
  10. 10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein comparing of the colored pixels of the mining digital image and the task digital image is performed after grouping the colored pixels of the mining digital image or/and the task digital image by pixilation, wherein the method comprises determining a color code of the pixelated mining digital image by converting the colored pixels to numerals, wherein comparing of the colored pixels of the mining digital image and the task digital image comprises comparing color codes of the mining digital image and the task digital image.
  11. 11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mining digital image and the task digital image are considered identical within a pixel color error tolerance range of ±30% for each of the colors of a pixel, preferably of ±10% for each of the colors of a pixel, more preferably of ±3% for each of the colors of a pixel, and/or wherein the mining digital image and the task digital image are considered identical within an overall error tolerance range 10% of deviating pixels, preferably of 5% of deviating pixels, more preferably 1% of deviating pixels.
  12. 12 . A computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by one or more processor, cause the processor to perform the method according to claim 1 referring to a method.
  13. 13 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processor to perform the method according to claim 1 referring to a method.
  14. 14 . A blockchain comprises a plurality of linked blocks, wherein each block includes image-derived data generated from at least one digital image, and wherein the blockchain is generated by using a method for proof-of-work for generating and validating a block of a blockchain according to claim 1 relating to a method for proof-of-work for generating and validating a block of a blockchain.
  15. 15 . A method comprising utilizing the computer-implemented method for proof-of-work according to claim 1 relating to a computer-implemented method for proof-of-work for generating and validating a block of a blockchain, for a purpose of one or more of mining for trading crypto currency, secured processing of transactions in the fields of non-fungible tokens, smart contracts, financial services, healthcare, personal identification, cryptocurrencies, supply chain, secure labels.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a National stage application (under 35 U.S.C. § 371) of PCT/EP2023/052114, filed Jan. 30, 2023, which claims benefit of European Application No. 22154318.4, filed Jan. 31, 2022, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a computer-implemented method for proof-of-work for generating and validating a block of a blockchain using at least one printing device, and uses of said method, such as for trading crypto currency. The method and uses according to the present invention specifically may be used for secured processing of transactions in the fields of smart contracts, financial services, healthcare, personal identification, cryptocurrencies, supply chain. Other applications are possible. BACKGROUND ART In many applications, such as in the fields of financial services, healthcare, personal identification, cryptocurrencies, supply chain and others, the blockchain technology is an efficient technology to ensure the secured processing of transactions such as of licensing, cooperation with other companies and selling technology. A blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, that are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data. By design, a blockchain is resistant to modification of the data. It is “an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way”, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain. For use as a distributed ledger, a blockchain is typically managed by a peer-to-peer network collectively adhering to a protocol for inter-node communication and validating new blocks. Each block includes the cryptographic hash of the prior block in the blockchain, linking the two. The linked blocks form a chain. This iterative process confirms the integrity of the previous block, all the way back to the original genesis block. The blockchain technology typically requires a cryptographic hash function, multiple information needs to be processed and a Hash function to map data of arbitrary size to fixed-size values such that the data in any given block cannot be altered retroactively. Eshani et al, “A study on the issue of blockchain's energy consumption”, DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-0361-0_5, describe that blockchain technology is one of the biggest innovative technology that has been developed and has potential usage in fields of education, business and industries. Since the creation of bitcoins, blockchain has emerged as a means for storing digital information without the intervention of any third parties. However, now it is used for various other applications than just being a simple distributed ledger. With time it has imposed a larger impact an different fields of economy and has gained popularity for its immutability. But, there are some issues faced by blockchain. One of such issues is the energy consumption. Blockchains are found to consume exorbitant amount of energy because of the algorithm followed for its creation. Johannes Sedlmeir et al., “The Energy Consumption of Blockchain Technology: Beyond Myth”, Bus Inf Syst Eng 62 (6): 599-608 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-020-00656-x and Eshani Ghosh and Baisakhi Das, “A study on the issue of blockchain's energy consumption”, January 2020, DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-0361-0_5, Proceedings of International Ethical Hacking Conference 2019 (pp. 63-75), describe enormous energy consumption needed for blockchain technology, in particular for proof-of-work. In view of recent progress in computer technology such as the development of quantum computing, there is a risk that suddenly significant more computing power is available to perform the digital proof-of-work and is threatening the security of the cryptocurrency. PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED It is therefore desirable to provide methods and devices, which address the above-mentioned technical challenges. Specifically, a computer-implemented method for proof-of-work for generating and validating a block of a blockchain using at least one printing device shall be provided, which allows for increasing security for proof-of-work. SUMMARY This problem is addressed by a computer-implemented method for proof-of-work for generating and validating a block of a blockchain using at least one printing device and a uses with the features of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments which might be realized in an isolated fashion or in any arbitrary combinations are listed in the dependent claims as well as throughout the specification. In a first aspect of the present invention, a computer-implemented method for proof-of-work for generating and validating a block of a blockchain using at least one printing device is proposed. The printing device is configured for generating at least one digital image depending on a printer control setting. The method