New patents are issued by the USPTO on Tuesdays. Both of today's Spotlight Patents continue our theme of blockchains (smart contracts, distributed ledgers) and rights management. Assigned to Sensoriant, the first patent addresses consistency and consensus management in decentralized and distributed systems. Assigned to EMC, the second patent addresses blockchain techniques for providing tenant security and compliance in a cloud computing environment.
10,686,601, "Consistency and consensus management in decentralized and distributed systems," assigned to Sensoriant, Inc.
Abstract
A method for achieving consensus amongst a distributed and decentralized set of computers, devices or components in a network interacting via messaging is presented. The method does not rely on the availability of an overall ledger that is consulted for every interaction. Rather, the interacting components communicate directly with each other via messages that contain proofs of consistency that may be used to achieve local consistency amongst the interacting components. Local consistency guarantees global consistency. For regulatory and record keeping purposes, use of an overall ledger may be contemplated for regulatory and record keeping purposes. The latter may be updated by the interacting devices via an asynchronous updating mechanism.
10,686,799, "Blockchain-based method and system for providing tenant security and compliance in a cloud computing environment," assigned to EMC.
Abstract
A blockchain-based method and system for providing tenant security and compliance in a cloud computing environment. Specifically, the method and system disclosed herein implement a marketplace solution which extends blockchain technology to the problem of providing defined security levels in the cloud computing environment. In adapting blockchain technology, the method and system disclosed herein provide a mechanism for guaranteeing tenant security without any implication of trust between security providers and security requestors or consumers.
