CN111008081A

CN111008081A - Method, apparatus, and computer storage medium for blockchain system

Info

Publication number: CN111008081A
Application number: CN201811169462.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 曹锋; 吕浩进; 侯冠豪
Original assignee: Shanghai Pailian Information Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Pailian Information Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-08
Filing date: 2018-10-08
Publication date: 2020-04-14

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, apparatuses, and computer storage media for a blockchain system. For example, a method performed in a node of a blockchain system is proposed. The method comprises the following steps: executing a distributed application in the blockchain system; obtaining data for the distributed application from outside the blockchain system through an application program interface provided in the distributed application; performing consensus on the acquired data with other nodes in the blockchain system to determine consensus data; and continuing to execute the distributed application using the identified data. By using the embodiment of the disclosure, the latest data can be obtained, and the cost of application execution is reduced.

Description

Method, apparatus, and computer storage medium for blockchain system

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the technical field of blockchain systems, and more particularly, to a method, apparatus, and computer storage medium for acquiring data for a blockchain system.

Background

In recent years, systems based on block-chain technology have gained widespread attention. The blockchain technique is a distributed infrastructure that utilizes blockchain data structures to authenticate and store data, utilizes distributed node consensus algorithms to generate and update data, cryptographically secures data transmission and access, and utilizes intelligent contracts composed of automated script code to program and manipulate data.

For example, a bitcoin network can be viewed as a distributed set of databases based on blockchain techniques. Further, Ethereum (Ethereum) is a common blockchain platform with intelligent contract functionality. An ethernet arcade can be viewed as a distributed computer with a blockchain as the computer's memory and a contract as a program.

On the platform of the etherhouse, various modules are provided for users to build distributed applications (Dapp). Typically, one or more smart contracts may need to be invoked in one Dapp to complete the logic of the entire application. The smart contract includes program code. The blockchain is responsible for providing trusted data records for execution of the contract.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, apparatuses, and computer storage media for a blockchain system.

In a first aspect of the disclosure, a method for a blockchain system is provided. The method includes executing a distributed application in a blockchain system; obtaining data for the distributed application from outside the blockchain system through an application program interface provided in the distributed application; performing consensus on the acquired data with other nodes in the blockchain system to determine consensus data; and continuing to execute the distributed application using the identified data.

In some embodiments, the application program interface may include a function for accessing external data. In other embodiments, the function may comprise a set of instructions for execution by a virtual machine. In some embodiments, the set of instructions may comprise a set of assembly instructions.

In some embodiments, the blockchain system may include an etherhouse system.

In some embodiments, obtaining data for the distributed application from outside the blockchain system may include: and acquiring the data from the external Internet through the application program interface.

In a second aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes at least one processor, and at least one memory. The memory is coupled to the at least one processor and contains computer program code stored therein. The computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the electronic device to perform any of the methods of the first aspect of the present disclosure.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, a computer storage medium is provided. The computer storage medium includes computer program code stored thereon. The computer program code, when executed in a processor, causes the processor to perform any of the methods of the first aspect of the present disclosure.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the embodiments to the particular forms disclosed.

Drawings

Objects, advantages and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims. A non-limiting description of the preferred embodiments is given herein, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an example computer system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

fig. 2 shows a flow diagram of a method in a blockchain system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows an example of a function for obtaining external data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of compiled instructions and execution results of a function for obtaining external data, according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

fig. 5 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Detailed Description

In the following description, numerous details are set forth for the purpose of explanation. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced without these specific details. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.

It will be understood that the terms "first," "second," and the like, are used merely to distinguish one element from another. And in fact, a first element can also be referred to as a second element and vice versa. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, elements, functions, or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, functions, or components.

A schematic diagram of an example computer system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown in fig. 1. It should be noted, however, that in some embodiments, the particular architecture of the computer system shown in FIG. 1 is not required.

In the example computer system 100 of FIG. 1, a plurality of

nodes

110, 120, 130, etc. are included. A distributed application, such as Dapp101, may be executed in each node. The Dapp101 may invoke one or more smart contracts to complete the logic of the entire application.

By way of example, the computer system 100 may include a blockchain system, such as an Etherhouse system. Currently, the ether house system is a closed system, and information of the outside world, such as weather information which some contracts may need, ball game result information which the betting application may need, and the like, cannot be obtained inside the contracts.

Currently, one way to obtain the data required by Dapp or a contract is to utilize data provided by a trusted third party authority. The trusted third party authority periodically invokes the intelligent contract to write data such as weather, ball game results, lottery information, etc. If Dapp types need to access the information, the contract function provided by the third party organization is called to acquire the information.

In this data acquisition approach, the blockchain based system forms an internal closed loop, and all information must be pushed (push) externally, e.g. written by a third party authority. The inventors of the present disclosure have appreciated that this manner of data acquisition leads to a number of problems. First, since the data is controlled by a centralized organization, there is a risk of organization data counterfeiting. Second, contracts may get old information if the third party organization's data is not updated in a timely manner. In addition, the data obtained may be different, as different nodes may schedule third party supplied contractual functions at different times.

Furthermore, the blockchain system, such as etherhouses, is not used for free, and the user is required to pay a calculation fee and a storage fee, as well as some other fees. This means that both third party structured write data and Dapp read data require payment. This way of acquiring data therefore also leads to higher operating costs.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, as well as other problems in a blockchain system, the inventors of the present disclosure propose new methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for a blockchain system. For example, some embodiments provide a new solution for obtaining data needed by an application or contract. This solution may be referred to as a smart data (SmartData) mechanism. In the intelligent data mechanism, a set of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) are provided in Dapp or intelligent contracts for the intelligent contracts to be able to access external data when executed. Dapp may perform the engineering of intelligent contracts, actively dragging (pull) data from the outside when it is needed. This makes each time the data obtained is the most up-to-date data. This also breaks the closed loop of block information, preventing the possibility of counterfeiting by third party organizations. In addition, no extra cost is needed for data acquisition, and only one contract calling cost needs to be paid.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to facilitate an understanding of the proposed aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 illustrates a method 200 for a blockchain system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method may be performed by a node in a blockchain system (e.g., any one of the

nodes

110 and 130 in fig. 1). For ease of description, embodiments of method 200 are described below in connection with node 110 and computer system 100 in FIG. 1. It should be understood, however, that the method 200 is not limited to being practiced in this particular example configuration.

As shown in FIG. 2, at block 210, node 110 executes a distributed application in a blockchain system, such as Dapp01 of FIG. 1. The Dapp101 may contain several smart contracts. Thus, executing the distributed application may involve execution of one or more smart contracts.

A distributed application or a contract therein may require specific data in execution. At block 220, the node 110 obtains data for the distributed application (or a contract in the application), such as weather, sports game results, lottery information, etc., from outside the blockchain system (e.g., an ethernet system) through an Application Program Interface (API) provided in the distributed application.

In some embodiments, the API may include a function for accessing external data (e.g., data in the internet). An example of this function is shown in fig. 3, where a world cup gambling application (worldcupcraino) 301 contains a function Sdsource ()302 to externally obtain data for the world cup gambling application, such as a ball game result, and the like.

A schematic diagram of an instruction 401 and an instruction execution result 402 generated after the example function Sdsource () is compiled is shown in fig. 4. As can be seen, the function Sdsource () may provide instructions for execution by the virtual machine. By way of example, and not limitation, the instructions may comprise an assembly instruction set. In other words, in some embodiments, a virtual machine may be made to support a particular function, such as retrieving data from outside the blockchain, by adding an instruction set to the virtual machine. This instruction set may be obtained by compilation of the API function Sdsource () in fig. 3.

The operation of block 220 is significantly different from the data acquisition in existing blockchain systems. In the existing blockchain system, information such as weather, ball game results, lottery information, etc. needs to be written periodically by a third party authority, and then when an application (or contract) needs to access the information, the corresponding node calls a contract function provided by the third party authority to acquire the information. As mentioned above, there are many drawbacks to this prior art data acquisition approach. In contrast, the operation of block 220 enables the node to obtain the information needed for the contract directly from outside the blockchain system, so that only the caller of the contract has to pay one contract invocation fee. And the third party who provided the data in the original method also needs to pay the cost of data writing.

Different nodes in the blockchain system may acquire data from outside the blockchain system at different times using the operations of block 220. This means that the data obtained by different nodes may be different. Accordingly, the method 200 further includes block 230, where the node 110 performs consensus on the acquired data with other nodes in the blockchain system (e.g., the

nodes

120 and 130 of fig. 1) to determine consensus data. This consensus operation enables each node in the blockchain system to obtain consistent data.

The present disclosure is not limited to implementing consensus on the obtained external data in any particular manner, but may use any existing consensus mechanisms and algorithms, such as, but not limited to, a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus algorithm, a proof of bet (POS) mechanism, and the like. In the existing blockchain system, the consensus mechanism is not used for consensus on the obtained external data, but instead, each node directly uses data provided by a third party authority.

At block 240, the node 110 continues to execute the distributed application (e.g., the selected contract in the application) using the identified data.

The method 200 provides a more efficient solution than existing methods for acquiring data. For example, the method 200 may avoid the possibility of third party data counterfeiting and reduce the running cost of the application. Moreover, the consensus operation in method 200 also ensures consistency of the data used in the blockchain system.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic block diagram of an electronic device 500 that may be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure. The electronic device 500 may comprise any one of the

nodes

110 and 130 in fig. 1, for example.

As shown in fig. 5, electronic device 500 includes a controller or processing unit (e.g., CPU)501 that may perform various appropriate actions and processes in accordance with programs stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM)502 and/or a Random Access Memory (RAM) 503. The ROM 502 and/or the RAM 503 may store various programs and data required for the operation of the electronic device 500. The controller 501, ROM 502, and RAM 503 may be connected to each other by, for example (but not limited to), a bus 504. In particular, the electronic device 500 also includes one or more special-purpose processing units (not shown), which may also be connected by, for example, but not limited to, a bus 504.

An input/output (I/O) interface 505 is also connected to bus 504. A number of components in the electronic device 500 are connected to the I/O interface 505, including: an input unit 506 such as a keyboard, a mouse, or the like; an output unit 507 such as various types of displays, speakers, and the like; a storage unit 508, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or the like; and a communication unit 509 such as a network card, modem, wireless communication transceiver, etc. The communication unit 509 allows the electronic apparatus 500 to exchange information/data with other apparatuses.

In certain embodiments, the controller 501 may be configured to perform the various processes and processes described above, such as the method 200. For example, in some embodiments, the method 200 may be implemented as a computer software program tangibly embodied in a machine-readable medium, such as the storage unit 508. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and/or installed onto the electronic device 500 via the ROM 502 and/or the communication unit 509. When the computer program is loaded into RAM 503 and executed by controller 501, one or more of the operations of method 200 described above may be performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the controller 501 may also be configured in any other suitable manner to implement the processes/methods described above.

In particular, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the methods and apparatus described above with reference to fig. 2-5 may be implemented as a computer program product, which may be tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and include machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to implement various aspects in accordance with the present disclosure.

The computer readable storage medium may be a tangible device that may store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may include, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic memory device, a magnetic memory device, an optical memory device, an electromagnetic memory device, a semiconductor memory device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific, non-exhaustive examples of the computer readable storage medium include: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanical coding device, such as punch cards or in-groove projection structures having instructions stored thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing.

The computer program instructions for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be assembler instructions, Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) instructions, machine-related instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C + + or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The computer-readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the case of a remote computer, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider). In some embodiments, the electronic circuitry that can execute the computer-readable program instructions implements aspects of the present disclosure by utilizing the state information of the computer-readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, such as a programmable logic circuit, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or a Programmable Logic Array (PLA).

Various aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of apparatus, methods, and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer-readable program instructions.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described for purposes of illustration, but the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the disclosed embodiments. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the disclosure as defined in the appended claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

Claims

1. A method performed in a node of a blockchain system, comprising:

executing a distributed application in the blockchain system;

obtaining data for the distributed application from outside the blockchain system through an application program interface provided in the distributed application;

performing consensus on the acquired data with other nodes in the blockchain system to determine consensus data; and

continuing to execute the distributed application using the consensus data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application program interface comprises a function for accessing external data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the function comprises a set of instructions for execution by a virtual machine.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the set of instructions comprises an assembly set of instructions.

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the blockchain system comprises an Etherhouse system.

6. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein obtaining data for the distributed application from outside the blockchain system comprises:

and acquiring the data from the external Internet through the application program interface.

7. A node of a blockchain system, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor and containing computer program code stored therein, which when executed by the at least one processor, causes the node to perform the method according to any of claims 1-6.

8. A blockchain system comprising nodes, wherein the nodes are configured to:

executing a distributed application in the blockchain system;

continuing to execute the distributed application using the consensus data.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the application program interface comprises a function for accessing external data.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the function comprises a set of instructions for execution by a virtual machine.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the set of instructions comprises an assembly set of instructions.

12. The system of any of claims 8-11, wherein the blockchain system comprises an etherhouse system.

13. The system of any of claims 8-11, wherein obtaining data for the distributed application from outside the blockchain system comprises:

14. A computer storage medium comprising computer program code stored thereon, which, when executed in a processor, causes the processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1-6.