Dynamic entitlement for blockchain data

An example operation may include one or more of receiving a data file submitted by a node, the data file comprising information about an event-driven process for a chain of nodes, retrieving an entitlement mode of the data file from a data block that is stored among a hash-linked chain of data blocks on a distributed ledger, determining access rights of the data file with respect to another node in the chain of nodes based on the retrieved entitlement mode of the data file, and transmitting information about the event-driven process to the other node based on the determined access rights of the other node.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application generally relates to a process performed via a blockchain, and more particularly, to a system which controls visibility of data submitted to a blockchain based on various entitlement modes which can be assigned to data without a need to know the downstream nodes that will access the data.

BACKGROUND

A centralized database stores and maintains data at one location. This location is often a central computing system such as a server or a mainframe computer. Information stored on a centralized database is typically accessible from multiple different points. For example, multiple client workstations can work simultaneously on the centralized database based on a client/server configuration. Because of its single location, a centralized database is easy to manage, maintain, and control, especially for purposes of security. Within a centralized database, data integrity is maximized and data redundancy is minimized as a single storing place of all data also implies that a given set of data only has one primary record. This aids in the maintaining of data as accurate and as consistent as possible and enhances data reliability.

However, a centralized database suffers from significant drawbacks. For example, a centralized database has a single point of failure. If there is no fault-tolerance setup and a hardware failure occurs, all data within the database is lost and work of all users is interrupted. In addition, a centralized database is highly dependent on network connectivity. As a result, the slower the Internet connection, the longer the amount of time needed for each database access. Another drawback is that bottlenecks can occur when the centralized database experiences high traffic. Furthermore, the centralized database provides limited access to data because only one active/productive copy of the data is maintained. As a result, multiple users may not be able to access the same piece of data at the same time without creating overwriting. Furthermore, because a central database has minimal to no data redundancy, if a set of data is unexpectedly lost can be difficult to retrieve other than through manual operation from back-up disk storage.

Across global supply chains, financial services, healthcare, government and many other industries, innovators are exploring ways to use blockchain to disrupt and transform traditional storage into a decentralized storage scheme. Many industry leaders have already achieved significant business benefits, including greater transparency, enhanced security, improved traceability, increased efficiency and speed of transactions, and reduced costs, through the use of blockchain storage.

Typical blockchain-based supply chain solutions (as well as others) enforce access control based on a fixed set of participants who are expressly declared at a time when data is submitted. However, in many cases, the set of participants involved in the creation, distribution, handling, and/or sale of an item is not known at the time of data submission, particularly for early participants in the supply chain (e.g. suppliers of raw materials or intermediate parts). Therefore, there is a need to be able to dynamically entitle data of the supply chain for an item even in scenarios where participants are unknown at the time of data submission to the blockchain.

SUMMARY

One example embodiment may provide a system that includes one or more of a network interface configured to receive a data file submitted by a node which comprises information about an event-driven process for a chain of nodes, and a processor configured to retrieve an entitlement mode of the data file from a data block that is stored among a hash-linked chain of data blocks on a distributed ledger, and determine access rights of the data file with respect to another node in the chain of nodes based on the retrieved entitlement mode of the data file, wherein the processor is further configured to control the network interface to transmit information about the event-driven process to the other node based on the determined access rights of the other node.

Another example embodiment may provide a method that includes one or more of receiving a data file submitted by a node, the data file comprising information about an event-driven process for a chain of nodes, retrieving an entitlement mode of the data file from a data block that is stored among a hash-linked chain of data blocks on a distributed ledger, determining access rights of the data file with respect to another node in the chain of nodes based on the retrieved entitlement mode of the data file, and transmitting information about the event-driven process to the other node based on the determined access rights of the other node.

Another example embodiment may provide a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, that when read by a processor, cause the processor to perform one or more of receiving a data file submitted by a node, the data file comprising information about an event-driven process for a chain of nodes, retrieving an entitlement mode of the data file from a data block that is stored among a hash-linked chain of data blocks on a distributed ledger, determining access rights of the data file with respect to another node in the chain of nodes based on the retrieved entitlement mode of the data file, and transmitting information about the event-driven process to the other node based on the determined access rights of the other node.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments provide methods, systems, non-transitory computer readable media, devices, and/or networks, which ensure security and privacy through appropriate entitlement of data through a blockchain based on entitlement modes instead of requiring users to manage complex lists of business relationships or sharing agreements that need to be continuously updated when new participants are added or new supply chain flows materialize.

A decentralized database is a distributed storage system which includes multiple nodes that communicate with each other. A blockchain is an example of a decentralized database which includes an append-only immutable data structure resembling a distributed ledger capable of maintaining records between mutually untrusted parties. The untrusted parties may be referred to herein as peers or nodes. Each peer maintains a copy of the database records and no single peer can modify the database records without a consensus being reached among the distributed peers. For example, the peers may execute a consensus protocol to validate blockchain storage transactions, group the storage transactions into blocks, and build a hash chain over the blocks. This process forms the ledger by ordering the storage transactions, as is necessary, for consistency. In a public or permission-less blockchain, anyone can participate without a specific identity. Public blockchains often involve native cryptocurrency and use consensus based on a proof of work (PoW). On the other hand, a permissioned blockchain database provides a system which can secure inter-actions among a group of entities which share a common goal but which do not fully trust one another, such as businesses that exchange funds, goods, information, and the like.

A blockchain operates arbitrary, programmable logic tailored to a decentralized storage scheme and referred to as “smart contracts” or “chaincodes.” In some cases, specialized chaincodes may exist for management functions and parameters which are referred to as system chaincode. Smart contracts are trusted distributed applications which leverage tamper-proof properties of the blockchain database and an underlying agreement between nodes which is referred to as an endorsement or endorsement policy. In general, blockchain transactions typically must be “endorsed” before being committed to the blockchain while transactions which are not endorsed are disregarded. A typical endorsement policy allows chaincode to specify endorsers for a transaction in the form of a set of peer nodes that are necessary for endorsement. When a client sends the transaction to the peers specified in the endorsement policy, the transaction is executed to validate the transaction. After validation, the transactions enter an ordering phase in which a consensus protocol is used to produce an ordered sequence of endorsed transactions grouped into blocks.

Nodes are the communication entities of the blockchain system. A “node” may perform a logical function in the sense that multiple nodes of different types can run on the same physical server. Nodes are grouped in trust domains and are associated with logical entities that control them in various ways. Nodes may include different types, such as a client or submitting-client node which submits a transaction-invocation to an endorser (e.g., peer), and broadcasts transaction-proposals to an ordering service (e.g., ordering node). Another type of node is a peer node which can receive client submitted transactions, commit the transactions and maintain a state and a copy of the ledger of blockchain transactions. Peers can also have the role of an endorser, although it is not a requirement. An ordering-service-node or orderer is a node running the communication service for all nodes, and which implements a delivery guarantee, such as a broadcast to each of the peer nodes in the system when committing transactions and modifying a world state of the blockchain, which is another name for the initial blockchain transaction which normally includes control and setup information.

A chain is a transaction log which is structured as hash-linked blocks, and each block contains a sequence of N transactions where N is equal to or greater than one. The block header includes a hash of the block's transactions, as well as a hash of the prior block's header. In this way, all transactions on the ledger may be sequenced and cryptographically linked together. Accordingly, it is not possible to tamper with the ledger data without breaking the hash links. A hash of a most recently added blockchain block represents every transaction on the chain that has come before it, making it possible to ensure that all peer nodes are in a consistent and trusted state. The chain may be stored on a peer node file system (i.e., local, attached storage, cloud, etc.), efficiently supporting the append-only nature of the blockchain workload.

The current state of the immutable ledger represents the latest values for all keys that are included in the chain transaction log. Because the current state represents the latest key values known to a channel, it is sometimes referred to as a world state. Chaincode invocations execute transactions against the current state data of the ledger. To make these chaincode interactions efficient, the latest values of the keys may be stored in a state database. The state database may be simply an indexed view into the chain's transaction log, it can therefore be regenerated from the chain at any time. The state database may automatically be recovered (or generated if needed) upon peer node startup, and before transactions are accepted.

Provenance scenarios (e.g. tracking the origin of food ingredients or machine parts) often involve sharing of data across participants in a supply chain. Typically, this data is shared on a party-to-party basis, which means that data is only shared and visible between two parties that are directly interacting in the supply chain. This means that discovering the provenance of an item requires coordinating between all of the participants to retrieve the necessary data they hold. Blockchain provides a natural solution which allows sharing of data between all participants in the supply chain, but privacy of the data is extremely important in order to ensure that different participants (such as competitors in a supply chain) within a same blockchain network are not able to discover information about their competitors' transactions.

Typical supply chain solutions enforce access control based on a fixed set of participants who are declared when data is submitted. This type of solution, however, is not efficient or adequate when the set of participants involved in the creation, distribution, handling, or sale of an item is unknown at the time of data submission. In particular, early participants in the supply chain (e.g. suppliers of raw materials or intermediate parts) are frequently unaware of the parties that will subsequently be involved in the manufacture, sale, etc., of their materials or parts. Therefore, there is a need to be able to dynamically entitle data as the supply chain for an item is discovered based on data submissions by the various participants.

The example embodiments overcome these drawbacks by controlling authorization for data in provenance scenarios based on entitlement mode setting which is effective even when the downstream participants related to the supply chain are unknown in advance. Other solutions typically require explicit knowledge of the set of participants, so that they can be entitled up front, or continuous maintenance of a set of permissions by the involved parties as new participants and new data are added for a flow. In contrast, the example embodiments automate the evolution of entitlements by leveraging the contents of the data in conjunction with generic entitlement modes which give the submitting node the flexibility in determining the sharing characteristics for submitted data. Unlike other permission-based schemes in the art (e.g. Linux file permissions), the entitlement modes introduced by the example embodiments have more complex semantics which are aligned to the notions of provenance of physical or digital goods.

Some benefits of the instant solutions described and depicted herein include the ability to control who and/or what has access to data during its flow through a supply chain even when the submitter is unaware of the nodes who will be receiving the data downstream. For example, upstream data may be restricted, hidden, revealed, open, or the like, based on various entitlement modes. The example embodiments implement a dynamic data entitlement system which allows participants to control visibility of data based on entitlement modes selected at the time of data submission. This entitlement scheme does not require the participant to know the eventual downstream parties in the supply chain in advance, and does not require a fixed model of the supply chain or static declaration of data sharing relationships. The entitlement may be scaled to arbitrarily large numbers of participants, without requiring an individual participant to maintain an growing/increasing list of data sharing rules. Furthermore, the system allows flexibility in determining how far up and down the supply chain information is shared.

Blockchain is different from a traditional database in that blockchain is not a central storage but rather a decentralized, immutable, and secure storage, where nodes must share in changes to records in the storage. Some properties that are inherent in blockchain and which help implement the blockchain include, but are not limited to, an immutable ledger, smart contracts, security, privacy, decentralization, consensus, endorsement, accessibility, and the like, which are further described herein.

According to various aspects, inherent blockchain properties such as security and privacy features ensure that unauthorized participants are not able to view data. Immutability and the decentralized/distributed nature of the ledger prevent the data stored on the blockchain ledger from being altered in ways that would contradict or invalidate the entitlement decisions that are recorded by the system. In contrast, if the system herein were implemented via a traditional database, the resultant solution would not provide the same trust guarantees to the participants thereof.

FIG.1illustrates a blockchain network100for a supply chain according to example embodiments according to example embodiments. Supply chains may include materials, manufacturing, retail sales, transportation, delivery, and the like, of materials and products generated as a result of a collaborative effort among multiple untrusting parties. In the example ofFIG.1, a plurality of supply chain nodes110-116are connected to each other via a network (not shown) such as the Internet, and they each share access to a blockchain130. Each of the supply chain nodes110-116may correspond to peer nodes in a blockchain environment which each store a replica of the blockchain. Supply chain information may be stored on the blockchain as a product moves along an event-driven process chain.

According to various embodiments, a submitting node110may submit a data file120such as a document (e.g., XML, spreadsheet, table, word processor, etc.) to the blockchain as part of an event within the event-driven process chain among one or more other supply chain nodes111-116. It should be appreciated, that not all supply chain nodes110-116may participate in an event-driven process (such as a manufacturing of products, etc.). The data file120may include despatch advice such as used within the shipping industry.

For example, the data file120may include content of a shipment from a sender to a receiver such as two nodes among the supply chain nodes110-116. The content of the data file may include information about materials, parts, manufacturing, retail information, and the like. The despatch advice can be used by the receiver to verify that the goods actually received correspond to the purchase order specifications. For example, the despatch advice may provide information about the material (raw materials, goods, parts, etc.) that has been despatched or will be ready for despatch, precise details of the consignment, initial steps towards customs clearance in the case of international consignments, and enable matching between despatched goods and the following invoice.

According to various embodiments, the submitting node110may set an entitlement mode for the data file120for future nodes that are included in the event-driven process chain. For example, the entitlement mode include a private mode that indicates that the data should not be entitled to any participants other than the submitter of the data, an open mode which indicates that the data should be entitled to all participants in the solution, a linked mode that specifies that the data should be entitled to all participants that are involved in the supply chain flow (e.g., event drive process chain) for the specified item(s) referenced by the data file120, a restricted mode that denotes that the data should be entitled only to participants that are explicitly referenced by the data, and the like.

As the supply chain progresses through the events, each of the nodes involved in a particular event-driven process chain may record their information on the blockchain and it may be replicated among the nodes. Meanwhile, nodes that are restricted or prevented from receiving certain portions of the supply chain information may not be given a key or a password for opening information such as the data file120, whereas nodes that are allowed to see the data file120may be given the key, password, etc.

Each node involved in the supply chain may submit a data file (such as despatch advice) which specifies a destination node for the despatch advice. Based on this information, the entitlement mode can be configured such as in the example of a linked mode or a restricted mode. However, in some cases, all nodes in the network100may access a data file when the entitlement node is set to open. Meanwhile, all nodes in the network100may be prevented from accessing the data file when the entitlement mode is set to private.

FIG.2Aillustrates a blockchain architecture configuration200, according to example embodiments. Referring toFIG.2A, the blockchain architecture200may include certain blockchain elements, for example, a group of blockchain nodes202. The blockchain nodes202may include one or more nodes204-210(these four nodes are depicted by example only). These nodes participate in a number of activities, such as blockchain transaction addition and validation process (consensus). One or more of the blockchain nodes204-210may endorse transactions based on an endorsement policy and may provide an ordering service for all blockchain nodes in the architecture200. A blockchain node may initiate a blockchain authentication and seek to write to a blockchain immutable ledger stored in blockchain layer216, a copy of which may also be stored on the underpinning physical infrastructure214. The blockchain configuration may include one or more applications224which are linked to application programming interfaces (APIs)222to access and execute stored program/application code220(e.g., chaincode, smart contracts, etc.) which can be created according to a customized configuration sought by participants and can maintain their own state, control their own assets, and receive external information. This can be deployed as a transaction and installed, via appending to the distributed ledger, on all blockchain nodes204-210.

The blockchain base or platform212may include various layers of blockchain data, services (e.g., cryptographic trust services, virtual execution environment, etc.), and underpinning physical computer infrastructure that may be used to receive and store new transactions and provide access to auditors which are seeking to access data entries. The blockchain layer216may expose an interface that provides access to the virtual execution environment necessary to process the program code and engage the physical infrastructure214. Cryptographic trust services218may be used to verify transactions such as asset exchange transactions and keep information private.

The blockchain architecture configuration ofFIG.2Amay process and execute program/application code220via one or more interfaces exposed, and services provided, by blockchain platform212. The code220may control blockchain assets. For example, the code220can store and transfer data, and may be executed by nodes204-210in the form of a smart contract and associated chaincode with conditions or other code elements subject to its execution. As a non-limiting example, smart contracts may be created to execute reminders, updates, and/or other notifications subject to the changes, updates, etc. The smart contracts can themselves be used to identify rules associated with authorization and access requirements and usage of the ledger. In this example, a read set226may be processed by one or more processing entities (e.g., virtual machines) included in the blockchain layer216. A write set228may include changes to key values. The physical infrastructure214may be utilized to retrieve any of the data or information described herein.

The smart contract may write data to the blockchain in the format of key-value pairs. Furthermore, the smart contract code can read the values stored in a blockchain and use them in application operations. The smart contract code can write the output of various logic operations into the blockchain. The code may be used to create a temporary data structure in a virtual machine or other computing platform. Data written to the blockchain can be public and/or can be encrypted and maintained as private. The temporary data that is used/generated by the smart contract is held in memory by the supplied execution environment, then deleted once the data needed for the blockchain is identified. According to various embodiments, the read set226may include a current processing step of the multi-party process. Meanwhile, the write set228may include the execution results of the processing step which may include an identification of the step, sending and receiving events performed during the processing step, and the like.

A chaincode may include the code interpretation of a smart contract, with additional features. As described herein, the chaincode may be program code deployed on a computing network, where it is executed and validated by chain validators together during a consensus process. The chaincode may be generated based on a plurality of state charts of a blockchain and a plurality of off-chain systems. The chaincode receives a hash and retrieves from the blockchain a hash associated with the data template created by use of a previously stored feature extractor. If the hashes of the hash identifier and the hash created from the stored identifier template data match, then the chaincode sends an authorization key to the requested service. The chaincode may write to the blockchain data associated with the cryptographic details.

FIG.2Billustrates an example of a transactional flow250between nodes of the blockchain in accordance with an example embodiment. Referring toFIG.2B, the transaction flow may include a transaction proposal291sent by an application client node260to an endorsing peer node281. The endorsing peer281may verify the client signature and execute a chaincode function to initiate the transaction. The output may include the chaincode results, a set of key/value versions that were read in the chaincode (read set), and the set of keys/values that were written in chaincode (write set). The proposal response292is sent back to the client260along with an endorsement signature, if approved. The client260assembles the endorsements into a transaction payload293and broadcasts it to an ordering service node284. The ordering service node284then delivers ordered transactions as blocks to all peers281-283on a channel. Before committal to the blockchain, each peer281-283may validate the transaction. For example, the peers may check the endorsement policy to ensure that the correct allotment of the specified peers have signed the results and authenticated the signatures against the transaction payload293.

The client node260may initiate the transaction291by constructing and sending a request to the peer node281, which is an endorser. The transaction proposal291may include a request to store information about execution results of a sub-component of a software model. There may be more than one endorser, but one is shown here for convenience (i.e., peer node281). The client260may include an application (e.g., web application, etc.) that leverages a supported software development kit (SDK), such as NODE, JAVA, PYTHON, and the like, which utilizes an available API to generate a transaction proposal. The transaction proposal291is a request to invoke a chaincode function so that data can be read and/or written to the ledger (i.e., write new key value pairs for the assets). The SDK may serve as a shim to package the transaction proposal into a properly architected format (e.g., protocol buffer over a remote procedure call (RPC)) and take the client's cryptographic credentials to produce a unique signature for the transaction proposal.

In response, the endorsing peer node281may verify (a) that the transaction proposal is well formed, (b) the transaction has not been submitted already in the past (replay-attack protection), (c) the signature is valid, and (d) that the submitter (client260, in the example) is properly authorized to perform the proposed operation on that channel. The endorsing peer node281may take the transaction proposal inputs as arguments to the invoked chaincode function. The chaincode is then executed against a current state database to produce transaction results including a response value, read set, and write set. According to various embodiments, the transaction results may include a result of executing a current step of the multi-party process. However, no updates are made to the ledger at this point. In292, the set of values, along with the endorsing peer node's281signature is passed back as a proposal response292to the SDK of the client260which parses the payload for the application to consume.

In response, the application of the client260inspects/verifies the endorsing peers signatures and compares the proposal responses to determine if the proposal response is the same. If the chaincode only queried the ledger, the application would inspect the query response and would typically not submit the transaction to the ordering node service284. If the client application intends to submit the transaction to the ordering node service284to update the ledger, the application determines if the specified endorsement policy has been fulfilled before submitting (i.e., did all peer nodes necessary for the transaction endorse the transaction). Here, the client may include only one of multiple parties to the transaction. In this case, each client may have their own endorsing node, and each endorsing node will need to endorse the transaction. The architecture is such that even if an application selects not to inspect responses or otherwise forwards an unendorsed transaction, the endorsement policy will still be enforced by peers and upheld at the commit validation phase.

After successful inspection, in step293the client260assembles endorsements into a transaction and broadcasts the transaction proposal and response within a transaction message to the ordering node284. The transaction may contain the read/write sets, the endorsing peers signatures and a channel ID, as well as the timestamp information and multi-party process information described herein such as an identification of the current step executed, send and receive events performed during the step, and the like. The ordering node284does not need to inspect the entire content of a transaction in order to perform its operation, instead the ordering node284may simply receive transactions from all channels in the network, order them chronologically by channel, and create blocks of transactions per channel.

The blocks of the transaction are delivered from the ordering node284to all peer nodes281-283on the channel. The transactions294within the block are validated to ensure any endorsement policy is fulfilled and to ensure that there have been no changes to ledger state for read set variables since the read set was generated by the transaction execution. Transactions in the block are tagged as being valid or invalid. Furthermore, in step295each peer node281-283appends the block to the channel's chain, and for each valid transaction the write sets are committed to current state database. An event is emitted, to notify the client application that the transaction (invocation) has been immutably appended to the chain, as well as to notify whether the transaction was validated or invalidated.

FIG.3illustrates an example of a permissioned blockchain network300, which features a distributed, decentralized peer-to-peer architecture, and a certificate authority318managing user roles and permissions. In this example, the blockchain user302may submit a transaction to the permissioned blockchain network310. In this example, the transaction can be a deploy, invoke or query, and may be issued through a client-side application leveraging an SDK, directly through a REST API, or the like. Trusted business networks may provide access to regulator systems314, such as auditors (the Securities and Exchange Commission in a U.S. equities market, for example). Meanwhile, a blockchain network operator system of nodes308manage member permissions, such as enrolling the regulator system310as an “auditor” and the blockchain user302as a “client.” An auditor could be restricted only to querying the ledger whereas a client could be authorized to deploy, invoke, and query certain types of chaincode.

A blockchain developer system316writes chaincode and client-side applications. The blockchain developer system316can deploy chaincode directly to the network through a REST interface. To include credentials from a traditional data source330in chaincode, the developer system316could use an out-of-band connection to access the data. In this example, the blockchain user302connects to the network through a peer node312. Before proceeding with any transactions, the peer node312retrieves the user's enrollment and transaction certificates from the certificate authority318. In some cases, blockchain users must possess these digital certificates in order to transact on the permissioned blockchain network310. Meanwhile, a user attempting to drive chaincode may be required to verify their credentials on the traditional data source330. To confirm the user's authorization, chaincode can use an out-of-band connection to this data through a traditional processing platform320.

FIGS.4A-4Billustrate implementation of different data entitlement modes during an event-driven process chain according to example embodiments. In particular,FIG.4Aillustrates a process400A of a downstream node430receiving access to data via implementation of a linked entitlement mode andFIG.4Billustrates a process400B of the downstream node430receiving access to some data while not receiving access to other data via implementation of a linked entitlement mode in combination with a restricted entitlement mode.

Referring toFIG.4A, an upstream node412submits a data file (doc A) via a despatch advice and an upstream node414submits a data file (doc B) via a despatch advice. In this example, both the upstream nodes412and414set the respective data files with an entitlement mode of “linked” which provides access to the data file to all supply chain nodes that are related to the supply chain. For example, the linked entitlement mode may enable all nodes who participate in a supply chain to see the upstream data (e.g., document A and document B). In some embodiments, the nodes who participate in the supply chain may be a subset of nodes within a larger supply chain blockchain network (such as network100shown inFIG.1). In the example ofFIG.4A, because both upstream nodes412and414have set the entitlement mode to linked, the node downstream nodes which are unknown at the time of submission will have access to the document A and document B.

In the example ofFIG.4A, both the upstream nodes412and414correspond to material suppliers who provide materials to a manufacturer of goods represented by manufacturing node420. Here, the upstream nodes may specify a destination of the manufacturing node420. This may be identified from despatch advice (such as the receiver information, etc.) The destination may also be specified by a IP address, a geographic address, etc. At the time of submission, neither upstream nodes412and414are aware of the downstream nodes after the manufacturing node420. However, be setting the entitlement mode to linked, they have each enabled other downstream nodes to see the document A and the document B. In this example, the manufacturing node420sends manufactured goods to retailer node430. Here, the retailer node430is given permission to view both document A and document B submitted by upstream node412and upstream node414corresponding to material suppliers.

For events having documents or other files which are specified as linked entitlement, the sharing happens when an event references another organization's location global location number (GLN), either as a source or destination location. For example, a submitting node referencing an upstream partner's location as the source of an event enables upstream parties in the supply chain to see the event. As another example, referencing a downstream partner's location as the destination of an enables downstream parties in the supply chain to see the event. This sharing applies to all linked events for the same event-driven process but not to events that reference some other party's location. For example, if Retailer A and Retailer B are both downstream partners of Supplier1, Supplier1's events that list Retailer A's location as a destination won't be shared with Retailer B.

In this example, we describe how location references can be used for the purposes of granting entitlements to other organization (i.e., on the basis of referencing the other org's GLN). The location references can include other general forms of location identifiers or organizational identifiers (such as DUNS number). We should also generalize to include other types of references, for example, entitlement could be granted based on referencing another party's product identifier (GTIN) or a business transaction identifier (such as a Purchase Order number) that can be uniquely tied to a particular organization. In the general case, these references could be determined on the basis of several fields present in the data.

The system herein may use company prefixes to determine organizational ownership for the purposes of data entitlement. Every onboarded organization may have one or more company prefixes, which can be GS1 prefixes, IFT prefixes, or the like, which are assigned by the systems herein (e.g., in case the organization does not have any GS1 registered company prefix). During data entitlement, a location GLN reference is matched against the set of known, validated company prefixes, and the associated organization for the company prefix receives entitlement to the data (based on the entitlement mode of the submitted document).

Referring now toFIG.4B, all of the details shown and described inFIG.4Aare the same except that in process400B the second upstream node414has set the entitlement of document B as “restricted” entitlement mode instead of “linked” entitlement mode. As a result, instead of the downstream node430(retailer node) receiving access to document B submitted by second upstream node414, the downstream node430only receives access to document A submitted by first upstream node412which is set to linked mode. In these examples, the manufacturing node420receives access to both document A and document B, because the manufacturing node420is specifically listed as a destination in the despatch advice sent by the second upstream node414. That is, the restricted access may allow access rights to nodes in the supply chain who are expressly listed as destinations, but not unlisted destinations. Meanwhile, the linked access rights are given to all nodes in the supply chain regardless of whether they are expressly listed as a destination. In some embodiments, the “restricted” entitlement mode could be further generalized to be “restricted(N)”, where N would specify the number of hops in the supply chain that would have visibility to the data. For example, “restrict d(1)” would be equivalent to what we described as “restricted”.

Entitlement modes dictate the sharing characteristics for a piece of data in a generic way, which is independent of the names or identities of specific parties or participants that might be authorized to the data. When combined with the contents of the data (and the contents of other pieces of data that reference the same item(s)), the entitlement mode is used to determine the specific participants that are entitled to the data. Initial entitlements for a piece of data are determined at the time of submission, and can rely upon not only the contents (e.g., destination receiver, etc.) of the submitted piece of data itself, but also entitlements granted by previously submitted data (upstream nodes). As additional data is submitted to the solution, those new submissions can also cause the entitlements of previously submitted data to be updated.

The example embodiments provide a novel way to control authorization for data in provenance scenarios where the eventual participants submitting data related to an item's provenance is not known, in advance. Other solutions either require explicit knowledge of the set of participants, so that they can be entitled up front, or continuous maintenance of a set of permissions by the involved parties as new participants and new data are added for a flow. In contrast, the example embodiments automates this evolution of entitlements by leveraging the contents of the data in conjunction with generic entitlement modes which give the user flexibility in determining the sharing characteristics for submitted data.

FIG.4Cillustrates an overview of visibility of data events among supply chain participants according to example embodiments. In the examples herein, assumptions may be made including that each event may be owned by an organization, and the ownership of each event is known. Each location may be owned by an organization, and the ownership of each location is known. For example, an organization O can grant access to a downstream organization D for a specific event driven chain E, by generating at least one event (owned by O) which refers to E and has at least one destinationList.destination set to a location owned by D. This grant allows D to access all events about E owned by O except events whose destinations are locations not owned by D. Technically, the excluded events are events with non-empty destination lists with no destinationList.destination owned by D. In particular, this grant allows D access to all events about E owned by O which have no destination information. This grant is transitive i.e. it also allows D to access all events about E owned by organizations upstream of O, that O has access to.

As another example, an organization can also grant access to upstream nodes. For example, an organization O can grant access to an upstream organization U for a specific event-driven process, by generating at least one event (owned by O) which refers to E and has at least one sourceList.source set to a location owned by U. This grant allows U to access all events about E owned by O except events whose sources are locations not owned by U. Technically, the excluded events are events with non-empty sourceList with no sourceList.source owned by U. In particular, this grant allows U access to all events about E owned by O which have no source information. This grant is transitive i.e. it also allows U to access all events about E owned by organizations downstream of O, that O has access to.

FIG.4Cshows an example of event data across three different organizations represented by three nodes450,460, and470. In this example, a first organization which controls node450owns three events (E1, E2, E3) of a first event-driven process451, and two events (E1, E2) of a second event-driven process452. Of these, events E1from EDP451and E1and E2from EDP452contain no source or destination. Meanwhile, event E2of EDP451has destinationList.destination set to a location owned by the second organization represented by node460. Similarly, event E3has destinationList.destination set to a location owned by the third organization which controls node470.

Here, the second organization which controls node460owns two events (E4, E5) of the first-event driven process451. Of these, event E5contains no source/destination information. Meanwhile, event E4has a sourceList.source set to a location owned by the first organization which controls node450. Meanwhile, the third organization which controls node470owns two events (E6, E7) for the first event-driven process451, and one event (E3) for the second event-driven process452. Of these, events E6and E7contain no source/destination information. Meanwhile, event E3has sourceList.source set to a location owned by the first organization which controls node450.

Based on this information, downstream grants482and upstream grants484can be reasoned. For example, reason about access grants may be determined based on the basic principles listed above. First, access grants to downstream organizations: Because of E2in EDP451, the second organization which controls node460can access all events about EDP451which are owned by the organization which controls node450, except events with explicit destinations of other organizations/nodes. Thus the second organization which controls node460can access events E1and E2, but not E3which is expressly destined for the third organization that controls node470. Likewise, the second organization cannot access any of E1or E2in the second EDP452. Similarly, because of E3, the third organization which controls node470can access E1and E3of EDP451, but not E2which is expressly destined for node460.

Likewise, access grants to upstream organizations can be determined. For example, because of E4of EDP451, the first organization which controls node450can access all events about EDP451which are owned by the second organization which controls node460, except events with explicit non-first organization sources. Thus node450can access events E4and E5. Similarly, because of E3of the second EDP452, the node450can access all events about the second EDP452which are owned by the third organization including E3.

The example ofFIG.4Cillustrates two points about the new access-control model. For example, access grants are not symmetric. In other words, node450cannot access events about EDP451owned by node470, even though node470can access events about EDP451that are owned by node450. Furthermore, an organization can only grant access to other organizations; it can never unilaterally claim access to other organizations' data. This prevents malicious linkages. In this example, access grants are not symmetric. In another embodiment, access grants could be required to be symmetric before data is made visible. This could be useful in situations where bi-directional sharing is desired for contractual reasons, or to help to ensure that documents are inadvertently shared due to mistakes in data.

The grants implied by a set of events can be summarized by constructing a downstream and an upstream access grant graph (AGG), as shown in the example above. An event about an event-driven process Li, owned by organization Oj, with destination location owned by organization Ok, creates an edge from node (Oj, Li) to node (Ok, Li) in the downstream AGG. Similarly, an event about an event-driven process Li, owned by organization Oj, with source location owned by organization Ok, creates an edge from node (Oj, Li) to node (Ok, Li) in the upstream AGG.

The access right of an organization to event data belonging to another organization can then be determined on the basis of the event-driven processes involved in the events, and AGGs. Specifically, the transitivity of access grants described above implies that a necessary condition for an organization Oj to have access to event data belonging to another organization Ok, about event-driven process Li, is that there should be a path from node (Ok, Li) to node (Oj, *) in either the upstream or the downstream AGG. The reason this is necessary but not sufficient is that other conditions might pre-empt access even if the above condition is satisfied. For example, assume that there is an edge in the downstream AGG from node (Ok, Li) to node (Oj, Li). This does not allow organization Oj to see events about event-driven process Li belonging to organization Ok which have explicit non-Oj destinations. As another example, organization Ok might have an access policy explicitly forbidding sharing with organization Oj, even if the above condition is satisfied; such policies would be expressed through organization-specific ACLs, which “over-ride” the default access control.)

FIG.5illustrates a method500of determining access rights for a downstream node according to example embodiments. For example, the method500may be performed by a blockchain peer node that may be a computing system. As another example, the method500may be performed by an off-chain system such as a server, a database, a user device, a combination of devices, and the like. In some embodiments, the method500may be performed by a combination of any of the systems.

Referring toFIG.5, in510, the method may include receiving a data file submitted by a node among a chain of nodes such as a supply chain. For example, the data file may include information about an event-driven process for a chain of nodes. For example, the data file may include despatch advice (e.g., XML despatch, etc.) which includes content of a shipment from a sender to a receiver. The content of the data file may include information about materials, parts, manufacturing, retail information, and the like. The despatch advice can be used by the receiver to verify that the goods actually received correspond to the purchase order specifications. For example, the despatch advice may provide information about the material (raw materials, goods, parts, etc.) that has been despatched or will be ready for despatch, precise details of the consignment, initial steps towards customs clearance in the case of international consignments, and enable matching between despatched goods and the following invoice.

As another example, the data file may include other data that is associated with the events/transaction data, such as master data describing products, product lots, or facilities, or certificates or other pieces of data that are associated with products, product lots, or facilities. For example, a piece of product master data with linked entitlement mode may be shared with any party who has visibility to data submitted by the product owner that references the product's identifier (GTIN) and the same can be true for location/facility master data based on GLN references.

In520, the method may include retrieving an entitlement mode of the data file from a data block that is stored among a hash-linked chain of data blocks on a distributed ledger. Examples of the entitlement mode include a private mode that indicates that the data should not be entitled to any participants other than the submitter of the data, an open mode which indicates that the data should be entitled to all participants in the solution, a linked mode that specifies that the data should be entitled to all participants that are involved in the supply chain flow for the specified item(s) referenced by the data, a restricted mode that denotes that the data should be entitled only to participants that are explicitly referenced by the data, and the like.

In530, the method may include determining access rights of the data file with respect to a downstream node in the chain of nodes based on the retrieved entitlement mode of the data file. It should also be appreciated that access rights may be determined for upstream nodes as well. The access rights may include the ability to receive the data file or the inability of the node to view the data file. The access rights may be determined based on the entitlement mode that is set by the upstream node. Furthermore, in540, the method may include transmitting information about the event-driven process to the downstream node based on the determined access rights of the downstream node. If the access rights enable access to the data file the transmitting may include the data file as well as the responsibility of the downstream node in the event-driven process. If the access rights deny access to the data file, the transmitting may include the responsibility of the downstream node without the data file from the upstream node.

In some embodiments, the data file (e.g., the despatch advice, etc.) may expressly define the computing node as a geographic destination of the data file, but may not define any other downstream nodes as a geographic destination of the upstream data file. In this example, the computing node may be given access rights to the despatch advice in a restricted entitlement mode because the computing node is specifically listed as a destination node. Meanwhile, other downstream nodes may be restricted or prevented from seeing the despatch advice of the upstream node because they are not specifically listed as a destination of the despatch advice. Meanwhile, in a linked entitlement mode, all nodes in the supply chain (even the nodes not known at the time of the submission of the despatch advice) may be granted access to the data file of the upstream node. As another example, the determining may include determining to reveal the data file to blockchain nodes outside the event-driven process in response to the retrieved entitlement mode indicating an open mode. As another example, the determining may include determining to hide content of the data file from all subsequent downstream nodes in response to the retrieved entitlement mode indicating a private mode.

FIG.6Aillustrates an example physical infrastructure configured to perform various operations on the blockchain in accordance with one or more of the example methods of operation according to example embodiments. Referring toFIG.6A, the example configuration600A includes a physical infrastructure610with a blockchain620and a smart contract630, which may execute any of the operational steps612included in any of the example embodiments. The steps612may represent output or written information that is written or read from one or more smart contracts630and/or blockchains620that reside on the physical infrastructure610of a computer system configuration. The data can be output from an executed smart contract630and/or blockchain620. The physical infrastructure610may include one or more computers, servers, processors, memories, and/or wireless communication devices.

FIG.6Billustrates an example smart contract configuration among contracting parties and a mediating server configured to enforce the smart contract terms on the blockchain according to example embodiments. Referring toFIG.6B, the configuration650B may represent a communication session, an asset transfer session or a multi-party process or procedure that is driven by a smart contract630which explicitly identifies one or more user devices652and/or656. The execution, operations and results of the smart contract execution may be managed by a server654. Content of the smart contract630may require digital signatures by one or more of the entities652and656which are parties to the smart contract transaction. The results of the smart contract execution may be written to a blockchain as a blockchain transaction.

FIG.6Cillustrates an example smart contract configuration among contracting parties and a mediating server configured to enforce the smart contract terms on the blockchain according to example embodiments. Referring toFIG.6C, the configuration650may represent a modified data file authentication session, a communication session, an asset transfer session or a process or procedure that is driven by a smart contract630which explicitly identifies one or more user devices652and/or656. The execution, operations and results of the smart contract execution may be managed by a server654. Content of the smart contract630may require digital signatures by one or more of the entities652and656which are parties to the smart contract transaction. The results of the smart contract execution may be written to a blockchain620as a blockchain transaction. The smart contract630resides on the blockchain620which may reside on one or more computers, servers, processors, memories, and/or wireless communication devices.

FIG.6Dillustrates a common interface for accessing logic and data of a blockchain, according to example embodiments. Referring to the example ofFIG.6D, an application programming interface (API) gateway662provides a common interface for accessing blockchain logic (e.g., smart contract630or other chaincode) and data (e.g., distributed ledger, etc.) In this example, the API gateway662is a common interface for performing transactions (invoke, queries, etc.) on the blockchain by connecting one or more entities652and656to a blockchain peer (i.e., server654). The server654is a blockchain network peer component that holds a copy of the world state (which may include a key value store) within a distributed ledger allowing clients652and656to query data on the world state as well as submit transactions into the blockchain network where, depending on the smart contract630and endorsement policy, endorsing peers will run the smart contracts630.

FIG.7Aillustrates a process700of a new block730being added to a distributed ledger720, according to example embodiments, andFIG.7Billustrates contents of a block structure730for blockchain, according to example embodiments. Referring toFIG.7A, clients (not shown) may submit transactions to blockchain nodes711,712, and/or713. Clients may be instructions received from any source to enact activity on the blockchain. As an example, clients may be applications (based on a SDK) that act on behalf of a requester, such as a device, person or entity to propose transactions for the blockchain. The plurality of blockchain peers (e.g., blockchain nodes711,712, and713) may maintain a state of the blockchain network and a copy of the distributed ledger720.

Different types of blockchain nodes/peers may be present in the blockchain network including endorsing peers which simulate and endorse transactions proposed by clients and committing peers which verify endorsements, validate transactions, and commit transactions to the distributed ledger720. In this example, the blockchain nodes711,712, and713may perform the role of endorser node, committer node, or both. As described herein, transactions may include send events, receive events, storage events, and the like of a multi-party process that is carried out between multiple untrusted organizations.

The distributed ledger720includes a blockchain722which stores immutable, sequenced records in blocks, and a state database724(current world state) maintaining a current state (key values) of the blockchain722. One distributed ledger720may exist per channel and each peer maintains its own copy of the distributed ledger720for each channel of which they are a member. The blockchain722is a transaction log, structured as hash-linked blocks where each block contains a sequence of N transactions. Blocks (e.g., block730) may include various components such as shown inFIG.7B. The linking of the blocks (shown by arrows inFIG.7A) may be generated by adding a hash of a prior block's header within a block header of a current block. In this way, all transactions on the blockchain722are sequenced and cryptographically linked together preventing tampering with blockchain data without breaking the hash links. Furthermore, because of the links, the latest block in the blockchain722represents every transaction that has come before it. The blockchain722may be stored on a peer file system (local or attached storage), which supports an append-only blockchain workload.

The current state of the blockchain722and the distributed ledger720may be stored in the state database724. Here, the current state data represents the latest values for all keys ever included in the chain transaction log of the blockchain722. Chaincode invocations execute transactions against the current state in the state database724. To make these chaincode interactions extremely efficient, the latest values of all keys may be stored in the state database724. The state database724may include an indexed view into the transaction log of the blockchain722and can therefore be regenerated from the chain at any time. The state database724may automatically get recovered (or generated if needed) upon peer startup, before transactions are accepted.

Endorsing nodes receive transactions from clients and endorse the transaction based on simulated results. Endorsing nodes hold smart contracts which simulate the transaction proposals. For an authentication, the endorsing node may attempt to decrypt a hashed modified data file using a public key of the node that performed the hash. The nodes needed to endorse a transaction depends on an endorsement policy which may be specified within chaincode. An example of an endorsement policy is “the majority of endorsing peers must endorse the transaction.” Different channels may have different endorsement policies. Endorsed transactions are forward by the client application to an ordering service710.

The ordering service710accepts endorsed transactions, orders them into a block, and delivers the blocks to the committing peers. For example, the ordering service710may initiate a new block when a threshold of transactions has been reached, a timer times out, or another condition. In the example ofFIG.7A, blockchain node712is a committing peer that has received a new data block730for storage on blockchain722.

The ordering service710may be made up of a cluster of orderers. The ordering service710does not process transactions, smart contracts, or maintain the shared ledger. Rather, the ordering service710may accept the endorsed transactions, and specifies the order in which those transactions are committed to the distributed ledger720. The architecture of the blockchain network may be designed such that the specific implementation of ‘ordering’ (e.g., Solo, Kafka, BFT, etc.) becomes a pluggable component.

Transactions are written to the distributed ledger720in a consistent order. The order of transactions is established to ensure that the updates to the state database724are valid when they are committed to the network. Unlike a cryptocurrency blockchain system (e.g., Bitcoin, etc.) where ordering occurs through the solving of a cryptographic puzzle, or mining, in this example the parties of the distributed ledger720may choose the ordering mechanism that best suits that network such as chronological ordering.

When the ordering service710initializes a new block730, the new block730may be broadcast to committing peers (e.g., blockchain nodes711,712, and713). In response, each committing peer validates the transaction within the new block730by checking to make sure that the read set and the write set still match the current world state in the state database724. Specifically, the committing peer can determine whether the read data that existed when the endorsers simulated the transaction is identical to the current world state in the state database724. When the committing peer validates the transaction, the transaction is written to the blockchain722on the distributed ledger720, and the state database724is updated with the write data from the read-write set. If a transaction fails, that is, if the committing peer finds that the read-write set does not match the current world state in the state database724, the transaction ordered into a block will still be included in that block, but it will be marked as invalid, and the state database724will not be updated.

Referring toFIG.7B, a block730(also referred to as a data block) that is stored on the blockchain722of the distributed ledger720may include multiple data segments such as a block header732, block data734, and block metadata736. It should be appreciated that the various depicted blocks and their contents, such as block730and its contents shown inFIG.7Bare merely for purposes of example and are not meant to limit the scope of the example embodiments. In some cases, both the block header732and the block metadata736may be smaller than the block data734which stores transaction data, however this is not a requirement. The block730may store transactional information of N transactions (e.g., 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, etc.) within the block data734.

The block730may also include a link to a previous block (e.g., on the blockchain722inFIG.7A) within the block header732. In particular, the block header732may include a hash of a previous block's header. The block header732may also include a unique block number, a hash of the block data734of the current block730, and the like. The block number of the block730may be unique and assigned in an incremental/sequential order starting from zero. The first block in the blockchain may be referred to as a genesis block which includes information about the blockchain, its members, the data stored therein, etc.

The block data734may store transactional information of each transaction that is recorded within the block730. For example, the transaction data stored within block data734may include one or more of a type of the transaction, a version, a timestamp (e.g., final calculated timestamp, etc.), a channel ID of the distributed ledger720, a transaction ID, an epoch, a payload visibility, a chaincode path (deploy tx), a chaincode name, a chaincode version, input (chaincode and functions), a client (creator) identify such as a public key and certificate, a signature of the client, identities of endorsers, endorser signatures, a proposal hash, chaincode events, response status, namespace, a read set (list of key and version read by the transaction, etc.), a write set (list of key and value, etc.), a start key, an end key, a list of keys, a Merkel tree query summary, and the like. The transaction data may be stored for each of the N transactions.

According to various embodiments, in addition to traditional blockchain-based information, the block data734may also store entitlement data735that may include an entitlement mode of a data file or other data chunk that is submitted. The entitlement data735may be stored within the blockchain within a transaction when a predetermined number of nodes have endorsed the transaction including the entitlement data735.

The block metadata736may store multiple fields of metadata (e.g., as a byte array, etc.). Metadata fields may include signature on block creation, a reference to a last configuration block, a transaction filter identifying valid and invalid transactions within the block, last offset persisted of an ordering service that ordered the block, and the like. The signature, the last configuration block, and the orderer metadata may be added by the ordering service710. Meanwhile, a committing node of the block (such as blockchain node712) may add validity/invalidity information based on an endorsement policy, verification of read/write sets, and the like. The transaction filter may include a byte array of a size equal to the number of transactions in the block data734and a validation code identifying whether a transaction was valid/invalid.

FIG.8is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments of the application described herein. Regardless, the computing node800is capable of being implemented and/or performing any of the functionality set forth hereinabove. For example, the computing node800may perform the method shown and described with respect toFIG.5.

As shown inFIG.8, computer system/server802in cloud computing node800is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of computer system/server802may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units804, a system memory806, and a bus that couples various system components including system memory806to processor804.

Program/utility816, having a set (at least one) of program modules818, may be stored in memory806by way of example, and not limitation, as well as an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data or some combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networking environment. Program modules818generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies of various embodiments of the application as described herein.

Computer system/server802may also communicate with one or more external devices820such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display822, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computer system/server802; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server802to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur via I/O interfaces824. Still yet, computer system/server802can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter826. As depicted, network adapter826communicates with the other components of computer system/server802via a bus. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/or software components could be used in conjunction with computer system/server802. Examples include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.