The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 11, 2020
Filed:
Nov. 20, 2017
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Kumiko Maeda, Tokyo, JP;
Munetaka Ohtani, Fujisawa, JP;
Yutaka Oishi, Kawasaki, JP;
Chikafumi Yasumoto, Tokyo, JP;
Jiayun Zhu, Edogawa-ku, JP;
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
In a mechanism for deleting blocks from a blockchain, a retention period (T), a minimum number of blocks (L), and a hash of the oldest block are defined. A participant node creates the new block including a block header. The participant node determines whether a timestamp in an oldest block in the blockchain is older than a current time plus T, and whether a current number of blocks in the blockchain is greater than or equal to L. When both are true, the participant node deletes an oldest block in the blockchain. The participant node adds a hash of an oldest remaining block and an original number of blocks of the blockchain to the block header of the new block. The participant node broadcasts a message announcing the new block to remaining participant nodes of the plurality of participant nodes.