US 12,335,304 B2
Liveness in consensus protocol
Stephen John Buttolph, Brooklyn, NY (US); and Kevin Sekniqi, Sunny Isles Beach, FL (US)
Assigned to Ava Labs, Inc., New York, NY (US)
Filed by Ava Labs, Inc., New York, NY (US)
Filed on Mar. 13, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/603,926.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/490,153, filed on Mar. 14, 2023.
Prior Publication US 2024/0314159 A1, Sep. 19, 2024
Int. Cl. H04L 9/40 (2022.01); H04L 9/00 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 63/1441 (2013.01) [H04L 9/50 (2022.05)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method for implementing transition protocols, comprising:
running a first consensus protocol in a set of nodes of a blockchain network;
detecting a liveness attack in the first consensus protocol at a node in the set of nodes;
initiating, based on detecting the liveness attack, a transition protocol enabling a transition from the first consensus protocol to a second consensus protocol;
suspending, when the liveness attack is detected, acceptance of new blocks in the first consensus protocol;
identifying a highest accepted block in the set of nodes from running the first consensus protocol;
setting an initial preference for the second consensus protocol to the highest accepted block;
transitioning to the second consensus protocol, wherein the second consensus protocol is run until a new accepted block is finalized, the new accepted block representing a successful protocol transition; and
broadcasting a complete message based on the new accepted block being finalized, wherein the node receiving the complete message triggers a reinstatement of the first protocol.