US 11,856,086 B2
Tracking and linking item-related data
Vanadis Mack Crawford, Raleigh, NC (US); Eliza Salkeld, Raleigh, NC (US); and Kai K. Arrowood, Raleigh, NC (US)
Assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)
Filed by International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)
Filed on Feb. 6, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/784,228.
Prior Publication US 2021/0250165 A1, Aug. 12, 2021
Int. Cl. H04L 9/06 (2006.01); H04L 9/00 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 9/0643 (2013.01) [H04L 9/50 (2022.05)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
a network interface configured to receive data of an animal from a data source, where the data comprises one or more of historical data and quality data of the animal; and
a hardware processor configured to
generate a cryptographic hash of the data,
construct a data block that comprises the cryptographic hash of the data and a unique identifier of the animal,
determine that the data source is established as an authorized data source based on the blockchain ledger, and in response to the determination, add a flag to the constructed data block indicating the data source is authorized, and
store the constructed and flagged data block within a hash-linked chain of data blocks,
wherein the hardware processor is further configured to identify a previously stored non-sequential data block on the blockchain which includes information about another animal in a same ancestral line as the animal and which is indirectly connected to the constructed data block via one or more intermediate data blocks, and
directly link together the ancestral line of the animal on the blockchain ledger via storage of a value that is already stored within the previously-stored non-sequential data block within the constructed data block.