Janek Rice
A Patent For Blockchain Implementation – IBM Secures It For Data Management For Autonomous Vehicles
In the world of blockchain technology , much like in the world of business, patents are what companies need in order to get ahead. For the international technology and computing juggernaut – IBM – its current line-up of blockchain related patents is poised to get even bigger with a new one directed towards a new implementation system in order to manage data as well as typical interactions for various models of Self-Driving Vehicles (SDVs).
This patent has since been received and accepted by the United States and its Patent and Trademark Office and was officially published on April 2nd.
In the past, IBM has been on the metaphorical ball when it comes to the field of automation, specifically for autonomous vehicles. Having previously filed a wide range of patents for inventions related to the technology.
This recent patent illustrates that kind of incredible benefits that blockchain technology, or specifically, a blockchain-based system could bring to autonomous vehicle performance. It can serve to greatly improve SDV configurations by allowing for improved levels of validation for information.
So what would the application of blockchain technology show in the context of autonomous vehicles? Through leveraging a blockchain-based system, SDV would be able to interact as well as predict the behaviors of other drivers within non-automated vehicles, thereby creating a higher level of spatial awareness and road safety.
For the moment, the patent illustrates the kinds of parameters that can or would be, assessed through this kind of technology which includes the driver’s behavior. This predictive approach towards non-autonomous driving behavior, for example, would be accomplished through a range of onboard sensor technologies. With the patent going on to explain just how these can be used in such a way as to minimize the vehicular risks, while these same systems can also be used to predict and reactively maneuver relative to other drivers on the road.
“Observing, detecting, and sensing of the driver behavior data can be collected by the in-vehicle sensors of the driver’s vehicle in real-time and uploaded onto a cloud data hub, designated […] as a Mobility Information Hub (MIH), to which the SDV can subscribe to,” the patent outlines. IBM goes on to further state that the application of blockchain technology can seriously . enhance this complex construct, as well as make use of real-time analytics, such as prediction models and environmental statistics, which would be possible by enabling full data functionality through the blockchain construct. While all this information could be shared between autonomous vehicles, these would be safely stored in such a way as to retain user privacy.
This sensor data, the IBM team goes on to argue, can then be logged onto the existing blockchain system, and safely stored by making use of a public key infrastructure (PKI). The latter is then used to create “the right public-private pair associate to each SDV/driver, wherein each data uploading or accessing transaction is cryptographically signed using private key.”
By making use of a system like this, the patent goes on to demonstrate that the system would become something which is only available to those validated as authorized entities, along with access to the data.
Within the context of the patent, it goes on to outline just how the SDV would then be able to access the kind of predicted behavior assessed and logged by and on other drivers nearby in real-time. This feat is accomplished through its onboard blockchain client application, which can then scan its local environment, including entities around it through local license plate numbers, for example.
IBM has not been the only one involved in the push for securing patents on blockchain and its applications to the world of autonomous vehicles. It was previously reported that major car manufacturers, including the American General Motors, have also filed their own patents in order to manage and process data from AVs.
But while automotive companies, among others, have been involved in submitting and securing various patents, when it comes to the international world of patents, especially as they relate to blockchain technology, IBM has been neck and neck with the China-based Alibaba when it comes to the number of patents they have respectively sought to secure.
As we move deeper into 2019, both companies are poised to continue pursuing various new blockchain patents as the year progresses.
Source: bitcoinexchangeguide.com
By making use of a system like this, the patent goes on to demonstrate that the system would become something which is only available to those validated as authorized entities, along with access to the data.
Yep, cryptography is on the rise these days