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Theta Labs
Published in X-Patents.ai.
Theta awarded US Patent 11,763,332 for Edge Computing Platform supported by Smart Contract-enabled Blockchain Network
Theta Labs has been granted U.S. Patent 11,763,332 for their innovative “Edge Computing Platform supported by Smart Contract-enabled Blockchain Network.” This patent underscores the unique decentralized Edge Network developed by the Theta team. The patent details can be accessed on the USPTO website by entering “11763332” in the Quick Lookup section or directly as a PDF.
At its core, this patent outlines a process that combines an edge compute network with the security of smart contracts and the immediate settlement of cryptocurrency transactions. The process involves registering a computation task from a ‘task initiator’ node on the Theta blockchain and assigning it to a node within the Theta Edge Network. The task details are securely transmitted from the initiator to the Edge Node via a peer-to-peer connection on the Theta blockchain. The Edge Node then determines a solution for the computational task, such as rendering or transcoding. This solution can be verified on-chain through a smart contract, and the corresponding token reward is paid to the Edge Node via the same smart contract.
While Theta Edge Nodes already support decentralized streaming and encoding/transcoding, there is a massive opportunity to expand this to general compute use cases — for generative AI, smart grids, IoT, cloud gaming, and much more. Not only can an edge network like Theta’s deliver this compute power cheaper by relying on untapped resources, it can do so more flexibly with pay as you go models using Theta-based tokens. As these use cases grow, so will the opportunities for node operators as nodes come into higher demand. This new patent sets the foundation for these many generalized compute tasks to be processed via Theta Edge Network.
This patent approval follows previous Theta patents issued for decentralized data streaming and delivery, ultra-high transaction throughput micropayments, methods and systems for peer node discovery, decentralized DRM via NFTs, and preventing denial-of-service attacks in decentralized edge networks, and decentralized edge storage with flexible file sharding, creating a portfolio of patents to further differentiate and protect the Theta technology and ecosystem.
In summary, the Theta Edge Network utilizes these patented techniques to achieve exceptional scalability and resource availability, resulting in the following key characteristics:
- Self-organizing, self-adaptive, and self-evolving with minimal operational overhead, ensuring high availability and robustness.
- Plug-and-play capability, allowing network nodes to join or leave at any time.
- Supports the delivery of diverse content types (e.g., livestreams, VoD, data blobs) through a unified data retrieval framework.
- Highly secure and compatible with Digital Rights Management (DRM) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards.
- Decentralized edge computing, capable of executing various tasks, including AI/deep learning model training and inference, as well as video transcoding and relaying.
