IBM Files Patent to Secure Drone Activities with Blockchain Technology
Leading global information technology company IBM has been in constant look out for ways and means to integrate its products and services with the blockchain technology. It is using blockchain to re-imagine fundamental business processes and develop new techniques of secure digital interaction.
In a recent development, IBM has applied to patent a system that would use distributed ledger technology (DLT) to tackle security concerns associated with the rising number of drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) being used for various commercial and recreational purposes.
The authors of the patent application said:
“The chain can be considered a chronicle of a UAV’s path through time. When a transaction is conducted, the corresponding UAV parameters are sent to one or more of the computing nodes in the system for validation. The one or more computing nodes establish a validity of the transaction and generate a new block. Once the new block has been calculated, it can be appended to the stakeholder’s UAV blockchain. Among many other advantages, the use of a blockchain infrastructure helps in identifying misbehaving UAVs by multiple parties and such activities are recorded in an immutable ledger.”
The patent application explains how a blockchain ledger will be able to monitor and save data related to unmanned aerial vehicle flights. This in turn would help airspace controllers and regulators track the activities of the drones. The blocks will store all data related to the drones like their location, flight patterns, monitor if the drones are entering restricted areas, their model number, information of the manufacturer, weather or any other unusual/illegal activity.
As per the document published by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on September 20, this is not the first time that IBM has applied for the patent. The company had filed the patent application earlier in March 2017 as well.
IBM seems to be hell-bent on changing the way the world works. Its association with the booming blockchain industry is definitely something to watch out for!
