Blockchain application layer: the superstructure of the ecosystem

Just like the software on the computer operating system, the portal website on the Internet browser, the electronic mall or the APP on the mobile phone, the blockchain application layer encapsulates various application scenarios and cases, and is a product that users can really use directly. This article will focus on the blockchain application layer and explore its differences and characteristics from traditional Internet applications.

If the infrastructure in the blockchain ecology is the soil, and the blockchain application is the crops, if you want to get a bumper crop every year, you can't just satisfy the soil fertility, the plants themselves have good genes.

Before understanding the blockchain application layer, let's take a look at how the application layer of the traditional Internet is built. It can be said that the application layer, as the top layer of the OSI seven-layer model, is the focus of the entire Internet era, such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, Ali, Tencent, Baidu, etc. Large Internet companies tend to lock users into their own proprietary interface to expand its own platform and monopolize the information generated in the platform.

Stena Drilling invests in blockchain start-up SCS and will jointly develop smart contract solutions in the energy sector: On October 14th, Stena Drilling acquired a minority stake in the British blockchain start-up SmartChainServices (SCS) and established a three-year partnership with SCS years of technical partnership.

Previously, Stena Drilling implemented a six-month Proof of Value (Proof of Value) project, applying blockchain and smart contract technology to reduce and eventually eliminate the need to report and pay rigs with the International Association of Drilling Contractors. Performance-related complex transactions.

The two companies will continue to work together to further develop smart contract solutions in the energy sector, with the aim of providing new contract models based on milestones such as drilling speed, carbon intensity or fuel usage, all of which will be automatically verified by data. Stena Drilling and SCS plan to trial the solution using real-time data with a major oilfield operator in the fourth quarter of 2021. (Splash247) [2021/10/14 20:29:30]

From the perspective of architecture design, this is because existing Internet protocols, such as TCP/IP, SMTP, HTTPS, etc., exist as basic modules. That said, while they provide general guidance and structure, these "thin protocols" are not robust enough to handle most operations demanded by today's online environment. This has led to the Internet building "fat applications" to provide an ecosystem and infrastructure that all participants can follow and collect and utilize data as needed.

Dynamics | The U.S. Senate will hold a hearing on the theme of "Reviewing the Regulatory Framework for Digital Currency and Blockchain" at the end of the month: According to official sources, the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing entitled "Review" on July 30, local time. Regulatory Framework for Digital Currency and Blockchain". The hearing included: Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire, representing the Blockchain Association; Congressional trade and finance expert Rebecca M. Nelson; and University of California professor Mehrsa Baradaran. [2019/7/24]

But blockchain networks do the opposite. It tends to provide a single service and cannot own the interfaces that users interact with because they do not control the data. Then division of labor will appear, because the more decentralized a network is, the harder it is to provide a whole set of services through one interface. Therefore, various applications in the blockchain world will be independently built on multiple composable protocols. This kind of architecture, we can call it the blockchain service architecture, just like the "microservice architecture", is nothing more than a component with the highest authority.

Voice | Belden CEO: The transformation of the blockchain to the Internet of Things is a process of integration: According to China Taizhou Net, Kusnan Bin, CEO of Belden, the largest manufacturer of high-speed electronic cables in the United States, said that the application area The transformation of the Internet of Things industry by blockchain technology is not a subversive process, but a process of integration. It is the Internet of Things industry that integrates blockchain technology like cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence technology. Blockchain technology to solve or improve certain links and problems in the Internet of Things industry. [2018/11/8]

That is, the blockchain inverts this distribution between the application layer and the protocol layer. Blockchain allows for the creation of "fat protocols" with very specific functions and guiding principles. This new protocol layer can handle issues such as governance, validation, incentives, and rules of participation that were previously reserved for the application layer (click to review: Blockchain Consensus Layer, Blockchain Incentive Layer). And, with this robust protocol layer, blockchain applications can become very "thin" while benefiting from a decentralized network that does not depend on centralized entities.

Huawei released a blockchain white paper, and you can experience on-chain services in 5 minutes: At the Huawei Global Analyst Conference (2018HAS) held in Shenzhen, Zheng Yelai, President of Huawei Cloud BU, released the "Huawei Blockchain White Paper". Zheng Yelai said that Huawei has a long-term layout in the blockchain field, and participated in the "Hyper Ledger" project under the Linux Foundation as early as 2016. At present, the Huawei Cloud official website has opened the registration application for the Huawei blockchain. You can log in to the management service desk to experience the "5-minute on-chain" service. [2018/4/18]

In addition to the difference in architectural design concepts, the blockchain application layer develops decentralized applications (DApps), that is, by calling the interface of the protocol layer and the smart contract layer, to adapt to various application scenarios of the blockchain and provide users with Provide various services and applications to enrich the entire blockchain ecosystem. However, a successful, strong and sustainable Dapps has completely different characteristics in terms of user experience, privacy, security, etc., which is also the key to its victory over traditional centralized applications.

Support for decentralized user identity

Decentralized identity is an autonomous identity in the digital world, corresponding to the "natural human rights" in the real world: the existence and rights of each of us do not require the endorsement and proof of any centralized organization.

In the Internet world controlled by a centralized system, individuals directly rely on the central authority to send and receive information and accept orders, which makes the platform monopoly abuse of user data. However, frequent privacy leaks have also awakened the public to re-emphasize digital privacy and personal identity.

Therefore, decentralized applications that support DID have made new breakthroughs in terms of personal privacy and self-identity. In addition, for decentralized applications that support DID, under the basic principle of respecting that user IDs belong to users, there is no problem of snatching users, and it is easier to form alliances and cooperation.

Support the sharing and circulation of user data

Large-scale Internet business models rely on establishing data monopolies, which leads to more competition among companies than cooperation, and users can only access different platforms to obtain their own information fragments.

Through the blockchain service architecture, users can independently authorize or revoke platform applications to access and use their own data, and no application can monopolize the control over these data. When you access a blockchain application with a wallet based on cryptography, you just give the application a "key" to find information in the network. You can give this key to any application, so that it can provide high-quality services on the basis of data migration, and beat traditional applications from concept to service quality.

Create and follow an open protocol

What decentralized applications need most is an open protocol, making the blockchain value network the basis for interconnection rather than a closed chain.

Establish and follow open protocols, which enables various devices, networks, services and applications to be seamlessly connected to each other, and also makes the division of labor easier to complete. DApps should support many applications that can divide the work and assist each other, instead of each being a large and comprehensive application like traditional apps, and each application is mostly the same, resulting in a waste of resources.

All in all, we are on the eve of a profound change. As an important part of the new digital infrastructure, the integrated application of blockchain technology plays an important role in new technological innovation and industrial transformation. But this requires the full cooperation of pioneers from all walks of life to accelerate and realize the large-scale application of blockchain.

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