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Oracle Architecture

Time-Stamping and Cryptographic Attestation

6.1 Oracle Functions

The Oracle 𝒪 is a semi-trusted module that performs three critical functions:

  1. Genesis Commitment: Issues the initial commitment C0
  2. Time-Stamping: Distributes cryptographic time-stamp τi for every Ti via RFC 3161-style signatures
  3. State Verification: Verifies final zero-knowledge aggregates and updates the public state

6.2 Distributed Attestation

By splitting attestation across multiple Time-Stamping Authorities (TSAs), the design removes a single point of failure. This distributed approach ensures:

  • Resilience against individual TSA failures
  • Enhanced security through redundancy
  • Improved availability and fault tolerance
  • Consensus-based time-stamping validation

Time-Stamping

RFC 3161-compliant time-stamping provides cryptographic proof of when events occurred, ensuring temporal ordering and preventing replay attacks.

State Verification

The oracle verifies zero-knowledge proof aggregates and updates the public state, maintaining consistency across the distributed system.

Oracle Security Model

Semi-Trusted Design

The oracle operates under a semi-trusted model where it can be compromised without breaking the overall system security, thanks to cryptographic protections.

Distributed Consensus

Multiple TSAs provide consensus-based time-stamping, ensuring that no single authority can manipulate the temporal ordering of events.

Cryptographic Attestation

All oracle operations are cryptographically attested, providing verifiable proof of the oracle's actions and preventing unauthorized modifications.

Implementation Requirements

  • • RFC 3161-compliant time-stamping protocol implementation
  • • Multi-TSA consensus mechanism for distributed attestation
  • • Cryptographic signature verification for all oracle outputs
  • • Secure communication channels between oracle and validators
  • • Fault-tolerant oracle deployment architecture

Security Considerations

  • • Protection against oracle manipulation attacks
  • • Byzantine fault tolerance for distributed TSAs
  • • Secure key management for oracle cryptographic operations