Glossary

Baseline Protocol

Baseline is the standard for synchronizing state across different systems of record over the internet, using a public blockchain as a common frame of reference. The Baseline Protocol preserves the privacy of an organization’s sensitive data while allowing counterparties to verify state changes and maintain the synchronization of processes in real-time. As systems are interacted with by users, data is processed live by an instance of the PRVD stack– or another implementation of the Baseline Protocol standard– running at each edge of the network; organizations issue verifiable credentials to counterparties, point-to-point messages are exchanged between instances, and each organization’s integrated system is updated. The artifacts produced by this process are called zero-knowledge proofs; these proofs are broadcast to a Layer 3 network where they are included in a “zero-knowledge rollup” proof and eventually settled on a public blockchain.

Baseline Protocol Instance (BPI)

Shuttle is built atop the OASIS Open PRVD stack, a collection of microservices that encompass all the components necessary to enable the use of the Baseline Protocol at enterprise scale. A deployed instance of this stack, whether local, hybrid or cloud hosted, is referred to as a Baseline Protocol instance, or BPI. Shuttle is an interface for interacting with a BPI to create users, organizations, workgroups and workflows to facilitate baselining shared business processes.

Ecosystem

A Workgroup exists within a broader environment that includes all external resources needed to complete an end-to-end baselined process. In Shuttle, this environment is known as the Ecosystem or Baseline Ecosystem. An ecosystem can encompass systems of record, participants, external workgroups, networks, infrastructure and hosting environments.

An ecosystem is provisioned, curated and managed by an Ecosystem Operator.

Provers

The Baseline Protocol implements zero-knowledge proofs to synchronize sensitive data on the blockchain without revealing its contents. Zero knowledge circuits are required to create such proofs, and detail how each proof is constructed and the cryptography necessary to allow them to be rolled up. To rollup proofs means to combine them together in a way such that each proof in the rollup can be verified as a part of the entire rollup efficiently, and these rollups are essential to maintaining the highest levels of reliability and security.

No-code Workflow Designer

Shuttle features a drag-and-drop workflow designer that allows operators to easily configure, deploy and manage any baselined business process. Composed of a series of stepwise worksteps, the workflow designer facilitates creating Baseline Processes to synchronize Systems of Record, and can be versioned to create a linked history of workflows to handle changes with the respective systems.

Connectors

To facilitate messaging between a BPI and an external system of record, a Connector is required for any given system instance. Connectors can be native to the system, allowing direct connectivity, or accessed via middleware. As of v1.0.0, Shuttle natively supports bi-directional SAP connectivity. To learn more about connectors, see Middleware Integration.

Systems

Systems are the databases a participant Baselines with. Once a system has been fully configured within the Workgroup context in Shuttle, that system can now be used in workflows to synchronize pieces of the database or the entire flow of data.

Zero-Knowledge Rollups

Zero-knowledge rollups are proofs that comprise of many individual zero-knowledge proofs. The data structure of zk proofs enables recursive operations such that many proofs can be combined into one, and these rollups can be rolled up again to create zk-zk rollups. Depositing the various levels of proofs onto different layers ensures maximal security and reliability across a Baseline Process.