Overview of Carmentis
Carmentis is a network that allows operators to make secure and private digital proofs for their end-users and store them in a resilient transversal blockchain. As a result, the network of Carmentis relies on several entities.
Involved Entities
Carmentis Blockchain
Being at the heart of Carmentis, the blockchain constitutes the root of all the trust. Virtually, the blockchain constitutes the database in which all the transactions are stored.
For technical reasons, Carmentis operates in the blockchain at two different levels: On a hand, every transaction is stored in a dedicated chain called the Micro-Chain. On the other hand, the Master-Chain stores the Micro-chains.
Themis is the name of our mainnet and is the first network that will be launched on the Carmentis platform.
Its architecture will be released in Q1 2024 as a centralized Saas (Software as a Service) and we are currently working hard to make it a decentralized network in the future (see our roadmap).
(When Alice wants to sign a contract with Bob through an operator, the operator will create and use a microchain as a dedicated blockchain to store the proof of the signature.)
Operator Server
The operator server is a service provider (like an invoicing service, a contract signing service, etc.) who wants to offer a Carmentis service to its customers. It constitutes the final step before observing the transaction being inserted in the blockchain.
An Operator, in the Carmentis environment, is a service that manages signatures and encrypted calls to the Carmentis network. The Operator is hosted by a operator who wants to offer a Carmentis service to its customers.
While Carmentis provides an already running operator server, you are allowed to run your own operator server.
Application
An application is the services that are offered to the end-users. They are proposed, hosted and provided by application providers and are independent of Carmentis. For a better understanding, we encourage you to play with our already running application examples here.
Carmentis provides a Software Development Kit (SDK) to help you on the development of your application. See our API documentation for more details.
Wallet
The wallet constitutes your identity in Carmentis. Indeed, the main interest of a wallet is to store a private signature key used to authenticate data. Carmentis provides its own wallet, taking the form of either a browser extension or a mobile application.
End-User Front
The front sent to the end-user should perform critical actions (such as displaying a QR code) but also interact with your application back end.
Oracle
An oracle is a service provider, executing an action and authenticating the result. For example, the email verification is built using an oracle.
Carmentis blockchain network
The network of nodes maintaining the ledger consists of numerous nodes. A node comes in two flavor: A replication node, being a server listening the ledger and updating the blockchain when a new block is approved, and a validation node doing the same as a replication node but also verifying the consistency of a block waiting for approval.
Token
A token is a valuable object allowing you to use the plate-form of Carmentis, more precisely the blockchain in which Carmentis is based.
Proof
In the context of Carmentis, a proof allows you to prove to anyone that you hold knowledge, without revealing any information about this knowledge.