In the world of blockchain, Common Knowledge Base (C-51) is a unique entity. It proposes a new data structure, the Cell model, to solve some fundamental problems in the blockchain field. Although it sounds very high-sounding, the idea behind the Cell model is actually quite simple and intuitive. Next, we will explain CKB's Cell model in plain language.

Let's start with Bitcoin

First, we have to start with Bitcoin. Bitcoin divides the ledger into small parts, each of which is called UTXO (unspent transaction output). You can think of UTXO as coins, each of which has a face value (such as 1 Bitcoin, 0.5 Bitcoin, etc.) and an owner (represented by a script). When you want to transfer money, you need to "spend" some UTXO (that is, use up these coins) and "create" new UTXO (that is, generate new coins) for the recipient. In this process, the total face value of the spent UTXO must be greater than or equal to the total face value of the newly generated UTXO to ensure that no one can issue more Bitcoins at will.

CKB Cell Model

The Cell model of CKB is actually an extension and generalization of the Bitcoin UTXO model. In CKB, Cell no longer represents only digital currency, but can represent any valuable data. Each Cell has the following key parts:

  1. Capacity: Indicates how much data this Cell can store, just like the storage space size of a hard drive.

  2. Data: The actual stored data can be any information, such as text, pictures, videos, etc.

  3. Lock: Indicates who owns the Cell. Only those who can provide the correct parameters (such as signature) to successfully execute the lock script can update the data in the Cell.

  4. Type: defines the rules that the data stored in this Cell must follow during state migration. For example, if you define a token (such as SatoshiCoin), the type script will specify the transfer rules of the token (for example, the number of input tokens must be greater than or equal to the number of output tokens).

Features of the Cell model

  1. State is primary: In CKB, the state (that is, the data in the cell) is the most important, and all operations are performed around the state.

  2. Owner is a property of the state: each state (Cell) has a clear owner (represented by the lock script).

  3. The state is constantly destroyed and created: Just like UTXO in Bitcoin, the Cell in CKB also updates the state by destroying and creating.

Validation and consensus

Verification is very important in CKB. Each node verifies whether the transaction is legal, including checking whether the lock script and type script are executed successfully. Only verified transactions will be packaged into the block and become part of the consensus.

The verification process of CKB has two characteristics:

  1. Separation of computation and verification: In CKB, computation (such as generating new states) is done on the user side, while verification (such as checking whether the state complies with the rules) is done on the network nodes. The benefit of this is that the flexibility and scalability of each are improved.

  2. Universal Verification Network: CKB is a universal verification network, which means it can verify any type of data and rules. This is similar to Bitcoin's verification network, but more universal and flexible.

Advantages of CKB

  1. Solve the state explosion problem: By limiting the size of the state space (i.e. the total amount of capacity), CKB can avoid the state explosion problem and ensure that the network can remain decentralized for a long time.

  2. Improve flexibility and scalability: The separation of computation and verification allows CKB to process various data and rules more flexibly, while also facilitating the expansion of Layer 2.

  3. Better value capture capability: The utility provided by CKB is a secure consensus space, and its value comes from security and availability, rather than transaction processing capabilities. This enables CKB to have better value capture capabilities in layered networks and cross-chain networks.



CKB's Cell model is a simple yet powerful data structure that solves some fundamental problems in the blockchain field by extending and generalizing the Bitcoin UTXO model.

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