Communication apparatus and authentication apparatus
View Patent ↗A communication apparatus with a memory ( 418 ) holding CA information A( 301 a ) including (i) a CA certificate A( 106 a ) indicating that an AP server certificate A( 402 a ) (that indicates the validity of an application server ( 401 )) is valid and (ii) a URL B( 302 b ) indicating the URL of a download server B( 406 b ) where CA information B( 301 b ) including the next valid CA certificate B( 106 b ) is stored. The communication apparatus also having a server authentication unit ( 416 ) verifying the AP server certificate A( 402 a ) using the CA certificate A( 106 a ), and having a CA information update unit ( 417 ) obtaining the CA information B( 301 b ) from the download server B( 406 b ) indicated by the URL B( 302 b ), wherein, when the CA certificate A( 106 a ) becomes revoked, the server authentication unit ( 416 ) authenticates the application server ( 401 ) using the CA certificate B( 106 b ) included in the CA information B( 301 b ) obtained by the CA information update unit ( 417 ).
1. A method operating a communication system comprising (i) an N th authentication apparatus, (ii) an (N+1) th authentication apparatus, and (iii) an (N+1) th download server, each being connected over a communication network,
wherein N and (N+1) are values each indicating a number in a sequence in a case where a plurality of authentication apparatuses and a plurality of corresponding download servers are sequentially put into operation, N being an integer of 1 or larger,
wherein the N th authentication apparatus includes:
an N th server certificate issue unit operable to issue an N th server certificate ensuring validity of an application server; and
an Nth certificate authority (CA) information issue unit operable to issue N th CA information including an N th CA certificate and an (N+1) th address for update, the N th CA certificate indicating that the Nth server certificate is valid, and the (N+1) th address for update indicating a location of the (N+1) th download server on the communication network,
wherein the (N+1) th authentication apparatus includes:
an (N+1) th server certificate issue unit operable to issue an (N+1) th server certificate ensuring the validity of the application server; and
an (N+1) th CA information issue unit operable to issue (N+1) th CA information including an (N+1) th CA certificate and an (N+2) th address for update, the (N+1) th CA certificate indicating that the (N+1) th server certificate is valid, the (N+2) th address for update indicating a location, on the communication network, of an (N+2) th download server on which (N+2) th CA information is placed, and the (N+2) th CA information including an (N+2) th CA certificate to be a next valid CA certificate in a case where the (N+1) th CA certificate is revoked,
wherein the (N+1) th download server includes:
a CA information storage unit operable to store the (N+1) th CA information including the (N+1) th CA certificate to be a next valid CA certificate in a case where the N th CA certificate is revoked; and
an output unit operable to output, to a communication apparatus, the (N+1) th CA information stored in the CA information storage unit, the communication apparatus being connected to the (N+1) th download server via the communication network, the communication apparatus being a client apparatus that receives a service from the application server after the validity of the application server is verified, and
wherein said method comprises:
an Nth operation step of starting up the Nth authentication apparatus to place the Nth authentication apparatus in operation to issue the Nth server certificate;
issuing, via the N th CA information issue unit of the N th authentication apparatus, the N th CA information including (i) the N th CA certificate indicating that the N th server certificate is valid and (ii) the (N+1) th address for update indicating the location of the (N+1) th download server on the communication network;
a first revocation determination step of determining whether or not the N th CA certificate has been revoked before a validity period of the N th CA certificate expires;
a before-validity-period-expiration determination step of determining whether or not a certain point in time before the validity period of the N th CA certificate expires has arrived, when said first revocation determination step determines that the N th CA certificate has not been revoked;
an (N+1) th operation step of starting up the (N+1) th authentication apparatus and the (N+1) th download server to place the (N+1) th authentication apparatus and the (N+1) th download server into operation, when said before-validity-period-expiration determination step determines that the certain point in time before the validity period of the N th CA certificate expires has arrived;
a second revocation determination step of redetermining whether or not the N th CA certificate has been revoked before the validity period of the N th CA certificate expires;
a validity-period-expiration determination step of determining whether or not the validity period of the N th CA certificate has expired, when said second revocation determination step determines that the N th CA certificate has not been revoked; and
a termination step of terminating the operation of the N th authentication apparatus when said validity-period-expiration determination step determines that the validity period of the N th CA certificate has expired.
2. The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein, said (N+1)th operation step further includes, when the Nth CA certificate is revoked before the validity period of the Nth CA certificate expires, starting up the (N+1)th authentication apparatus and the (N+1)th download server to be put into operation.