METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SECURE MEASUREMENT CERTIFICATION
The invention relates to methods and apparatuses for acquiring a physical measurement, and for creating a cryptographic certification of that measurement, such that its value and time can be verified by a party that was not necessarily present at the measurement. The certified measurement may also include corroborative information for associating the actual physical measurement process with the certified measurement. Such corroborative information may reflect the internal or external state of the measurement certification device, as well as witness identifiers of any persons that may have been present at the measurement acquisition and certification. The certification may include a signal receiver to receive timing signals from a satellite or other external source. The external timing signals may be used to generate the time included in the certified measurement, or could be used to determine the location of the measurement certification device for inclusion in the certified measurement.
1 . A method comprising:
receiving a certifiable measurement generated by a first cryptographic operation performed on at least a portion of an augmented measurement,
wherein the augmented measurement is based at least in part on a physical measurement and a time, and
wherein the certifiable measurement is generated in a tamper-resistant environment;
performing, by a computing device comprising a computer processor, a second cryptographic operation on at least a portion of the received certifiable measurement to generate at least one of the physical measurement and the time; and
storing at least one of the physical measurement and the time.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the second cryptographic operation comprises decryption with a decryption key.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the decryption key belongs to an asymmetric cryptographic protocol.
4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the decryption key belongs to a symmetric cryptographic protocol.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the time is representative of an external timing signal.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the accuracy of the time is maintained using an external timing signal.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a certifiable measurement comprises receiving a certifiable measurement according to a predetermined schedule.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting a request for a certifiable measurement, wherein receiving a certifiable measurement comprises receiving a certifiable measurement in response to the request.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein transmitting a request for a certifiable measurement comprises transmitting a request for a certifiable measurement according to a predetermined schedule.
10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the request is encrypted using an encryption key.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the encryption key belongs to an asymmetric cryptographic protocol.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the encryption key belongs to a symmetric cryptographic protocol.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the certifiable measurement further includes a corroborative datum indicative of an operational condition.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the time is based at least in part on a signal from a global positioning system (GPS).
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical measurement comprises GPS location information.
16 . A method comprising:
receiving a certifiable measurement generated by a first cryptographic operation performed on at least a portion of an augmented measurement,
wherein the augmented measurement is based at least in part on a first physical measurement, a second physical measurement and a time, and
wherein the certifiable measurement is generated in a tamper-resistant environment;
performing, by a computing device comprising a computer processor, a second cryptographic operation on at least a portion of the received certifiable measurement to determine at least one of the first physical measurement, the second physical measurement and the time; and
storing at least one of the first physical measurement, the second physical measurement and the time.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the second cryptographic operation comprises decryption with a decryption key.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the decryption key belongs to an asymmetric cryptographic protocol.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the decryption key belongs to a symmetric cryptographic protocol.
20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the time is representative of an external timing signal.
21 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the accuracy of the time is maintained using an external timing signal.
22 . The method of claim 16 , wherein receiving a certifiable measurement comprises receiving a certifiable measurement according to a predetermined schedule.
23 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
transmitting a request for a certifiable measurement, wherein receiving a certifiable measurement comprises receiving a certifiable measurement in response to the request.
24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein transmitting a request for a certifiable measurement comprises transmitting a request for a certifiable measurement according to a predetermined schedule.
25 . The method of claim 23 , wherein the request is encrypted using an encryption key.
26 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the encryption key belongs to an asymmetric cryptographic protocol.
27 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the encryption key belongs to a symmetric cryptographic protocol.
28 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the certifiable measurement further includes a corroborative datum indicative of an operational condition.
29 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the time is based at least in part on a signal from a global positioning system (GPS).
30 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the physical measurement comprises GPS location information.