Granted Patent B2

US 12,483,421 · App. 17/733,700 · Granted Nov 25, 2025

Inventors: Jan Grießbach (Hamburg, DE); Ahmad Al Houry (Hamburg, DE); Markus Hinkelmann (Halstenbek, DE); Nicolas Harmen Lehment (Munich, DE)

Assignee: NXP B.V.

H04L9/3247H04L9/3215H04L9/3263H04L9/3297

Abstract

Claims (66)

1 . A controller in a system, the controller comprising:

a device connected to a network; and

a secure sub-system connected to the device via a first wired connection, the secure sub-system configured to:

establish a trusted channel with a user certificate authority (CA) via a provisioning device;

receive application parameters from the user CA;

perform an identity check of the device with the user CA;

provision a timestamp or secure time server information based upon the timestamp or the secure time server information received from the user CA;

create a device identity for the device and provision the identity on the device, wherein the device identity includes one of a signature key to create a signature of sensor data from a sensor, an encryption key to encrypt the sensor data from the sensor, validation keys to verify an actuator command, and decryption keys to decrypt actuator data from an actuator; and

terminate the trusted channel after provisioning the timestamp or the secure time server information and creating the device identity for the device.

2 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein establishing the trusted channel with the user CA via the provisioning device includes:

establishing a protected channel between the provisioning device and the user CA; and

establishing the provisioning connection between the provisioning device and secure sub-system.

3 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the secure sub-system is further configured to provision the device identity in the secure sub-system.

4 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the secure sub-system is further configured to certify the device identity by exchanging data with the user CA.

5 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the secure sub-system is further configured to:

receive sensor data from a sensor;

attach a secure timestamp to the sensor data;

produce a signature of the sensor data and the secure timestamp; and

transmit the sensor data, secure timestamp, and signature to an external entity.

6 . The controller of claim 5 , wherein the secure sub-system is further configured to encrypt the received sensor data and the attached secure timestamp.

7 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the secure sub-system is further configured to:

receive an actuator command including a signature and a time validity range from an external entity;

check a validity of the signature of the actuator command;

compare a current time with the time validity range; and

transmit the actuator command to an actuator when the timestamp is withing the time validity range.

8 . A provisioning device for providing a secure sub-system and a device connected to the secure sub-system, the provisioning device comprising:

a memory;

a processor connected to the memory, the processor configured to:

establish a trusted channel between a user certificate authority (CA) the secure sub-system;

provision application parameters from the user CA in the secure sub-system;

facilitate an identity check of the device with the user CA;

provision a timestamp or secure time server information in the secure sub-system based upon the timestamp or secure time server information received from the user CA;

create a device identity for the device and provision the identity on the device, wherein the device identity includes one of a signature key to create a signature of sensor data from a sensor, an encryption key to encrypt the sensor data from the sensor, validation keys to verify an actuator command, and decryption keys to decrypt actuator data from an actuator; and

terminate the trusted channel after provisioning the timestamp or the secure time server information.

9 . The provisioning device of claim 8 , wherein establishing the trusted channel includes:

establishing a protected channel between the provisioning device and the user CA; and

establishing a connection between the provisioning device and secure sub-system.

10 . The provisioning device of claim 9 , wherein the trusted channel includes one or more of authentication, integrity check, and encryption.

11 . The provisioning device of claim 8 , wherein provisioning connection is a wireless connection that uses one of a near field communication (NFC) protocol, Bluetooth protocol, 5G protocol, and a Wi-FI protocol.

12 . The provisioning device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to provision the device identity in the secure sub-system.

13 . The provisioning device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate certification the device identity by a data exchange between the secure sub-system and the user CA.

14 . A user certification authority (CA) in a system, the CA comprising:

a memory;

a processor connected to the memory configured to:

establish a trusted channel with a secure sub-system via a provisioning device;

transmit application parameters to the secure sub-system;

produce a timestamp or secure time server information;

provision the timestamp or secure time server information in the secure sub-system;

initiate a creation of a device identity for a device connected to the secure sub-system and provisioning of the device identity on the device, wherein the device identity may include one of a signature key to create a signature of sensor data from a sensor, an encryption key to encrypt the sensor data from the sensor, validation keys to verify an actuator command, and decryption keys to decrypt actuator data from an actuator; and

to certify the device identity by exchanging data with the secure sub-system.

15 . The user CA of claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to:

exchange data with the secure sub-system; and

in response to exchanging the data:

set a real time clock (RTC) of the secure sub-system; or

set a connection string of the time server and public key data to validate the secure time server.

16 . The user CA of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured to set the connection string of the time server by:

establishing a secure connection to the time server; and

forwarding at least a portion of the data to the secure sub-system.

17 . The user CA of claim 16 , wherein, in response to receiving the at least the portion of the data, the secure sub-system is configured to validate the secure time server and request a timestamp to set the RTC.

18 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the secure sub-system comprises:

an interface including:

the first wired connection to the device; and

one or more second wired connections, each of the one or more second wired connections connected to at least one of a sensor and an actuator.

19 . The controller of claim 18 , further comprising:

an antenna configured for wireless communications; and

wherein the interface is connected to the antenna and configured to enable the secure sub-system to communicate with the provisioning device through a wireless communications link.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (16)