Communication system and in-vehicle communication apparatus
Provided are a communication system for an in-vehicle communication apparatus mounted in a vehicle, and the in-vehicle communication apparatus included in said communication system. The in-vehicle communication apparatus communicates with a certificate information issuing system which creates electronic certificate information, and acquires certificate information from a sub-server apparatus. The in-vehicle communication apparatus makes a request to the sub-server apparatus to create the certificate information, and the sub-server apparatus creates the certificate information in response to the request. The in-vehicle communication apparatus then makes an inquiry to the sub-server apparatus regarding the creation status of the certificate information. Upon receipt of the inquiry, the sub-server apparatus makes a response indicating whether or not creation of the requested certificate information has been completed, and if the creation of the certificate information has been completed, the sub-server apparatus transmits the created certificate information to the in-vehicle communication apparatus together with the response.
1. A communication system comprising an in-vehicle communication apparatus mounted in a vehicle, and a server apparatus that creates electronic certificate information to be used in communication by the in-vehicle communication apparatus, wherein:
the communication system is further provided with a roadside communication apparatus that is installed on a road, and that communicates wirelessly with the in-vehicle communication apparatus and communicates with the server apparatus;
the in-vehicle communication apparatus comprising:
a wireless communication unit that communicates wirelessly with the roadside communication apparatus;
a request processing unit that performs processing for making a request for a creation of certificate information to the server apparatus via the roadside communication apparatus;
an inquiry processing unit that performs processing for making an inquiry about a creation status of the certificate information the creation of which was requested to the server apparatus via the roadside communication apparatus; and
a certificate information acquisition processing unit that performs processing for acquiring the certificate information from the server apparatus via the roadside communication apparatus.
2. The communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the server apparatus comprises:
a creation processing unit that performs processing for creating certificate information in response to the request from the in-vehicle communication apparatus; and
a response processing unit that performs processing for making a response with regard to the creation status of the requested certificate information, in response to the inquiry from the in-vehicle communication apparatus; and
the response processing unit transmits the created certificate information together with the response to the in-vehicle communication apparatus when the certificate information pertaining to the inquiry has been created, and
the certificate information acquisition processing unit of the in-vehicle communication apparatus acquires the certificate information transmitted together with the response from the server apparatus.
3. The communication system according to claim 2 ,
wherein the in-vehicle communication apparatus comprises a key generation processing unit that performs processing to generate a set of a private key and a public key,
the request processing unit of the in-vehicle communication apparatus transmits the public key, which is generated by the key generation processing unit, together with the creation request for the certificate information, to the server apparatus, and
the creation processing unit of the server apparatus creates the certificate information on the basis of the public key provided by the in-vehicle communication apparatus.
4. The communication system according to claim 2 , wherein the request processing unit of the in-vehicle communication apparatus transmits the acquired certificate information when making a request for the creation of new certificate information to the server apparatus, and
the creation processing unit of the server apparatus creates the new certificate information when the certificate information provided by the in-vehicle communication apparatus is valid.
5. The communication system according to claim 4 ,
wherein a period of validity is set in the certificate information, and
the request processing unit of the in-vehicle communication apparatus makes a request, to the server apparatus, for the creation of new certificate information before the period of validity of the acquired certificate information has expired.
6. The communication system according to claim 5 ,
Wherein the in-vehicle communication apparatus has a storage unit that stores information for acquiring certificate information having a limited usage count,
the request processing unit of the in-vehicle communication apparatus transmits the information for acquiring certificate information stored in the storage unit instead of the acquired certificate information when making a request for the creation of new certificate information to the server apparatus when the period of validity of the acquired certificate information has expired, and
the creation processing unit of the server apparatus creates the new certificate information when the information for acquiring certificate information provided by the in-vehicle communication apparatus is valid.
7. The communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the inquiry processing unit of the in-vehicle communication apparatus periodically makes inquiries to the server apparatus.
8. The communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the in-vehicle communication apparatus has a position information acquisition processing unit that performs processing for acquiring position information of the vehicle, and
the inquiry processing unit of the in-vehicle communication apparatus makes an inquiry to the server apparatus in accordance with the position information acquired by the position information acquisition processing unit.
9. The communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the in-vehicle communication apparatus comprises a relay function determination unit that communicates wirelessly with the roadside communication apparatus, using the wireless communication unit, and determines whether the roadside communication apparatus has a function for relaying communication with the server apparatus.
10. An in-vehicle communication apparatus that is mounted in a vehicle and that communicates using electronic certificate information created by a server apparatus, the in-vehicle communication apparatus comprising:
a wireless communication unit that communicates wirelessly with a roadside communication apparatus installed on a road;
a request processing unit that performs processing for making a request for a creation of certificate information to the server apparatus via the roadside communication apparatus;
an inquiry processing unit that performs processing for making an inquiry about the creation status of the certificate information the creation of which was requested to the server apparatus via the roadside communication apparatus; and
a certificate information acquisition processing unit that performs processing for acquiring certificate information from the server apparatus via the roadside communication apparatus.