3D Printing Instruction Streaming With Obfuscation and Segmented Keys
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for controlling 3D printing of digital assets lack effective mechanisms to prevent unauthorized sharing and copying, as users can easily decrypt and reproduce design files, leading to loss of control over intellectual property.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the transmission of alternating data segments, where reproduction data segments contain instructions for printing and obfuscation data segments do not, using dynamic encryption and unique encryption keys, ensuring that only authorized users can reproduce the asset without sharing or copying it.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the entire design file is encrypted, then security is improved, but if the encryption system is compromised, control of the entire design file is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The design file is divided into multiple segments, each encrypted separately with unique encryption keys. This segmentation ensures that compromise of one segment does not affect the security of other segments, resolving the vulnerability of all-or-nothing encryption systems.
Solution Approach 2:
Different segments of the design file are encrypted with different encryption keys, creating local variations in security properties. This allows selective decryption of only the necessary segments for reproduction, while maintaining security control over the entire design file.
2Ease of operation
If the design file is decrypted to allow 3D printing, then usability is improved, but users can easily share the design file and reproduce items unauthorized
Solution Approach 1:
The design file is segmented and transmitted in encrypted form segment by segment. Only the necessary segments are decrypted in the untrusted environment for reproduction, preventing users from obtaining or sharing the complete decrypted design file.
Solution Approach 2:
A trusted computing environment acts as an intermediary between the encrypted design file storage and the untrusted reproduction environment. This intermediary controls the segmentation, encryption, and selective decryption process, enabling authorized reproduction while preventing unauthorized sharing.
3Adaptability or versatility
If design files are shared freely, then collaboration is improved, but industrial producers lose control of their intellectual property
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables selective sharing by encrypting different segments with different keys. Industrial producers can control which segments are accessible to which users, allowing collaboration on specific portions of designs while maintaining control over proprietary elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The encryption keys and segment structure can be dynamically adjusted to change access parameters. This allows flexible control over collaboration levels, from full access to restricted access, while maintaining intellectual property protection through the segmented encrypted architecture.
Data Source
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AI summary
A computer‐implemented method for controlling reproduction of an item represented by a digital asset stored in a trusted computing environment using a reproduction device in an untrusted computing environment, in which a succession of data segments is transmitted from the trusted computing environment to the untrusted computing environment, the succession of data segments comprising segments of reproduction data, each of which includes at least one instruction for controlling the reproduction device to reproduce a portion of the item, and at least one segment of obfuscation data which has a structure identical the reproduction data but is incapable of controlling the reproduction device to reproduce a portion of the item, the method comprising: a) determining whether the next segment of data in the succession should be a segment of reproduction data or a segment of obfuscation data; b) where the next segment of data should be a segment of reproduction data, selecting and extracting an unprocessed segment of data from the digital asset to form the next segment of data; c) where the next segment of data should be a segment of obfuscation data, providing a segment of obfuscation data to form the next segment of data; d) generating a unique encryption key and encrypting the next segment of data using the unique encryption key; e) transmitting the encrypted next segment of data from the trusted computing environment; f) decrypting the encrypted next segment of data received at the untrusted computing environment; g) attempting to control the reproduction device using the decrypted data segment such that where the next segment of data is reproduction data, the reproduction device reproduces the portion of the item at the untrusted computing environment in accordance with the instructions included with the data segment, and where the next segment of data is obfuscation data, the reproduction device is unresponsive; and h) iterating steps (a) to (g) until the entire digital asset, or a desired portion of it, has been processed.