Authorization Cache Using Grant Index for Efficient Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing authorization systems in computing devices face inefficiencies in determining and managing authorization for resources and services, particularly in scaling to support multiple entities and frequent updates, while ensuring security and proper access control.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a caching approach that uses a grant index to track and update authorization facts based on changes in grants, with a hashing scheme to efficiently prove and revoke authorizations, and a modular architecture including an authorization platform, fact caching module, and grant index module to manage authorization facts and grants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional authorization systems are used to determine and manage authorization for resources and services, then security and proper access control are ensured, but inefficiencies occur in scaling to support multiple entities and frequent updates
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-computes and caches authorization facts before they are needed. When grants are issued or modified, the authorization platform proactively determines the resulting authorization facts and stores them in the cache, so that subsequent authorization checks can simply query the cache rather than re-computing from scratch. This preliminary action eliminates the inefficiency of repeated computation while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an authorization platform as an intermediary between the grant management system and resource access control. This platform maintains a cache of authorization facts and a grant index, mediating between grant changes and authorization decisions. The intermediary absorbs the complexity of tracking grant-authorORIZATION relationships, allowing the rest of the system to simply query the cache without managing the complex dependencies themselves.
2Reliability
If authorization checks are performed frequently to ensure up-to-date access control, then security is maintained, but overhead increases due to repeated computation
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates copies of authorization information in the form of pre-computed authorization facts stored in the cache. Instead of repeatedly executing complex authorization logic, the system queries the cache for pre-determined authorization facts. These copies are maintained through a grant index that tracks which authorization facts depend on which grants, allowing the system to efficiently determine when cache entries need updating without re-computing them unnecessarily.
Solution Approach 2:
The authorization system dynamically updates the cache based on grant changes. When a grant is issued, modified, or revoked, the system uses the grant index to identify which authorization facts are affected and updates only those specific entries in the cache. This dynamic update mechanism ensures authorization accuracy is maintained while minimizing the overhead of unnecessary full re-computations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a caching approach is implemented to improve authorization efficiency, then scalability is enhanced, but system complexity increases due to cache management requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the authorization system into distinct functional modules: the authorization platform, the cache storage, and the grant index. This segmentation allows each component to be independently managed and optimized. The grant index is organized as a separate data structure that maps grants to dependent authorization facts, enabling efficient updates without managing the entire cache as a monolithic complex system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the state parameters of authorization facts based on grant modifications. When grants change, the system identifies affected authorization facts through the grant index and updates their validity states in the cache. This parameter-based approach to cache management allows the system to scale efficiently by tracking only the necessary state changes rather than managing complex relationships explicitly.
Data Source
AI summary
Example embodiments disclosed herein relate to implementing an authorization cache. An authorization fact is determined based on a grant. The authorization fact is cached. The grant is revoked. The authorization fact is revoked based on a grant index.