Boot Loader Signature Verification for Satellite Receiver
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing satellite receiving devices experience substantial delays during the boot-up process due to lengthy software authentication, which is undesirable in mobile environments and increases customer support time in fixed systems.
Innovation Solution
The method involves storing a software image and its signature, generating a second signature from a portion of the image, and authenticating only when the two signatures match, allowing for faster execution by reducing the authentication process to a fraction of the original time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If full software image authentication is performed, then security and reliability are improved, but boot-up time increases substantially
Solution Approach 1:
The software image is divided into multiple blocks, and authentication is performed selectively on specific blocks rather than the entire image. The system identifies which blocks contain critical authentication information and processes only those blocks, significantly reducing authentication time while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and processes only the essential authentication-critical portions of the software image. By identifying and isolating the specific blocks that contain authentication signatures or critical code, the system performs authentication on a subset of data rather than the full image, reducing processing time while preserving security.
2Reliability
If full software image authentication is performed, then software security is improved, but productivity decreases due to extended authentication duration
Solution Approach 1:
The software image is segmented into multiple blocks, allowing the authentication process to focus only on specific critical blocks rather than processing the entire image. This segmentation enables faster authentication while maintaining security requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial authentication by processing only the necessary portions of the software image that contain authentication-critical information. This partial action approach achieves sufficient security validation without the overhead of complete image authentication, improving startup efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A device such as a mobile receiving unit (28) may include a memory (74) having a software image (106) therein. The memory (74) has a first stored signature (104) therein. A controller (60) may include a boot loader module (69) that generates a second signature from a portion of the software image (102A-E) less than a full image. The controller (60) authenticates the software image using the first signature and the second signature.