Self-Synchronizing Cryptographic Device Sharing Multiple Links
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cryptographic systems face inefficiencies when handling multiple encrypted communications links, as they often require a large number of decrypters, leading to increased size, weight, and power consumption, and lack flexibility in synchronization processes.
Innovation Solution
A system that shares a self-synchronizing cryptographic device among multiple communications links using a data buffer with read and write pointers, where the head portion of each block of output data is a repeat of the tail portion of the preceding block, allowing for synchronization and efficient data processing without additional overhead.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If each communications link uses its own associated encryption and decryption, then security and reliability are improved, but device size, weight, and power consumption increase due to requiring a large number of decrypters
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple decrypters are merged into a single cryptographic device that processes multiple communication links sequentially. The system combines the functionality of N separate decrypters into one shared device that time-multiplexes across N different communication links, reducing hardware quantity while maintaining security through proper cryptographic isolation.
Solution Approach 2:
A single cryptographic device is designed to perform multiple decryption functions for different communication links. The device universally handles N different encrypted streams by switching between them, making one device serve multiple purposes that previously required N dedicated devices.
2Device complexity
If a single encrypter processes a multiplexed stream of data for multiple users, then device complexity is reduced, but flexibility is lost and synchronization becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The encrypted data stream is segmented into distinct blocks, each containing synchronization information. The cryptographic device processes data in discrete blocks rather than continuous streams, allowing it to switch between communication links at block boundaries while maintaining synchronization state for each link independently.
Solution Approach 2:
Synchronization data is prepared in advance and embedded within each data block. The head portion of each block contains repeat information from the tail portion of the preceding block, pre-establishing synchronization context before the actual decryption process begins, eliminating the need for dynamic synchronization adjustments.
3Reliability
If synchronization data is added to maintain cryptographic device synchronization when switching between links, then synchronization reliability is improved, but data throughput is reduced due to overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The system discards redundant synchronization information by reusing existing data. The head portion of each block recovers and repeats the tail portion of the preceding block, eliminating the need to transmit separate synchronization data while maintaining the ability to re-establish synchronization when switching between communication links.
Data Source
AI summary
A self-synchronizing cryptographic device can be shared among a plurality of communications links. Blocks of data can be transferred to the cryptographic device, wherein each block of data includes a head portion which is the tail portion of a previous block of data for the same communication link. The head/tail portion is sufficient to reestablish cryptographic synchronization of the cryptographic device.