Decentralized Edge Node Authentication via Tokenized Digital Certificates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional data networks face performance issues due to the need for nodes to authenticate received data, which can lead to increased bandwidth consumption and energy usage, especially when untrusted nodes may modify data, and there is a lack of decentralized authentication methods.
Innovation Solution
A network security framework that allows nodes to locally authenticate data payloads using tokenized authentication, which includes generating digital certificates that can be verified by other nodes without requiring communication with the originating node, thereby reducing bandwidth overhead and enabling multiple security tiers and data masking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If nodes communicate with the edge node to authenticate data, then data authenticity is verified, but network bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the authentication verification capability from the centralized edge node and embeds it directly into the data payload through digital signatures. Receiving nodes can independently verify data authenticity using public keys without needing to communicate with the edge node, thus extracting the authentication function from the communication process and eliminating the bandwidth overhead of authentication requests.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces digital signatures as an intermediary mechanism that carries authentication information within the data payload itself. The digital signature acts as a self-contained authentication credential that allows receiving nodes to verify data authenticity locally without requiring external communication, serving as an intermediary that bridges the gap between data transmission and authentication verification.
2Reliability
If receiving nodes re-authenticate data by communicating with other nodes, then data integrity is verified, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables receiving nodes to perform self-service authentication by verifying digital signatures locally using public keys. Each node has the capability to independently verify data integrity without requiring external authentication services from other nodes, thus eliminating the energy consumption associated with inter-node authentication communication and processing.
3Ease of operation
If authentication credentials are included in data payload, then authentication can be performed locally, but data payload size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses digital signatures which are cryptographic copies of authentication information that can be efficiently embedded in data payloads. The signature is a compact mathematical representation that enables verification without requiring the original authentication credentials, providing a space-efficient copy mechanism for authentication data.
Data Source
AI summary
This application describes a security framework that allows a data payload transmitted on a network to be validated locally by any node on the network. A node that first receives the data payload may validate the information included in the data payload and generate a digital certificate based on the information. Each node that receives the data payload from the originating node may validate the digital signature using a locally accessible cryptographic key. The framework may support multiple security tiers by configuring nodes to mask information included in a data payload before transmitting the requested data payload to another node.