Entitlement Certificate Product Asset Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional product asset management tools lack a convenient method to track installed products across various systems and do not enable the content server to determine authorization for accessing product repositories without a central authority, leading to inefficiencies in managing product subscriptions and updates.
Innovation Solution
The use of product-related certificates, such as digital SSL certificates, to create mappings and manage access to product repositories by associating owners with products, allowing servers to determine authorization based on extended attribute object identifiers and URLs within the certificates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional product asset management tools are used, then product subscriptions can be managed, but there is no convenient way to track installed products across various systems
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by having each system automatically generate and present its own entitlement certificate when contacted by the content server. The certificate contains all necessary product installation information, eliminating the need for manual tracking or centralized registration databases. The system serves itself by carrying its own authorization and product information in the certificate.
Solution Approach 2:
The entitlement certificate acts as an intermediary that carries product installation information and authorization data between systems and the content server. Instead of direct system-to-server communication requiring complex authentication, the certificate mediates by embedding all necessary information, enabling convenient tracking without centralized databases.
2Reliability
If a central authority is used to manage entitlements, then systems can receive entitlements to access product repositories, but the content server cannot determine authorization without the central authority
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple functions into the entitlement certificate: it combines authorization proof, product installation information, and system identification into a single data structure. This allows the content server to determine authorization directly from the certificate without needing to contact the central authority, reducing architectural complexity while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The central authority performs preliminary action by generating the entitlement certificate with all necessary authorization and product information embedded before the system contacts the content server. This pre-packaging of information enables the content server to make authorization decisions independently without real-time communication with the central authority.
3Loss of information
If systems register with a central authority to receive entitlements, then access to product repositories is enabled, but tracking installed products across systems is inconvenient
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts product installation information and authorization data from centralized registration systems and embeds it directly into the entitlement certificate. This extraction eliminates the need for complex centralized tracking databases while ensuring that all necessary information is readily available to the content server for monitoring installed products.
Data Source
AI summary
A server receives a consumer request from a client to access a product repository that is coupled to the server. The consumer request comprises an entitlement certificate and a uniform resource locator (URL). The server identifies at least one extended attribute object identifier in the entitlement certificate to determine whether the client is authorized to access the product repository. The at least one extended attribute object identifier has a corresponding URL in the entitlement certificate that specifies a location of the product repository that the client is authorized to access. The server grants the client access to the product repository based on a determination that the URL in the consumer request matches a URL in the entitlement certificate.