Gateway Credential Verification for Real-Time Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Access control systems face challenges due to limited data storage in access control devices, leading to difficulties in maintaining complete and accurate access control data, especially in large enterprise environments.
Innovation Solution
A system that utilizes a gateway device to store a larger credential list and facilitate communication between access control devices and a management server, allowing real-time access control decisions based on centralized data, even when credentials are not locally stored.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If access control devices store credential data locally, then access control decisions can be made quickly at the device level, but the limited data storage capacity prevents maintaining complete and accurate access control data for large numbers of users
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the credential storage function between the access control device (local cache) and the gateway device (centralized storage). The gateway device stores the complete credential list while the access control device maintains only a limited local cache, allowing the system to handle large numbers of credentials without overwhelming any single device's storage capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device acts as an intermediary between the management server and access control devices. It receives credential data from the management server, maintains a comprehensive credential list, and provides real-time verification for access control devices, eliminating the need for each device to store all credentials locally.
2Device complexity
If access control devices have limited memory, then device complexity and cost are reduced, but the ability to maintain complete credential information for real-time access control decisions is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device pre-loads and maintains the complete credential list in advance, so when an access control device needs to verify credentials, the gateway already has the authoritative data ready. This eliminates the need for the access control device to have large memory capacity while ensuring real-time verification capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system moves the credential storage dimension from local device memory to a networked gateway service. Instead of each device having to store credentials locally (spatial constraint), the system provides access to credentials through network communication (temporal dimension), allowing real-time access without increasing device memory requirements.
3Loss of information
If credential updates are transmitted to all access control devices, then data accuracy is maintained, but the communication overhead and processing time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the credential storage and update management function from individual access control devices and centralizes it in the gateway device. The gateway receives credential updates from the management server and maintains the authoritative credential list, while access control devices only need to query the gateway for verification, eliminating the need for widespread distribution of credential updates.
Solution Approach 2:
The access control device queries the gateway device for credential verification in real-time. This feedback mechanism ensures that the access control device always has access to the most current credential information without requiring proactive updates, as the gateway responds to verification requests with current data from its centralized store.
Data Source
AI summary
A method according to one embodiment includes receiving, by a gateway device and from an access control device, credential data received by the access control device from a mobile device in response to presentation of the mobile device to the access control device, comparing the credential data to a gateway credential list stored in a memory of the gateway device, the gateway credential list identifying a plurality of credentials associated with the gateway device, and each credential of the plurality of credentials associated with a unique credential index, transmitting, to a server, the unique credential index associated with the credential data in response to determining that the credential data matches a corresponding credential in the gateway credential list, and receiving, from the server, an access control decision associated with the credential data in response to transmitting the unique credential index.