Group Digital Certificates for Faster Device Onboarding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for onboarding computing devices using digital certificates are inefficient due to the management of individual certificates, which consume significant storage capacity and processing power, and add complexity, with burdensome testing requirements.
Innovation Solution
Utilizing a group digital certificate that groups unique identifiers and corresponding public keys, allowing client devices to authenticate using a UID and public key with a digital signature, reducing the need for individual certificate management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If individual digital certificates are generated and managed for each computing device, then device authentication reliability is improved, but storage capacity consumption and processing power requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual digital certificates into a single group digital certificate that contains multiple unique identifiers and corresponding public keys. This allows multiple devices to be authenticated using one certificate instead of requiring separate certificates for each device, thereby reducing storage capacity consumption while maintaining authentication reliability for all devices in the group.
Solution Approach 2:
The group digital certificate serves multiple functions simultaneously - it authenticates multiple different devices, replaces multiple individual certificates, and enables centralized management. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate certificate management for each device, reducing both storage requirements and processing overhead while maintaining the ability to authenticate each device reliably.
2Reliability
If individual digital certificates are managed for each computing device, then authentication security is improved, but system complexity and management burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple individual certificate management tasks into a single group certificate management operation. Instead of managing, updating, and validating multiple separate certificates, the system manages one group certificate that encompasses multiple devices, thereby reducing administrative complexity and management burden while maintaining security for all authenticated devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The group digital certificate contains copies of multiple unique identifiers and corresponding public keys within a single certificate structure. This allows the system to store and manage multiple device authentication credentials in one consolidated copy, reducing the number of separate management operations required while maintaining the security and identification capabilities of individual certificates.
3Reliability
If individual digital certificates are used for each device, then device-specific authentication is improved, but onboarding speed and processing efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple authentication verification operations into a single process by using one group digital certificate that contains multiple device identifiers and public keys. When a device presents its unique identifier and public key, the system validates against the consolidated group certificate in one operation rather than managing multiple separate certificates, thereby improving onboarding speed and processing efficiency while maintaining device-specific authentication reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a device including: a processor; and a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon logic for execution by the processor, the logic including instructions for: storing a group digital certificate, the group digital certificate including a plurality of unique identifier (UID) values and a plurality of corresponding public keys; receiving onboarding data and a digital signature from a client device, the onboarding data including a UID of the client device and a public key of the client device and the digital signature generated using the onboarding data and a private key corresponding to the public key; validating the digital signature using the public key; confirming that the UID matches at least one UID in the group digital certificate; and onboarding the client device.