Vehicle Lift Authentication Module for Offline Software Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle lifts often face challenges in updating software features and performance due to limited connectivity, which can restrict the addition of new functionalities and improvements, especially in settings where continuous network access is not guaranteed, posing risks of remote control by malicious actors.
Innovation Solution
An authentication module with a processor, memory, and real-time clock is integrated into the vehicle lift, enabling the provision of additional features and functionalities through software updates, even in offline conditions, by using a battery-powered module that can store and manage feature configurations, diagnostics, and usage tracking, allowing for secure and timely feature enablement and disablement based on predefined criteria.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the vehicle lift is connected to a network for software updates, then new features and performance improvements can be added, but the risk of remote control by malicious actors increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the update delivery mechanism into two parts: a secure offline authentication module stored locally in the vehicle lift, and a remote feature server that only communicates update requests and validation keys. This segmentation allows the lift to receive software updates without maintaining continuous network connectivity, thereby reducing exposure to remote hacking risks while still enabling feature additions.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication module is pre-configured with validation keys and cryptographic algorithms before the vehicle lift is deployed. This preliminary action enables the lift to autonomously validate software update authenticity offline, eliminating the need for real-time network verification and reducing the window of vulnerability to remote attacks.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the vehicle lift operates offline to reduce security risks, then remote control by malicious actors is minimized, but the ability to update software features and performance is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication module acts as an intermediary that bridges the offline vehicle lift and the online feature server. It contains cryptographic validation capabilities that allow the lift to independently verify software update authenticity without continuous network access, enabling secure offline operation while maintaining software update capability through periodic or on-demand connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle lift performs self-validation of software updates using the authentication module's locally stored cryptographic keys. This self-service capability allows the lift to autonomously determine whether received software updates are authentic and safe to install, eliminating the need for continuous online verification and enabling software updates in offline environments.
3Adaptability or versatility
If software updates are delivered remotely, then new features can be added without hardware changes, but connectivity requirements increase system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the connectivity requirement into a minimal authentication and update retrieval function handled by the authentication module, rather than requiring the entire vehicle lift system to maintain continuous network connectivity. This segmentation reduces the complexity burden on the main lift控制系统 while still enabling feature updates.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the authentication module is battery-powered for offline operation, then software updates can be managed without network connectivity, but the module requires additional power management components
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication module is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a cryptographic validation unit and as a powered-offline software update manager. By consolidating these functions into a single battery-powered module, the system avoids the complexity of separate power management systems for each function, and the battery serves multiple operational requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
An authentication module may be internally or externally installed on a lift control of a vehicle lift and allows new and updated features to be added to the vehicle lift without requiring a connection to a local or cellular network. The authentication module connects to one or more other electrical components of the lift control to allow for the exchange of data. A module containing software and configurations for enabling a feature may be removably attached to the authentication module, which uses the stored configurations to verify and enable the associated feature. The use of enabled features may be persistently tracked by the authentication module even in the absence of an external power source or network connection, and may be disabled by the authentication module if the feature use expires or is exhausted.