Local Timestamp Issuing for Offline Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Organizations in offline environments, such as public institutions and companies with information leakage countermeasures, cannot request reliable timestamps from official time stamping authorities due to their disconnected status.
Innovation Solution
A local timestamp issuing method and apparatus that, in response to a request for a timestamp, issues a timestamp token for electronic data and, at a preset timing, connects to an official timestamp issuing apparatus on the Internet to request and acquire a timestamp for ledger data including the initial timestamp token.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a local time stamping authority is installed in an offline environment to issue timestamps, then organizations in offline environments can obtain timestamps, but the reliability of the timestamp is compromised because the local authority is not an official time stamping authority
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an official time stamping authority on the Internet as an intermediary to validate and sign the ledger data containing timestamp tokens generated by the local time stamping authority. This intermediary connection establishes trust between the offline local authority and the official authority, allowing timestamps to be issued in offline environments while maintaining reliability through the official authority's digital signature on the ledger data.
2Reliability
If organizations connect to the Internet to request timestamps from official time stamping authorities, then the reliability of timestamps is ensured, but organizations in offline environments cannot obtain timestamps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the timestamp issuance process into two parts: local generation of timestamp tokens by the offline time stamping authority, and periodic Internet connection to obtain validation and signatures from the official time stamping authority. This segmentation allows the system to operate in offline environments for timestamp generation while periodically connecting to maintain reliability, thus resolving the contradiction between offline operation and Internet connectivity requirements.
3Ease of operation
If a local time stamping authority operates independently in offline environment, then timestamp issuance is available without Internet connection, but the timestamp cannot be verified as issued by an official authority
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested structure where the local time stamping authority generates timestamp tokens that are embedded within ledger data, which is then signed by the official time stamping authority. The ledger data acts as a container that nests both the local timestamp tokens and the official authority's validation, creating a hierarchical trust structure that preserves offline operation capability while maintaining linkage to the official authority through the nested signature.
Data Source
AI summary
A local timestamp issuing apparatus according to the present invention includes: a timestamp issuing unit configured to, in response to a request for a timestamp for electronic data by a predetermined information processing apparatus installed in the same local environment, issue a timestamp token for the electronic data; a ledger timestamp requesting unit configured to, at a preset timing, connect to a specific timestamp issuing apparatus installed on the Internet, and request a timestamp for ledger data including the timestamp token issued for the electronic data from the specific timestamp issuing apparatus; and a ledger timestamp acquiring unit configured to acquire the timestamp token issued for the ledger data from the specific timestamp issuing apparatus.