Mobile Maintenance Device Access Rights Management

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current mobile devices for appliance maintenance lack effective security measures to prevent personnel errors and ensure secure access management, leading to potential misidentification and unauthorized access.

Innovation Solution

A mobile maintenance device equipped with a processor and memory that receives identity data from appliances, compares it to a whitelist using hash functions, and performs maintenance only if the data matches authorized entries, ensuring secure and accurate access through cryptographic keys and secure communication interfaces.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If mobile devices are used for appliance maintenance without access rights management, then ease of operation is improved, but security and reliability deteriorate due to potential personnel errors and unauthorized access

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of operationVSAvoidreliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary verification of maintenance personnel identity and appliance identity before allowing maintenance operations. The mobile device checks the personnel's credentials against stored access rights data and verifies the appliance identity using cryptographic keys, preventing unauthorized access before maintenance begins

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The mobile device acts as an intermediary between maintenance personnel and appliances. It manages the authentication process by comparing personnel identity data with stored access rights, verifying appliance identities through cryptographic keys, and controlling the establishment of communication channels, thereby ensuring security while maintaining ease of operation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If access rights management with identity verification is implemented, then security and reliability are improved, but device complexity increases due to additional verification mechanisms

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovereliabilityVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses self-service mechanisms where the mobile device automatically verifies personnel credentials by comparing them against stored access rights data, and automatically verifies appliance identities using cryptographic keys. This automated self-verification reduces the need for manual security checks and complex centralized authentication systems

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the verification parameter from simple physical presence or basic authentication to cryptographic verification using digital keys. The mobile device verifies appliance identity by comparing cryptographic keys, which provides high security without requiring complex hardware modifications to the appliances themselves

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Reliability

If cryptographic verification is used to verify appliance identity, then security is improved, but measurement precision requirements increase for accurate identity matching

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovesecurityVSAvoidmeasurement precision
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses cryptographic key pairs (public and private keys) where the public key is stored in the mobile device and the private key is stored in the appliance. This copying of key data allows verification without direct physical contact or complex real-time synchronization, maintaining security while reducing precision requirements for identity matching

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentEP3561666B1Mobile device with access rights management
Publication Date: 2020.09.09 SIEMENS SCHWEIZ AG
  • EP3561666B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3561666B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3561666B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Mobile device with access rights management. A mobile maintenance device (1) comprising: a first communication interface (2) configured to receive from an appliance (7) identity data indicative of an identity of the appliance (7); a memory (15); a processor (6) communicatively coupled to the first communication interface (2), the processor (6) being configured to: receive identity data indicative of the identity of the appliance (7) from the first communication interface (2); read from the memory (15) a whitelist with a plurality of entries; produce a digital value as a function of the received identity data, the function of the received data being: an identity function or a hash function; compare the digital value to the plurality of entries of the whitelist; carry out maintenance on the appliance (7) if the digital value matches at least one entry of the plurality of entries of the whitelist.