Provable Remote Program Execution with Final-State Signatures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods lack the ability to provide auditable and validated execution of computer programs with minimal latency and computing effort, especially in remote environments.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a network client that receives, executes, and generates a digital signature of a computer program's final state using a client private key, allowing for secure and provable execution with minimal network communication and computing effort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If remote execution of computer programs is implemented without digital signatures, then network communication latency is reduced, but execution integrity and authenticity cannot be verified
Solution Approach 1:
The client generates and attaches a digital signature of the final execution state to the execution result before transmitting it to the server. This preliminary action enables the server to verify execution integrity without requiring additional round-trip communication, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and latency.
2Reliability
If comprehensive execution state validation is performed by remote servers, then execution authenticity is improved, but computing effort and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the most critical verification element (the digital signature of the final state) from the complete execution process. The server only needs to verify this signature rather than re-executing or comprehensively validating the entire program, thus maintaining execution authenticity while significantly improving processing speed.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring the server to re-execute the program to verify results, the client creates a cryptographic copy (digital signature) of the execution state. This signature serves as a lightweight verification mechanism that proves execution authenticity without requiring the server to perform computationally intensive re-execution.
3Reliability
If digital signatures are generated for every execution state, then execution auditability is improved, but computing effort and network bandwidth consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by generating digital signatures only for the final execution state rather than every intermediate state. This provides sufficient auditability for most use cases while minimizing the computing effort and energy consumption associated with cryptographic operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Method, network client and system for provable remote execution of a computer program (17) by a network client (15) having a client private key (25), the method comprising the steps of:receiving by the network client (15) a copy of the computer program (17),executing by the network client (15) the computer program (17),generating by the network client (15) a digital signature (24) of at least a final state (3) of the computer program (17) with the client private key (24),transmitting by the network client (15) the digital signature (24) of the final state (3) for validation of the execution of the computer program (17).