Secure Gateways for Connected Dispenser Telemetry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beverage dispensers lack secure communication protocols to protect telemetry data transmitted over computer networks, exposing them to unauthorized access and potential security breaches.
Innovation Solution
Implementing secure gateways at both the dispenser machine and administrator system to provide message integrity, authentication, and confidentiality, separate from the application layer, and using a message queuer with multiple queues and threads for parallel and scalable processing of telemetry data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If beverage dispensers are connected to administrator systems over computer networks to enable telemetry data transmission, then operational efficiency and maintenance capabilities are improved, but security vulnerabilities increase due to lack of secure communication protocols
Solution Approach 1:
A secure gateway is introduced as an intermediary component between the beverage dispenser and the administrator system. The gateway establishes secure communication channels using cryptographic protocols, acting as a mediator that protects telemetry data transmission while enabling operational efficiency improvements through network connectivity.
2Reliability
If secure gateways are implemented at both dispenser and administrator system, then data security is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The security functionality is segmented into a separate secure gateway component that operates independently from the main beverage dispensing system. This segmentation allows the core dispensing operations to remain simple while security concerns are handled by the specialized gateway module, reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The secure gateway serves as an intermediary layer that handles complex security protocols without requiring the main dispensing system to become more complex. The gateway abstracts security mechanisms, presenting a simple interface to the beverage dispenser while managing cryptographic operations and secure communication protocols.
3Productivity
If message queuer with multiple queues and threads is used for parallel processing, then data processing efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The message processing system is segmented into multiple independent queues and processing threads. Each queue handles specific message types or sources, and dedicated threads process messages in parallel. This segmentation enables efficient parallel processing while keeping each individual thread and queue relatively simple and manageable.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for securely providing telemetry data of a dispenser machine to an administrator system via an exposed web service over a computer network. To secure the exposed web service, the systems and methods of the present disclosure provide secure gateways at the dispenser machine and the administrator system that can provide one or more of message integrity, authentication, authorization, and confidentiality. The secure gateways are implemented separate from the applications creating web service request and response messages at the dispenser machine and the administrator system, respectively. Because the secure gateways are implemented separate from the applications creating the web service request and response messages, the applications creating the web service request and response messages can be created and modified without consideration to message security, which is handled transparently by the secure gateways.