Automotive Serial Bus Scrambling for Low-Complexity Data Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Advanced driver assistance systems in vehicles are vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches, which pose risks to the systems themselves and to passengers and pedestrians, while attempts to secure these systems should avoid impairing performance or increasing complexity and cost.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of secure serial bus communication methods and devices for automotive applications, which include a sensor controller, a scrambler that masks data packets with a secret configuration and/or initial state, and an integrated circuit component that derives the secret configuration and/or initial state from a seed value.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data packets are sent over automotive serial bus without scrambling, then communication simplicity is maintained, but security against cyberattacks and data breaches is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
A scrambler component is introduced as an intermediary device between the data source and the serial bus transmission. The scrambler masks data packets using a secret configuration derived from a seed value, creating an intermediate encrypted form that protects the original data while maintaining compatibility with existing bus protocols. This intermediary layer provides security without requiring fundamental changes to the communication infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a lightweight scrambling mechanism that uses simple seed values and basic masking operations rather than complex encryption algorithms. The scrambler uses minimal computational resources and can be implemented with simple circuitry, making it a low-cost, disposable-like security layer that doesn't require expensive hardware or complex processing.
2Reliability
If scrambling operations with secret configurations are implemented, then data protection from interception and modification is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of data representation by applying scrambling transformations. Instead of using plain data packets, the system transforms data into scrambled form using secret configurations derived from seed values. This parameter change provides data protection while the transformation process itself remains computationally simple and reversible at the receiving end.
Solution Approach 2:
The scrambler is configured in advance with secret initial states or configurations derived from seed values before data transmission begins. This preliminary configuration establishes the security parameters ahead of time, allowing the actual data transmission to proceed with minimal additional complexity. The secret configuration is set once and then used for multiple data packets.
3Reliability
If secret configurations are used for scrambling, then security against cyberattacks is enhanced, but ease of manufacture and deployment is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the security-critical secret configuration from the main data transmission process. Instead of embedding complex security protocols throughout the system, the secret configuration is separated into a distinct scrambler component that can be independently configured and deployed. This extraction allows security to be implemented as a separate, manageable layer that doesn't complicate the overall manufacturing and deployment process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses simple seed values that can be easily generated and distributed rather than complex cryptographic keys. These seed values serve as disposable-like security elements that can be quickly changed if compromised, and their simplicity makes them easy to manufacture and deploy without requiring sophisticated security infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
Secure serial bus communication methods and devices suitable for automotive applications. An illustrative integrated circuit includes: a scrambler configured to process data packets into masked data packets using a configuration or an initial state derived by proprietary processing of a seed value stored in the clear or received via a bus; and a digital-to-analog converter configured to send the masked data packets via the bus.