Remote Server Message Push With Symmetric Identity Protection

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for polling in cellular telecommunication networks, particularly in IoT deployments, face scalability and security issues, including server overload, high power consumption, and inadequate protection of device identity and communication integrity.

Innovation Solution

A method involving a terminal and remote server sharing a secret key, where the server generates a random number and signature based on the identity and key, encrypting the response, and the terminal verifies the signature to ensure secure communication, with counter-based retries for lost messages.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If polling mechanism is used to check for updates, then device can retrieve messages from server, but server may be overwhelmed by number of remote devices and polling frequency

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemessage retrieval capabilityVSAvoidserver overload resistance

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of the terminal polling the server periodically to check for updates, the server proactively pushes updates to the terminal when new messages are available. This inverts the traditional polling paradigm and eliminates the need for continuous terminal-initiated requests, thereby preventing server overload while maintaining message delivery capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

2Reliability

If PKI based mechanism is used for security, then communication integrity is protected, but power consumption on device increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommunication securityVSAvoiddevice power consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the cryptographic parameter from asymmetric key mechanisms (PKI) to symmetric key mechanisms. This parameter change maintains communication integrity and confidentiality through shared secret keys, while dramatically reducing the computational complexity and power consumption on the terminal side, as symmetric operations are much lighter than asymmetric operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Reliability

If polling mechanism is used frequently, then update detection is improved, but overhead consumes battery power on device and computation power on server

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveupdate detection accuracyVSAvoidcommunication overhead energy consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The server maintains a feedback mechanism where it actively pushes update notifications to terminals when new messages are available, rather than relying on terminals to poll for changes. This feedback-driven approach ensures reliable update detection while eliminating continuous polling overhead, as the server only communicates when necessary rather than requiring constant terminal-initiated requests.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

4Reliability

If device identity is exposed for polling authentication, then server can identify device, but device identity privacy is compromised and traceability is enabled

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedevice identificationVSAvoididentity privacy exposure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a polling key as an intermediary credential that mediates between device identification and privacy protection. Instead of directly exposing device identity for authentication, the system uses this intermediate key that can be dynamically assigned and revoked, allowing the server to identify devices for polling purposes while preventing direct exposure of permanent device identities, thus maintaining privacy and enabling selective traceability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP4214942B1A method for sending a message from a remote server to a terminal

Publication Date: 2025.12.17 THALES DIS FRANCE SA

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

AI summary

The present invention relates to a method for sending a message (MSG) from a remote server (11) to a terminal (10), the remote server (11) and the terminal (10) sharing a secret key (K1), the method comprising: i- Sending from the terminal (10) to the remote server (11) a first identity (UID1); ii- Retrieving at the remote server (11) the first identity (UID1) and retrieving the secret key (K1) based on the first identity (UID1); iii- At the remote server (11), choosing a random number (UID_RAND) and generating a second identity (UID2) thanks to the first identity (UID1), the random number (UID_RAND) and the secret key (K1); iv- At the remote server (11), generating a signature (SIG) from the first identity (UID1), the message (MSG), a counter value (Sent), the random number (UID_RAND) and the secret key (K1); v- At the remote server (11), generating a first response (Resp1) for the terminal (10), the15 first response (Resp1) being a concatenation of the message (MSG), a counter value (Sent), the signature (SIG) and the random number (UID_RAND), and ciphering the first response (Resp1) with the secret key (K1) and sending the first ciphered response (Resp1*) to the terminal (10); vi- At the terminal (10), deciphering the first ciphered response (Resp1*) with the secret key (K1) to obtain the first response (Resp1), retrieving the message (MSG), the counter value (Sent), the signature (SIG) and the random number (UID_RAND), deriving the expected signature (XSIG) of the first response (Resp1), verifying that the signature (SIG) is equal to the expected signature (XSIG) and verifying that the counter value (Sent) is correct, and if it is correct, derive the second identity (UID2) from the first identity (UID1), the secret key (K1) and the random number (UID_RAND).