Smart Meter Response Signing for Command Descriptor Integrity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing smart meter management systems lack robust protection against alterations of command identifiers and responses, leading to potential misinterpretation of operational states by management devices.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that includes generating a signature on output attributes and metadata associated with a smart meter response, incorporating a descriptor of the operation performed, to ensure the integrity and authenticity of the response, using asymmetric encryption and metadata protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If COSEM data-protection object is used to affix signature to output attributes, then response integrity is protected, but command descriptor alteration remains undetected
Solution Approach 1:
The command descriptor is incorporated into the metadata that will be signed before the signing operation. This preliminary inclusion ensures that the descriptor is bound to the signature, allowing verification that the executed command matches the original intent. The smart meter includes the command descriptor in the metadata set to be signed, so any alteration to the descriptor after the signing operation will be detected during verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The command descriptor is copied into the metadata structure that undergoes signing. By creating this copy within the signed data structure, the system ensures that the original command intent is preserved and verifiable. The copied descriptor becomes part of the signed payload, making it cryptographically bound to the signature and preventing undetected alterations.
2Reliability
If signature protection is applied only to output attributes, then transmission security is improved, but operational state verification becomes unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The command descriptor and output attributes are merged into a single metadata structure that is signed together. This combination ensures that both the command intent and the execution result are cryptographically bound, allowing the management device to verify not only that the response was not tampered with but also that it corresponds to the correct command. The merged structure is processed as a unified signed payload.
Solution Approach 2:
The signed metadata structure is formed as a composite containing both the command descriptor and output attributes. This composite structure treats the combination of command information and response data as a unified protected entity, ensuring that alterations to either component can be detected. The composite metadata is signed as a single cryptographic unit.
Data Source
AI summary
To transmit a response to a command received that includes a descriptor of an operation to be performed, a smart meter recovers output attributes, and metadata associated with the response, to be supplied as results of the implementation of the command received. The smart meter includes, in the metadata associated with the response, the descriptor of an operation to be performed that had been supplied in the command received, and implements a protection that generates a signature on a set of data formed by the output attributes and the metadata associated with the response.