Temporal Attester for Secure GPS Sensor Data Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing GPS system is vulnerable to security concerns due to the potential for malicious actors to fabricate location information by detecting beacon signals, which can lead to integrity issues, safety problems, and economic costs.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a temporal attester generating a secure timestamp and transmitting it with sensor data to a verifier, ensuring the authenticity and accuracy of location data through cryptographic protocols and secure timestamping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS beacon signals are used for location determination, then location information can be obtained, but security vulnerabilities arise allowing malicious actors to fabricate location data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a temporal attestor as an intermediary component that generates secure timestamps and cryptographic proofs. This attestor mediates between the sensor data collection and the verification process, providing a trusted third-party mechanism that prevents malicious fabrication of location data while maintaining accurate timing information for GPS calculations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by generating secure timestamps and cryptographic attestations before the actual location verification occurs. The temporal attestor pre-establishes trusted time references and digital signatures that will be used to validate sensor data, preventing security issues before they can occur during location determination.
2Ease of operation
If beacon signals are detectable by multiple parties, then location can be determined, but authentication security is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters of signal authentication by transitioning from simple signal detection to cryptographic verification. Instead of relying solely on the detectability of beacon signals, the system incorporates timestamp verification, digital signatures, and cryptographic proofs that fundamentally alter how authentication is performed while maintaining signal accessibility.
3Reliability
If secure timestamping and cryptographic verification are implemented, then data authenticity is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the verification system into distinct functional components: a temporal attestor for timestamp generation, a verifier for cryptographic validation, and separate sensor data collection modules. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, making the overall complex system more manageable and maintainable while ensuring data authenticity through specialized cryptographic operations.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of authenticating sensor data includes receiving, by at least a temporal attester, sensor data, calculating, by the at least a temporal attester, a current time, generating, by the at least a temporal attester, a secure timestamp generated as a function of the current time, and transmitting, by the at least a temporal attester and to at least a verifier, a temporally attested sensor signal including the secure timestamp.