TLS Certificate Provisioning for Session Border Controllers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Certificate management systems struggle to identify which session border controllers need to be provided with transport layer security (TLS) certificates and the appropriate configurations, leading to inefficiencies in certificate management.
Innovation Solution
A network provisioning abstraction layer (NPAL) identifies session border controllers that support TLS, uploads and installs digital certificates, and manages certificate lifecycle operations, offloading these tasks from the certificate management system (CMS).
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If a certificate management system manually identifies and configures TLS certificates for session border controllers, then certificate installation can be completed, but the system complexity and manual intervention requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a certificate management system as an intermediary between the certificate authority and session border controllers. This intermediary automatically identifies which SBCs need certificates, retrieves them from the CMS, and installs them appropriately, eliminating manual intervention while managing the complexity of certificate distribution across multiple devices
Solution Approach 2:
The session border controllers are equipped with self-identifying characteristics (such as TLS capability flags or device profiles) that allow the certificate management system to automatically identify which devices need certificates without manual input. The system autonomously determines certificate requirements and distributes certificates based on device characteristics
2Productivity
If certificate management systems attempt to manage TLS certificates for all potential session border controllers, then comprehensive certificate coverage is achieved, but the time and resources required for certificate management increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary identification mechanisms where session border controllers are pre-tagged or profiled with information about their TLS capabilities and certificate requirements. This preliminary action allows the certificate management system to quickly identify which devices need certificates without performing comprehensive scans or manual assessments at the time of certificate distribution
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the certificate management process into distinct phases: identification of certificate-requiring devices, retrieval of appropriate certificates from the certificate management system, and installation at target devices. This segmentation allows parallel processing and reduces the overall time required for certificate management across multiple session border controllers
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to installing a security certificate. A method may include identifying, by a network provisioning abstraction layer (NPAL) of a network provisioning system, a digital certificate file received from a certificate management system (CMS); identifying a session boarder controller (SBC) that supports transport layer security (TLS); uploading the digital certificate file to the identified SBC; installing a remote certificate at the identified SBC; enabling the remote certificate at the identified SBC; and sending, based on enabling the remote certificate at the identified SBC, a notification to the CMS indicating that a remote certificate has been installed at the identified SBC.