Policy and Token Authorization for Vehicle Cloud Connectivity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle connectivity systems face increased communication latency and complexity due to the need for multiple authorizations before electronic control units (ECUs) can access remote digital content, which complicates the process and delays data access.
Innovation Solution
A policy and token-based authorization system that validates token requests against pre-defined policies and rules, ensuring secure and efficient access to cloud content by generating tokens only when responsibility is verified, thereby streamlining the connection process between vehicles and cloud servers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple authorizations are required before ECUs can access remote digital content, then security is improved, but communication latency and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authorization by validating token requests against pre-defined policies before actual content access. The token management server pre-approves access requests by verifying ECU identity, content availability, and access rights in advance, so that once approved, ECUs can access content without additional real-time authorization delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a token management server as an intermediary between ECUs and content servers. This mediator handles all authorization logic, policy validation, and token generation centrally, allowing ECUs to simply present tokens for access without complex multi-step authorization protocols, thus reducing latency while maintaining security.
2Reliability
If multiple authorizations are required before ECUs can access remote digital content, then security is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The token management server performs multiple functions including ECU identification, content availability verification, access right validation, token generation, and revocation management within a single centralized system. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise be separate authorization components, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive security checks.
Solution Approach 2:
By introducing the token management server as a central intermediary, the system replaces complex distributed authorization logic with a single point of control. The mediator handles all policy validation and token operations, simplifying the interaction model between ECUs and content servers while ensuring security policies are consistently enforced.
3Reliability
If tokens are generated only when responsibility is verified against pre-defined policies, then access control security is improved, but the token generation process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system establishes pre-defined access policies and validation rules in advance before token generation is needed. These policies define ECU identities, content types, access rights, and validity conditions beforehand, allowing the token management server to automatically verify and generate tokens based on pre-configured criteria rather than requiring complex real-time decision-making.
Data Source
AI summary
A system including one or more servers, programmed to responsive to receiving a token request from a vehicle to access content stored in a content cloud, validate the token request against pre-defined policies; responsive to a successful policy validation, verify token generating responsibility based on a validation result and pre-defined rules; and responsive to verifying the system has the token generating responsibility, generate a token for the token request.