Privacy-Preserving Vehicle Platoon Communication Using Ring Signatures

The patent introduces ring signatures as an intermediary cryptographic mechanism that enables vehicles to communicate real-time information while preventing traceability. The ring signature scheme allows a vehicle to sign messages on behalf of a group of vehicles, making it impossible to identify the actual sender among the group members. This mediator layer preserves communication privacy while maintaining the productivity benefits of frequent information exchange.

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-generating ring signatures and cryptographic key pairs during vehicle initialization or platoon formation. These pre-computed cryptographic credentials are then reused for multiple subsequent communications, eliminating the need for repeated heavy cryptographic operations during real-time message exchange. This approach maintains message authenticity while significantly reducing communication delay and computational overhead during actual V2X interactions.

The patent implements dynamics by enabling the system to switch between privacy-preserving mode and security-enforcement mode. During normal operation, ring signatures provide dynamic obfuscation of sender identities to protect communication privacy. However, when security incidents occur, the system can dynamically activate traceability mechanisms that allow authorities to identify malicious actors by analyzing signature patterns and correlating them with vehicle identifiers through controlled channels. This dynamic approach resolves the contradiction between privacy protection and malicious actor detection.