Vehicle Security Seed Generation Using Sensor Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle security protocols for heavy goods vehicles rely on challenge-response mechanisms that may not adequately secure access to critical vehicle data, particularly in scenarios where rapid and secure seed generation is required, potentially leading to unauthorized access.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize multiple vehicle sensors to generate a seed by converting analogue signals to digital outputs, extracting specific bits, and forming a pseudorandom seed, which can be randomized and stored for later use, ensuring secure access to protected information through verification of a generated key.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional challenge-response security protocols are used in ECUs, then security clearance can be granted to external communicators, but the system is vulnerable to unauthorized access due to inadequate seed generation mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The ECU uses its own existing sensor resources (wheel speed sensor, pressure sensor, temperature sensor, etc.) to generate security seeds, eliminating the need for external random number generators or additional security hardware. The system serves its own security needs using its operational sensors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the source of seed generation from traditional external random number generators to internal sensor measurements. By using physical parameters (wheel speed, pressure, temperature) that naturally vary during vehicle operation, the system creates unpredictable seed values that are difficult to predict or replicate by unauthorized users.
2Reliability
If multiple sensors are used for seed generation, then seed security and randomness are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The existing sensors in the ECU serve dual purposes: their primary function for vehicle control (monitoring wheel speed, pressure, temperature for braking and suspension control) and a secondary function for security seed generation. This multi-functionality avoids adding dedicated security hardware while improving seed quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a digital converter as an intermediary component that bridges the analog sensor outputs and the digital processing system. This converter is already present in the ECU for normal operations, and it mediates the transformation of sensor signals into digital form that can be processed for seed extraction, simplifying the integration process.
3Speed
If real-time seed generation is implemented using sensor data, then security response speed is improved, but computational processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of generating random numbers through computationally intensive algorithms, the system extracts random bits directly from sensor measurement data. The randomness is already present in the physical sensor readings, so the ECU only needs to extract and process the relevant bits, significantly reducing computational energy consumption while maintaining real-time capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensors continuously measure vehicle parameters in real-time during normal operation, so the data needed for seed generation is already available and pre-processed by the time a security challenge occurs. This eliminates the need for computationally intensive real-time random number generation, as the random entropy is continuously being captured during vehicle operation.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and method of generating a seed in a vehicle security protocol with a vehicle system including an electronic control unit, a sensor and a digital converter, the method including: measuring, using the sensor, a parameter indicative of a characteristic of a vehicle, outputting from the sensor a signal relating to the measurement, converting, using the digital converter, the signal to a digital output, receiving the digital output at the electronic control unit and processing to extract one or more bits from the digital output for use in seed generation, and using the extracted bit(s) as at least part of a seed.