Method and apparatus for use in determining validity of a certificate in a communication system employing trusted paths
US6134550A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 18, 1998 |
| Grant date | Oct 17, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 18, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S707/99942
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus constructs a preferred certificate chain, such as a list of all certificate authorities in a shortest trusted path, based on generated certificate chain data, such as a table of trust relationships among certificate issuing units in a community of interest, to facilitate rapid validity determination of the certificate by a requesting unit. In one embodiment, requesting units, such as certificate validation units or subscribers, send queries to a common certificate chain constructing unit. Each query may identify a beginning and target certification authority in the community. The certificate chain constructing unit then automatically determines the certification chain among certification issuing units between the beginning and target certification authorities for each query and provides certificate chain data to the requesting unit. The requesting unit then performs validity determination on the certificate to be validated based on the certificate chain data.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.