Patent · US Active

Certificate renewal in a certificate authority infrastructure

US7707406B2 · kind B2 · utility

12Cited by
7References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateNov 5, 2003
Grant dateApr 27, 2010
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 22, 2027

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L2209/60
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system using digital certificates having overlapping validity intervals. The overlapping certificates can be used in a hierarchical certificate authorities network in order to obtain benefits such as to increase the usage of all the certificates in the certificate chain; reduce/eliminate the certificate updates/downloads to a large population; only replace the minimum number of certificates in the trust hierarchy to re-establish the certificate chain; reduce the complexity of maintaining certificate nesting in certificate generation process; reduce the risk of service interruption; and control the extent of older technology in circulation and to reduce the risk associated with older products being more susceptible to attack. The certificate renewal process of a preferred embodiment is described.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.