Patent · US Active

Peer to peer key synchronization

US8611542B1 · kind B1 · utility

12Cited by
70References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 26, 2007
Grant dateDec 17, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 19, 2030

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L67/1097
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Apparatus and method for synchronizing objects, e, g., encryption key objects, between pairs of appliances, particularly lifetime key management (LKM) appliances. Each LKM has a local sequence counter where increasing sequence numbers are generated and applied to objects. A peer counter is used to indicate the sequence number of an object synchronized from a peer appliance. When two appliances are synchronized, only those new objects with sequence numbers at least equal to or higher than that within the other appliance are transferred. When synchronized to each other, each appliance will have an up-to-date stored set of objects for all of the appliances in the group. Each object has a unique identification number that are compared to eliminate duplicate objects. During synchronization, if unique identification numbers match between a newly received object and a previously stored key, version numbers may be used to determine which object the receiving appliance should store.

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