Privacy-preserving metering with low overhead
US8667292B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 19, 2011 |
| Grant date | Mar 4, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 17, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2209/56
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Privacy-preserving metering with low overhead is described. In an embodiment consumption of a resource such as electricity, car insurance, cloud computing resources is monitored by a meter and bills are created in a manner which preserves privacy of a customer but at the same reduces bandwidth use between a meter and a provider of the resource. For example, fine grained meter readings which describe customer behavior are kept confidential without needing to send large cryptographic commitments to meter readings from a meter to a provider. In an example, meter readings are encrypted and sent from a meter to a provider who is unable to decrypt the readings. In examples a cryptographic signature is generated to commitments to the meter readings and only the signature is sent to a provider thus reducing bandwidth. For example, a customer device is able to regenerate the commitments using the signature.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.