Combined digital signature
First Claim
1. A method for making a public key digital signature on a plurality of messages in an electronic system, comprising:
- a) arranging said plurality of messages into an ordered sequence of messages, b) constructing a hash tree from said sequence of messages, particularly computing a value of a root node of said hash tree, c) preparing a private key for a digital signature operation, and d) performing a cryptographic signature operation with said private key upon the value of said root node, whereby a maker of said public key digital signature can simultaneously sign said plurality of messages.
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Abstract
A combined digital signature is method of making a single public key digital signature on a number of messages, such that individual combined signatures may be extracted and individually presented. The mechanism of a combined digital signature is a combination of a hash tree whose leaves correspond to messages, together with a cryptographic signature made on the root of that hash tree. The invention comprises a method of making a combined signature, a method of extracting individual combined signatures, a method of verifying individual combined signatures, and the data format of an individual combined signature. The invention can increase performance of signature-making by a factor of several hundred over previous art.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for making a public key digital signature on a plurality of messages in an electronic system, comprising:
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a) arranging said plurality of messages into an ordered sequence of messages, b) constructing a hash tree from said sequence of messages, particularly computing a value of a root node of said hash tree, c) preparing a private key for a digital signature operation, and d) performing a cryptographic signature operation with said private key upon the value of said root node, whereby a maker of said public key digital signature can simultaneously sign said plurality of messages. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for making a public key digital signature on an individual message from out of a plurality of messages in an electronic system, comprising:
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a) arranging said plurality of messages into an ordered sequence of messages, b) constructing a hash tree from said sequence of messages, particularly computing a value of a root node of said hash tree, c) preparing a private key for a digital signature operation, d) performing a cryptographic signature operation with said private key upon the value of said root node, and e) extracting said public key digital signature from a combination of said hash tree and from the results of said cryptographic signature operation, whereby a verifier may be able to determine the verity of said public key digital signature against a combination comprising said individual message and a public key corresponding to said private key. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for verifying a public key digital signature against an individual message and a public key in an electronic system, comprising:
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a) parsing said public key digital signature and retrieving its signature data, b) ascertaining that said signature data comprises a stated signature value and a stated sibling value-and-position sequence, c) computing a hash tree branch comprising a leaf node and a root node, said hash tree branch being computed with the value of said individual message and with said stated sibling value-and-position sequence, d) performing a verification operation on said stated signature value with the value of said root node and with said public key, whereby a verifier can determine that said public key digital signature was generated from said individual message by a holder of a private key corresponding to said public key. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20)
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17. A signature data structure embodied in a computer-readable medium, comprising:
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a) a value-and-position sequence, said value-and-position sequence comprising a sibling sequence for a branch from a leaf to the root of a hash tree, and b) a public key signature, whereby a signature maker has the ability to store and to transmit said signature data structure comprising a public key digital signature.
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Specification