Communication system

• US 20050190619A1
• Filed: 02/25/2005
• Published: 09/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Wakiyama, Kenichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,295,136 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 365/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/57 Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 16/22 Safety or protection circuits preventing unauthorised or accidental access to memory cells
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 7/24 Memory cell safety or protection circuits, e.g. arrangements for preventing inadvertent reading or writing; Status cells; Test cells
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/84 Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3239 involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD

Abstract

In a communication system, a receiving module provided in a second electronic unit receives first information transmitted from a first electronic unit. A comparing module provided in the second electronic unit compares the received first information with second information previously stored in the second electric unit to determine whether data stored in the first electronic unit is tampered based on the compared result.

Claims

1. A communication system with first and second electronic units communicably coupled to each other, the first electronic unit storing data, the communication system comprising:

a first transmitting module provided in the first electronic unit and configured to transmit to the second electronic unit first information indicative of a feature of the data stored in the first electronic unit;

a storing module provided in the second electronic unit and configured to previously store second information corresponding to the first information;

a receiving module provided in the second electronic unit and configured to receive the first information transmitted from the first electronic unit; and

a comparing module provided in the second electronic unit and configured to compare the received first information with the second information to determine whether the data stored in the first electronic unit is tampered based on the compared result.

2. A communication system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second transmitting module provided in the first electronic unit and configured to transmit to the second electronic unit the first information in response to when the first electronic unit detects its shutdown state,

wherein the storing module is configured to receive the first information and to store the received first information as the second information, the first transmitting module is configured to transmit to the second electronic unit the first information in response to when the first electronic unit starts to operate, and the comparing module is configured to compare the received first information transmitted from the first transmitting module with the second information to determine whether the data stored in the first electronic unit is tampered based on the compared result.

3. A communication system according to claim 2, wherein the first information is the data itself stored in the first electronic unit.

4. A communication system according to claim 2, wherein the first information is a function value obtained by passing the data as an argument to a predetermined function.

5. A communication system according to claim 1, wherein the data stored in the first electronic unit has been updated with a predetermined change tendency during operations of the first electronic unit, the first transmitting module is configured to transmit to the second electronic unit the data itself as the first information every predetermined timing, the receiving module is configured to receive the data transmitted from the first electronic unit every predetermined timing, and the comparing module is configured to compare a relationship between a current value of the data and a previous value thereof with the predetermined change tendency, and to determine that the data stored in the first electronic unit is tampered when the relationship is mismatched with the predetermined change tendency, the current value of the data being currently received by the receiving unit, the previous value of the data being received by the receiving unit previous to the current value.

6. A communication system according to claim 1, wherein the first information is a function value obtained by passing the data as an argument to a one-way function.

7. A communication system according to claim 1, wherein the first transmitting module is configured to pass the data as an argument to a one-way function every predetermined timing to calculate a first function value and a second function value previous to the first function value, the first transmitting module being configured to transmit the first and second function values as the first information to the second electronic unit and to store the first function value as the second function value, the receiving module is configured to receive the first and second function values transmitted from the first electronic unit every predetermined timing, and the comparing module is configured to compare the second function value currently received by the receiving module with the first function value previously received by the receiving module to be stored as the second information to determine that the data stored in the first electronic unit is tampered when the second function value currently received by the receiving module is inconsistent with the first function value previously received by the receiving module.

8. A communication system according to claim 1, wherein the storing module is provided with a storage medium and is configured to previously store the second information in the storage medium, the storage medium being designed to a tamper resistant module.

9. A communication system according to claim 1, wherein the data includes at least one of computed data that varies during operations of the first electronic unit, a program, and constant data.

10. A communication system according to claim 2, further comprising:

a first termination module provided in the first electronic unit and configured to execute a termination processing in response to when the first electronic unit detects its shutdown state after that the second transmitting module transmits to the second electronic unit the first information; and

a second termination module provided in the second electronic unit and configured to execute a termination processing in response to when the second electronic unit detects its shutdown state after that the storing module receives the first information transmitted from the second transmitting module to store the received first information as the second information.

11. A communication system installed in a vehicle and having first and second electronic control units communicably coupled to each other for controlling devices installed in the vehicle, the first electronic control unit storing data, the communication system comprising:

a first transmitting module provided in the first electronic control unit and configured to transmit to the second electronic control unit first information indicative of a feature of the data stored in the first electronic control unit;

a storing module provided in the second electronic control unit and configured to previously store second information corresponding to the first information;

a receiving module provided in the second electronic control unit and configured to receive the first information transmitted from the first electronic control unit; and

a comparing module provided in the second electronic control unit and configured to compare the received first information with the second information to determine whether the data stored in the first electronic control unit is tampered based on the compared result.

12. A communication system according to claim 11, further comprising:

a second transmitting module provided in the first electronic control unit and configured to transmit to the second electronic control unit the first information in response to when the first electronic control unit detects its shutdown state,

wherein the storing module is configured to receive the first information and to store the received first information as the second information, the first transmitting module is configured to transmit to the second electronic control unit the first information in response to when the first electronic control unit starts to operate, and the comparing module is configured to compare the received first information transmitted from the first transmitting module with the second information to determine whether the data stored in the first electronic control unit is tampered based on the compared result.

13. A communication system according to claim 12, wherein the vehicle has an ignition switch and a battery, and the ignition switch is connected to the battery and the first and second electronic control units, respectively, so that power is fed from the battery to each of the first and second electronic control units through the ignition switch, and the second transmitting module transmits to the second electronic control unit the first information in response to when the first electronic control unit detects a turning off of the ignition switch.