VEHICLE USAGE-BASED TOLLING PRIVACY PROTECTION ARCHITECTURE

• US 20110082797A1
• Filed: 10/01/2009
• Published: 04/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: O'Connell, Brian Marshall, Noble, Gary Paul, Glachant, Mathieu Joseph Robert, Seaman, James Wesley, Hamilton, Rick Allen II, Lamba, Naveen
• Granted Patent: US 8,374,911 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/67
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0284 Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/76 Proxy, i.e. using intermediary entity to perform cryptographic operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/84 Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/321 involving a third party or a trusted authority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3297 involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps

Abstract

A client-side on-board computing device is partitioned into a trusted computing module, and a private computing platform. When a metric report is required, the private computing platform retrieves an original data file and transfers the original data file to the trusted computing module. The original data file includes a global positioning system coordinate stream and time information. Communication between the private computing platform and the trusted computing module is via an unencrypted serial link. The private computing platform applies at least one billing algorithm to the original data file to determine a billing charge. The private computer platform signs and hashes the billing charge using a private key of a public-private endorsement key pair to create a signed metric report. The private computer platform forwards the signed metric report to the trusted computing module via the unencrypted serial link. The trusted computing module then forwards the signed metric report by the trusted computing module to a billing authority.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for determining road usage charges, the method comprising the computer implemented steps of:

retrieving by a private computing platform, an original data file, wherein the private computing platform is located in a client-side on-board computing device, the client-side on-board computing device being partitioned into a trusted computing module, and the private computing platform, wherein the original data file comprises a global positioning system coordinate stream and a time information;

responsive to retrieving the original data file, forwarding by the private computing platform, the original data file to the trusted computing module;

responsive to receiving the original data file, applying by the trusted computing module at least one billing algorithm to the original data file to determine a billing charge;

responsive to determining the billing charge, authenticating by the trusted computing module the billing charge to create a signed metric report;

forwarding the signed metric report by the trusted computing module to the private computing platform; and

forwarding the signed metric report by the private computing platform to a billing authority.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

responsive to receiving the signed metric report by the billing authority, verifying by the billing authority, integrity of the signed metric report received from the private computing platform; and

generating a road usage bill by the billing authority based on the signed metric report.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

authenticating the signed metric report by signing and hashing the billing charge by the private computing platform using a private key of a public-private endorsement key pair to create the signed metric report; and

verifying by the billing authority, the integrity of the signed data file received from the private computing platform using a public key of the public-private endorsement key pair.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the global positioning system coordinate stream and the time information by the private computing platform from a global positioning system;

formatting the global positioning system coordinate stream and the time information by the private computing platform into an original data file; and

storing the original data file.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

encrypting the original data file by the private computing platform using a user key, wherein the user key is a public-private key pair;

forwarding the original data file to a third-party storage facility; and

storing the original data file at the third-party storage facility.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein communications between the private computing platform and the trusted computing module are via an unencrypted serial link.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the private computing platform, a remote audit request from the billing authority, wherein the remote audit request includes a known data file having a known metric report result;

forwarding the remote audit request by the private computing platform to the trusted computing module;

responsive to receiving the remote audit request, applying by the trusted computing module the at least one billing algorithm to the remote audit request to create a second metric report;

responsive to creating the second metric repor, signing and hashing the billing charge by the trusted computing module using a private key of a public-private endorsement key pair to create a second signed metric report;

forwarding the second signed metric report by the trusted computing module to the private computing platform; and

forwarding the second signed metric report by the private computing platform to the billing authority, wherein the billing authority compares the second signed metric report to the known metric report result to identify a discrepancy between the second signed metric report and the known metric report result.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the private computing platform, a spot check request from the billing authority, wherein the spot check request includes a data file requesting verification of location information or metric information previously received by the trusted computing module or from an independent source;

forwarding the spot check request by the private computing platform to the trusted computing module;

responsive to receiving the spot check request, verifying by the trusted computing module an authenticity of the spot check request;

responsive to verifying by the trusted computing module the authenticity of the request, retrieving by the private computing platform and original data file;

responsive to retrieving the original data file, creating by the trusted computing module the spot check report file, wherein the spot check report file is created by comparing the spot check request with the original data file to verify the location information or the metric information;

responsive to creating the spot check report file, signing and hashing the spot check report file the by the trusted computing module using a private key of a public-private endorsement key pair to create a signed spot check report file;

forwarding the signed spot check report file by the trusted computing module to the private computing platform; and

forwarding the signed spot check report file by the private computing platform to the billing authority.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the a trusted computing module, a request or a data point from the private computing platform via an unencrypted serial link;

identifying, by the trusted computing module, a received timestamp in the request or the data point;

comparing, by the a trusted computing module, to a most recent timestamp of a most recent previous request or data point;

responsive to identifying the received timestamp as not subsequent to the most recent timestamp, indicating the most recent timestamp as a non-sequential timestamp; and

updating the most recent timestamp to be the received timestamp.

10. A data processing system comprising:

a storage device having computer usable program code for determining road usage charges encoded thereon;

a bus connecting the storage device to a processor; and

a processor, wherein the processor executes the computer usable program code;

to retrieve by the private computing platform an original data file, wherein the private computing platform is located in a client-side on-board computing device, the client-side on-board computing device being partitioned into a trusted computing module, and the private computing platform, wherein the original data file comprises a global positioning system coordinate stream and a time information;

responsive to retrieving the original data file, to forward by the private computing platform the original data file to the trusted computing module;

responsive to receiving the original data file, to apply by the trusted computing module at least one billing algorithm to the original data file to determine a billing charge;

responsive to determining the billing charge, to authenticate by the trusted computing module the billing charge to create a signed metric report;

to forward the signed metric report by the trusted computing module to the private computing platform; and

to forward the signed metric report by the private computing platform to a billing authority.

11. The data processing system of claim 10 wherein the processor further executes the computer usable program code:

to authenticate the signed metric report by signing and hashing the billing charge by the private computing platform using a private key of a public-private endorsement key pair to create the signed metric report.

12. The data processing system of claim 10 wherein the processor further executes the computer usable program code:

to receive the global positioning system coordinate stream and the time information by the private computing platform from a global positioning system;

to format the global positioning system coordinate stream and time information by the private computing platform into the original data file; and

to store the original data file.

13. The data processing system of claim 10 wherein the processor further executes the computer usable program code:

to encrypt the original data file by the private computing platform using a user key, wherein the user key is a public-private key pair;

to forward the original data file to a third party storage facility; and

to store the original data file at the third party storage facility.

14. The data processing system of claim 10 wherein the processor further executes the computer usable program code:

to receive, by the a trusted computing module, a remote audit request from the billing authority, wherein the remote audit request includes a known data file having a known metric report result;

to forward the remote audit request by the trusted computing module to the private computing platform;

responsive to receiving the remote audit request, to apply by the private computing platform the at least one billing algorithm to the remote audit request to create a second metric report;

responsive to determining the billing charge, to sign and hash the billing charge by the private computing platform using a private key of a public-private endorsement key pair to create a second signed metric report;

to forward the second signed metric report by the private computing platform to the trusted computing module via the unencrypted serial link;

to forward the second signed metric report by the trusted computing module to the billing authority, wherein the billing authority compares the second signed metric report to the known metric report result to identify a discrepancy between the second signed metric report to the known metric report result.

15. The data processing system of claim 10 wherein the processor further executes the computer usable program code:

to receive, by the a trusted computing module, a spot check request from the billing authority, wherein the spot check request includes a data file requesting verification of location information or metric information previously received by the trusted computing module, or from an independent source;

to forward the spot check request by the trusted computing module to the private computing platform via the unencrypted serial link;

responsive to receiving the spot check request, to verify by the private computing platform the authenticity of the request;

responsive to verifying by the private computing platform the authenticity of the request, to retrieve by the private computing platform the original data file;

responsive to retrieving the original data file, to create a spot check report file, wherein the spot check report file is created by comparing the spot check request with the original data file to verify the location information or the metric information;

responsive to creating the spot check report file, to sign and hash the spot check report file by the private computing platform using a private key of a public-private endorsement key pair to create a signed spot check report file;

to forward the signed spot check report file by the private computing platform to the trusted computing module via the unencrypted serial link; and

to forward the signed spot check report file by the trusted computing module to the billing authority.

16. The data processing system of claim 10 wherein the processor further executes the computer usable program code:

to receive, by the a trusted computing module, a request or a data point from the private computing platform via the unencrypted serial link;

to identify, by the a trusted computing module, a received timestamp in the request or data point;

to compare, by the a trusted computing module, to a most recent timestamp of a most recent previous request or data point;

responsive to identifying the received timestamp as not subsequent to the most recent timestamp, to indicate the most recent timestamp as a non-sequential time stamp; and

to update the most recent timestamp to be the received timestamp.

17. A tangible computer storage medium having computer usable program code encoded thereon, the computer usable program code being configured to determine road usage charges, the computer usable program code comprising:

instructions for retrieving by the private computing platform an original data file, wherein the private computing platform is located in a client-side on-board computing device, the client-side on-board computing device being partitioned into a trusted computing module, and the private computing platform, wherein the original data file comprises a global positioning system coordinate stream and a time information;

instructions, responsive to retrieving the original data file, for forwarding by the private computing platform the original data file to the trusted computing module;

instructions, responsive to receiving the original data file, for applying by the trusted computing module at least one billing algorithm to the original data file to determine a billing charge;

instructions, responsive to determining the billing charge, for authenticating by the trusted computing module the billing charge to create a signed metric report;

instructions for forwarding the signed metric report by the trusted computing module to the private computing platform; and

instructions for forwarding the signed metric report by the private computing platform to a billing authority.

18. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 17, the computer usable program code further comprising:

instructions, responsive to receiving the signed metric report by the billing authority, for verifying by the billing authority, the integrity of the signed data file received from the private computing platform; and

instructions for generating a road usage bill by the billing authority based on the signed metric report.

19. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 18, the computer usable program code further comprising:

instructions for authenticating the signed metric report by signing and hashing the billing charge by the private computing platform using a private key of a public-private endorsement key pair to create the signed metric report; and

instructions for verifying by the billing authority, the integrity of the signed data file received from the private computing platform using a public key of the public-private endorsement key pair.

20. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 17, the computer usable program code further comprising:

instructions for receiving the global positioning system coordinate stream and the time information by the private computing platform from a global positioning system;

instructions for formatting the global positioning system coordinate stream and time information by the private computing platform into the original data file; and

instructions for storing the original data file.

21. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 20, the computer usable program code further comprising:

instructions for encrypting the original data file by the private computing platform using a user key, wherein the user key is a public-private key pair;

instructions for forwarding the original data file to a third party storage facility; and

instructions for storing the original data file at the third party storage facility.

22. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 17, the computer usable program code further comprising:

instructions for receiving, by the a trusted computing module, a remote audit request from the billing authority, wherein the remote audit request includes a known data file having a known metric report result;

instructions for forwarding the remote audit request by the trusted computing module to the private computing platform via the unencrypted serial link;

instructions, responsive to receiving the remote audit request, for applying by the private computing platform the at least one billing algorithm to the remote audit request to create a second metric report;

instructions responsive to determining the billing charge, for signing and hashing the billing charge by the private computing platform using a private key of a public-private endorsement key pair to create a second signed metric report;

instructions for forwarding the second signed metric report by the private computing platform to the trusted computing module via the unencrypted serial link;

instructions for forwarding the second signed metric report by the trusted computing module to the billing authority, wherein the billing authority compares the second signed metric report to the known metric report result to identify a discrepancy between the second signed metric report to the known metric report result.

23. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 17, the computer usable program code further comprising:

instructions for receiving, by the a trusted computing module, a spot check request from the billing authority, wherein the spot check request includes a data file requesting verification of location information or metric information previously received by the trusted computing module, or from an independent source;

instructions for forwarding the spot check request by the trusted computing module to the private computing platform via the unencrypted serial link;

instructions, responsive to receiving the spot check request, for verifying by the private computing platform the authenticity of the request;

instructions, responsive to verifying by the private computing platform the authenticity of the request, for retrieving by the private computing platform the original data file;

instructions, responsive to retrieving the original data file, for creating a spot check report file, wherein the spot check report file is created by comparing the spot check request with the original data file to verify the location information or the metric information;

instructions, responsive to creating the spot check report file, for signing and hashing the spot check report file by the private computing platform using a private key of a public-private endorsement key pair to create a signed spot check report file;

instructions for forwarding the signed spot check report file by the private computing platform to the trusted computing module via the unencrypted serial link;

instructions for forwarding the signed spot check report file by the trusted computing module to the billing authority.

24. The tangible computer storage medium of claim 17, the computer usable program code further comprising:

instructions for receiving, by the a trusted computing module, a request or a data point from the private computing platform via the unencrypted serial link;

instructions for identifying, by the a trusted computing module, a received timestamp in the request or data point;

instructions for comparing, by the a trusted computing module, to a most recent timestamp of a most recent previous request or data point

instructions, responsive to identifying the received timestamp as not subsequent to the most recent timestamp, for indicating the most recent timestamp as a non-sequential timestamp; and

instructions for updating the most recent timestamp to be the received timestamp.