GROUP SECURITY IN MACHINE-TYPE COMMUNICATION

• US 20130086668A1
• Filed: 08/01/2011
• Published: 04/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Prasad, Raghawa, Zhang, Xiaowei
• Granted Patent: US 9,077,698 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/7
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/50 Address allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/062 for key distribution, e.g. centrally by trusted party cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving a central third party H04L9/0819
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/065 for group communications cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management involving conference or group key H04L9/0833
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/067 using one-time keys cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for generation of one-time passwords H04L9/0863
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0819 Key transport or distribution, i.e. key establishment techniques where one party creates or otherwise obtains a secret value, and securely transfers it to the other(s) network architectures or network communication protocols for key distribution in a packet data network H04L63/062
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/083 involving central third party, e.g. key distribution center [KDC] or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0833 involving conference or group key network architectures or network communication protocols for key management in group communication in a packet data network H04L63/065
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

If the related secure communication method is applied to the system which includes a plurality of the MTC devices, traffic in a network would increase in proportion to the number of MTC devices. A disclosed communication apparatus is connected to a network and a plurality of communication terminals, and includes: a group information sending unit for sending group information, which is received from the network; an access control unit for 1) receiving a reply from the communication terminal(s) which responded to the group information and 2) sending the reply to the network; and a temporary identifier and group key sending unit for sending a temporary identifier and a group key to the communication terminal which responded to the group information, when the communication apparatus received the temporary identifier and the group key from the network.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus which is connected to a network and a plurality of communication terminals comprising:

a group information sending unit which sends group information which is received from the network;

an access control unit which receives a reply from the communication terminal which responded to the group information and for sending the reply to the network; and

a temporary identifier and group key sending unit which sends a temporary identifier and a group key to the communication terminal which responded to the group information, when the communication apparatus received the temporary identifier and the group key from the network.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the access control unit concatenates the reply and sends the concatenated reply to the network, when the communication apparatus received the reply from the communication terminal.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the access control unit determines that the group information sent to the communication terminal matches the group information held by the communication terminal, when the communication apparatus received the reply from the communication terminal, and performs access control to the responded communication terminal.

4. The communication apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the access control unit performs authentication between the communication terminal and the network, when the access control unit determined that the group information to the communication terminal matches the group information held by the communication terminal.

5. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the group information includes at least one of the following an identifier of the group or information of feature of a communication terminal.

24. The communication apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the access control unit determines that the group information sent to the communication terminal matches the group information held by the communication terminal, when the communication apparatus received the reply from the communication terminal, and performs access control to the responded communication terminal.

25. The communication apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the group information includes at least one of the following an identifier of the group or information of feature of a communication terminal.

6. A communication system comprising:

a plurality of communication terminals;

a network; and

a communication apparatus which relays communication between the plurality of communication terminals and the network;

wherein the communication apparatus receives group information from the network, sends the group information to the plurality of communication terminals, and sends a temporary identifier and a group key to the communication terminal replied to the group information.

7. The communication system according to claim 6,

wherein the communication apparatus comprises:

a group information sending unit which sends group information which is received from the network;

an access control unit which receives a reply from the communication terminal which responded to the group information and for sending the reply to the network; and

a temporary identifier and group key sending unit which sends the temporary identifier and the group key to the communication terminal which responded to the group information, when the communication apparatus received the temporary identifier and the group key from the network.

8. The communication system according to claim 6,

wherein the access control unit concatenates the reply and sends the concatenated reply to the network, when the communication apparatus received the reply from the communication terminal.

9. The communication system according to 8claim 6,

wherein the access control unit determines that the group information sent to the communication terminal matches the group information held by the communication terminal, when the communication apparatus received the reply from the communication terminal, and performs access control to the responded communication terminal.

10. The communication system according to claim 9,

wherein the access control unit performs authentication between the communication terminal and the network, when the access control unit determined that the group information sent to the communication terminal matches the group information held by the communication terminal.

11. The communication system according to claim 6,

wherein the communication terminal includes:

a determining unit which determines whether the group information received from the communication apparatus matches the group information held by the communication terminal; and

a replying unit which replies to the communication apparatus when the group information received from the communication apparatus matches the group information held by the communication terminal.

12. The communication system according to claim 6,

wherein the group information includes at least one of the following:

an identifier of the group or information of feature of a communication terminal.

13. A communication method which is performed between a network and a plurality of communication terminals, the method comprising:

receiving group information from the network;

sending the group information to the plurality of communication terminals;

receiving a reply to the group information from the communication terminal; and

sending a temporary identifier and a group key to the communication terminal replied to the group information.

14. The communication method according to claim 13 further comprising:

sending group information which is received from the network;

receiving the reply from the communication terminal which responded to the group information;

sending the reply to the network; and

sending the temporary identifier and the group key to the communication terminal which responded to the group information, when received the temporary identifier and the group key from the network.

15. The communication method according to claim 13, further comprising:

concatenating the reply and sends the concatenated reply to the network, when received the reply from the communication terminal.

16. The communication method according to claim 13, further comprising:

determining that the group information sent to the communication terminal matches the group information held by the communication terminal, when received the reply from the communication terminal; and

performing access control to the responded communication terminal.

17. The communication method according to claim 16, further comprising:

performing authentication between the communication terminal and the network, when it is determined that the group information sent to the communication terminal matches the group information held by the communication terminal at the time of the access control.

18. The communication method according to claim 13,

wherein the group information includes at least one of the following:

an identifier of the group or information of feature of a communication terminal.

19-23. -23. (canceled)