System for diversifying information in a network for distributing goods or services

• US 5,991,404 A
• Filed: 07/15/1997
• Issued: 11/23/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Schlumberger Industries Incorporated (Schlumberger NV)
• Original Assignee: Schlumberger Industries Incorporated (Schlumberger NV)
• Inventors: Dietrich, Christian, Ocquet, Nathalie, Brahami, Lionel, Phan, Ly Thanh
• Primary Examiner(s): Swann, Tod R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Myhre, James W.
• Application Number:
  US08/892,813
• Time in Patent Office: 861 Days
• Field of Search: 380/20, 380/23
• US Class Current: 705/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/32 including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials

Abstract

A system for diversifying information carried by a network to apparatuses for providing goods or services. The network includes a plurality of platforms each capable of creating messages including diversification data for diversifying the information to be carried. The diversification data is provided by a diversification-data generator in each platform. Each apparatus includes an access control module which stores the diversification data separately for each platform.

Claims

1. A system for diversifying information carried by a network to apparatuses that provide goods or services, said network including a plurality of platforms each capable of creating messages including diversification data for diversifying the information to be carried, said diversification data being provided by respective diversification-data generators, and each apparatus including an access control module, wherein each platform has an autonomous diversification-data generator, and said access control module of each apparatus includes, storage means for storing the value of the diversification data conveyed with the last message issued by each platform, and comparison means for comparing each new value of the diversification data received from each platform with at least the previous value received from such platform.

2. A diversification system according to claim 1, wherein said diversification-data generator is a random-number generator.

3. A diversification system according to claim 1, wherein said diversification-data generator is a message counter.

4. A diversification system according to claim 1, wherein said diversification-data generator is a universal time base.

5. A diversification system according to claim 4, wherein the diversification data is the transmission date t_n of the message relative to a known arbitrary origin t₀.

6. A diversification system according to claim 4, wherein said time base has a duration t_max limited to at least the lifetime of said access control modules.

7. A diversification system according to claim 6, wherein each access control module stores in memory the transmission date t₁ of the first message provided by each platform, and wherein a message transmitted at a date t_n+1 is validated by comparing the transmission date t₁ with the transmission date t_n of the previous message:

if t_n >

t₁ the message at t_n+1 is validated if t_n+1 is not included within the range t₁ to t_n, exclusive

if t_n <

t₁ the message at t_n+1 is validated if t_n+1 is included within the range t_n to t₁, exclusive.