Tree-based reliable multicast system where sessions are established by repair nodes that authenticate receiver nodes presenting participation certificates granted by a central authority

• US 6,275,859 B1
• Filed: 10/28/1999
• Issued: 08/14/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Perlman, Radia J., Chiu, Dah Ming, Provino, Joseph E., Kadansky, Miriam C., Wesley, Joseph S., Hurst, Stephen A., Rosenzweig, Philip M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): CALDWELL, ANDREW T
• Application Number:
  US09/429,192
• Time in Patent Office: 656 Days
• Field of Search: 709/227, 709/229, 709/249, 713/155-158, 713/162-163, 370/390
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/185 with management of multicast group membership
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1877 Measures taken prior to transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/321 involving a third party or a trusted authority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823

Abstract

To authenticate and authorize prospective members in a reliable multicast data distribution setup, the prospective members contact a central authority to obtain a “participation certificate” for the multicast session. The central authority authenticates each node and issues a digitally signed certificate to the node. Each certificate contains information specifying the manner in which the respective node is authorized to participate in the multicast session in addition to the respective node'"'"'s public key. The nodes exchange their participation certificates with each other during session-establishment dialog to prove their identities and their authorization to participate. Each node verifies the rights of other nodes based on authorization information contained in the participation certificate received from the other node. Thus, a node is allowed to participate as a repair node only if it presents a participation certificate authorizing it to do so. Disruption in network operation is avoided by reducing the ability of malicious nodes to consume resources to the detriment of legitimate session members.

Claims

1. A method of establishing a reliable multicast data distribution session, comprising:

receiving at a repair node, when engaging in dialog with respect to the establishment of the multicast session, a certificate from a central authority authenticating a receiver for participation in the reliable multicast session;

authenticating the receiver based on its presentation of its participation certificate; and

approving the receiver for participating as a receiver in the reliable multicast session based on authorization information contained in its participation certificate.

2. A method of establishing a reliable multicast data distribution session, comprising:

at a network node acting as a central authority, providing each of a plurality of network nodes with a respective participation certificate serving as a credential enabling the node to participate in the reliable multicast data distribution session, each certificate being digitally signed by the central authority and containing authorization information specifying the manner in which the respective node is authorized to participate in the multicast session, the network nodes including a sender and a plurality of receivers, the receivers being organized into repair groups each including one receiver designated as a repair node for the group, the repair node for each group being responsible for reliably re-transmitting multicast messages received from the sender to any of the other receivers of the group upon request;

at the repair node for each repair group;

exchanging participation certificates with the other receivers of the repair group when engaging in dialog with respect to the establishment of the multicast session;

authenticating the other receivers of the repair group based on their presentation of their respective participation certificates; and

verifying the right of each of the other receivers of the repair group to participate as a receiver in the session based on the authorization information contained in the respective participation certificate; and

at each receiver other than the repair node in each repair group, upon exchanging participation certificates with the repair node of the group when engaging in dialog with respect to the establishment of the multicast session;

authenticating the repair node of the group based on its presentation of its participation certificate; and

verifying the right of the repair node to participate as a repair node in the session based on the authorization information contained in its participation certificate.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the information contained in each participation certificate includes information specifying an interval during which the respective node is authorized to participate in the multicast session, and wherein verifying the right of a node to participate in the session includes determining whether the node seeks to participate in the multicast session during an interval that is included within the interval specified in the participation.

4. A system for establishing a reliable multicast data distribution session, comprising:

a central authority; and

a plurality of network nodes, the network nodes including a sender and a plurality of receivers, the receivers being organized into repair groups each including one receiver designated as a repair node for the group, the repair node for each group being responsible for reliably transmitting multicast messages received from the sender to each of the other receivers of the group;

the central authority being operative to provide each of the network nodes with a respective participation certificate serving as a credential enabling the node to participate in the reliable multicast data distribution session, each certificate being digitally signed by the central authority and containing authorization information specifying the manner in which the respective node is authorized to participate in the multicast session,

the repair node for each repair group being operative to;

exchange participation certificates with the other receivers of the repair group when engaging in dialog with respect to the establishment of the multicast session;

authenticate the other receivers of the repair group based on their presentation of their respective participation certificates; and

verify the right of each of the other receivers of the repair group to participate as a receiver in the session based on the authorization information contained in the respective participation certificate, and

each receiver other than the repair node of each repair group being operative to;

(i) exchange participation certificates with the repair node of the group when engaging in dialog with respect to the establishment of the multicast session,

(ii) verify the right of the repair node to participate as a repair node in the session based on the authorization information contained in the participation certificate received from the repair node, and

(iii) use the repair node'"'"'s public key included in the participation certificate to verify and accept digitally signed messages sent by the repair node.

5. A computer program product including a computer readable medium, the computer readable medium having a reliable multicast member verification program stored thereon for execution in a computer functioning as a network node, the reliable multicast member verification program comprising:

program code for obtaining a multicast session participation certificate from a central authority, the participation certificate serving as a credential enabling the network node to participate in a reliable multicast data distribution session, the certificate being digitally signed by the central authority and containing information specifying that the network node is authorized to participate as a repair node in the multicast session; and

program code for (i) exchanging participation certificates with receiver nodes when engaging in dialog with respect to the establishment of the multicast session, (ii) verifying the right of each receiver node to participate in the session based on authorization information contained in the participation certificate received from the receiver node, and (iii) using the receiver node'"'"'s public key included in its participation certificate to verify and accept digitally signed messages sent by the receiver node.

6. A computer data signal including a computer program for use in establishing a reliable multicast data distribution session, the computer program comprising:

program code for obtaining a multicast session participation certificate from a central authority, the participation certificate serving as a credential enabling a network node to participate in the reliable multicast data distribution session, the certificate being digitally signed by the central authority and containing information specifying that the network node is authorized to participate as a repair node in the multicast session; and

program code for (i) exchanging participation certificates with receiver nodes when engaging in dialog with respect to the establishment of the multicast session, (ii) verifying the right of each receiver node to participate as a receiver in the session based on authorization information contained in the participation certificate received from the receiver node, and (iii) using the receiver node'"'"'s public key included in its participation certificate to verify and accept digitally signed messages sent by the receiver node.

7. A system for establishing a reliable multicast data distribution session, comprising:

means, at a network node acting as a central authority, for providing each of a plurality of network nodes with a respective participation certificate serving as a credential enabling the node to participate in the reliable multicast data distribution session, each certificate being digitally signed by the central authority and containing authorization information specifying the manner in which the respective node is authorized to participate in the multicast session the network nodes including a sender and a plurality of receivers, the receivers being organized into repair groups each including one receiver designated as a repair node for the group, the repair node for each group being responsible for reliably re-transmitting multicast messages received from the sender to any of the other receivers of the group upon request;

means at the repair node for each repair group for;

exchanging participation certificates with the other receivers of the repair group when engaging in dialog with respect to the establishment of the multicast session;

authenticating the other receivers of the repair group based on their presentation of their respective participation certificates; and

verifying the right of each of the other receivers of the repair group to participate as a receiver in the session based on the authorization information contained in the respective participation certificate; and

means, at each receiver other than the repair node in each repair group, upon exchanging participation certificates with the repair node of the group when engaging in dialog with respect to the establishment of the multicast session, for (i) verifying the right of the repair node to participate as a repair node in the session based on the authorization information contained in the participation certificate received from the repair node, and (ii) using the repair node'"'"'s public key included in its participation certificate to verify and accept digitally signed messages sent by the repair node.

8. A method of establishing a reliable multicast data distribution session, comprising:

at a network node,

receiving from a central authority a participation certificate serving as a credential enabling the node to participate in the reliable multicast data distribution session, each certificate being digitally signed by the central authority and containing information specifying that the node is authorized to participate as a repair node in the multicast session;

exchanging participation certificates with receiver network nodes when engaging in dialog with respect to the establishment of the multicast session;

authenticating the receiver nodes based on their presentation of their respective participation certificates; and

verifying the right of each receiver node to participate as a receiver node in the session based on the authorization information contained in the participation certificate received from the receiver node.