Digital measurement apparatus and image measurement apparatus

• US 6,889,324 B1
• Filed: 11/16/1999
• Issued: 05/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Kanai, Yoichi, Yachida, Masuyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Darrow, Justin T.
• Application Number:
  US09/442,056
• Time in Patent Office: 1,995 Days
• Field of Search: 713/160, 713/161, 713/176, 713/179, 713/178, 713/181, 380/246, 380/254, 380/30, 380/278
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• 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

A digital measurement apparatus measures a physical measurement object, provides a digital signature of public-key cryptography to measured data of a thus-measured physical quantity, and manages the measured data. The apparatus generates at least a pair of a public key and a private key, to be used for the digital signature of the public-key cryptography, through a key generating algorithm.

Claims

1. A digital measurement apparatus, which measures a physical measurement object to produce measured data, provides a public-key cryptography digital signature for the measured data, and manages the measured data, said apparatus comprising:

key generating means for generating at least a pair of a public key and a private key using a key generating algorithm; and

signature providing means for providing the public-key cryptography digital signature using said public key and said private key.

2. The digital measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said apparatus records the public-key cryptography digital signature, calculated using said private key, together with the measured data in a recording medium.

3. The digital measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said apparatus stores a public-key certificate produced externally for said public key.

4. The digital measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a sequence number indicating an order in which the measured data is obtained, wherein said apparatus records the sequence number together with the measured data in a recording medium.

5. The digital measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

at least one external authentication key, wherein said apparatus enables updating of the key generating algorithm or the pair of the public key and the private key when an external authentication corresponding to the at least one external authentication key is established.

6. The digital measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 4, further comprising:

at least one external authentication code, wherein said apparatus enables updating of the sequence number when an external authentication corresponding to the at least one external authentication code is established.

7. An image measurement apparatus, which provides a public-key cryptography digital signature for a measured image data, said apparatus comprising:

a private key;

image appurtenant information, a portion of which includes a characteristic quantity of the measured image data;

a signature calculating unit configured to calculate the public-key cryptography digital signature from the portion of the image appurtenant information using the private key;

a signature adding unit configured to add the calculated public-key cryptography digital signature to the image appurtenant information in the image-data format using a key generating algorithm; and

signature providing means for providing the public-key cryptography digital signature using said public key and said private key.

8. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 7,

wherein the portion of the image appurtenant information used for calculating the digital signature is stored in the image-data format as the image appurtenant information.

9. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising:

a data handling unit configured to calculate a characteristic quantity of the image appurtenant information including the characteristic quantity of the image, configured to store the characteristic quantity as the image appurtenant information in the image-data format, configured to calculate the digital signature from said calculated characteristic quantity using the private key, and configured to store the digital signature as the image appurtenant information in the image-data format.

10. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 9,

wherein said data handling unit is further configured to calculate a digital signature from said calculated characteristic quantity using a private key stored in an external storing unit loaded in said apparatus and is configured to store the digital signature in the image-data format as the image appurtenant information.

11. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 7,

wherein the image appurtenant information used for calculating the characteristic quantity used for calculating the digital signature includes a sequence number of the measured image data.

12. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 7,

wherein the image appurtenant information used for calculating the characteristic quantity used for calculating the digital signature includes a serial number.

13. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 7,

wherein the image appurtenant information used for calculating the characteristic quantity used for calculating the digital signature includes a public key which is a companion to said private key used for calculating the digital signature.

14. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 7,

wherein the image appurtenant information used for calculating the characteristic quantity used for calculating the digital signature includes a public key, in a form of a public-key certificate, and said public key is a companion to said private key used for calculating the digital signature.

15. A digital measurement apparatus, which measures a physical measurement object to produce measured data, provides a public-key cryptography digital signature for the measured data, and manages the measured data, said apparatus comprising:

a key generating unit configured to generate at least a pair of a public key and a private key using a key generating algorithm; and

a signature providing unit configured to provide the public-key cryptography digital signature using said public key and said private key.

16. The digital measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 15,

wherein said apparatus records the public-key cryptography digital signature, calculated using said private key, together with the measured data in a recording medium.

17. The digital measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 15,

wherein said apparatus stores a public-key certificate produced externally for said public key.

18. The digital measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 15, further comprising:

a sequence number indicating an order in which the measured data is obtained, wherein said apparatus records the sequence number together with the measured data in a recording medium.

19. The digital measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 15, further comprising:

at least one external authentication code, wherein said apparatus enables updating of the key generating algorithm and the pair of the public key and the private key when an external authentication corresponding to the at least one external authentication code is established.

20. The digital measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:

at least one external authentication code, wherein said apparatus enables updating of the sequence number when an external authentication corresponding to the at least one external authentication code is established.

21. An image measurement apparatus, which provides a public-key cryptography digital signature for a measured image data, said apparatus comprising:

a private key;

image appurtenant information, a portion of which includes a characteristic quantity of the measured image data;

a signature calculating unit configured to calculate the public-key cryptography digital signature from the portion of the image appurtenant information using the private key;

a signature adding unit configured to add the calculated public-key cryptography digital signature to the image appurtenant information in the image-data format using a key generating algorithm; and

a signature providing unit configured to provide the public-key cryptography digital signature using said public key and said private key.

22. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 21,

wherein the portion of the image appurtenant information used for calculating the digital signature is stored in the image-data format as the image appurtenant information.

23. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 21, further comprising:

a data handling unit configured to calculate a characteristic quantity of the image appurtenant information including the characteristic quantity of the image, configured to store the characteristic quantity as the image appurtenant information in the image-data format, configured to calculate the digital signature from said calculated characteristic quantity using the private key, and configured to store the digital signature as the image appurtenant information in the image-data format.

24. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 22,

wherein said data handling unit is further configured to calculate a digital signature from said calculated characteristic quantity using a private key stored in an external storing unit loaded in said apparatus and is configured to store the digital signature in the image-data format as the image appurtenant information.

25. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 21,

wherein the image appurtenant information used for calculating the characteristic quantity used for calculating the digital signature includes a sequence number of the measured image data.

26. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 21,

wherein the image appurtenant information used for calculating the characteristic quantity used for calculating the digital signature includes a serial number.

27. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 21,

wherein the image appurtenant information used for calculating the characteristic quantity used for calculating the digital signature includes a public key which is a companion to said private key used for calculating the digital signature.

28. The image measurement apparatus as claimed in claim 21,

wherein the image appurtenant information used for calculating the characteristic quantity used for calculating the digital signature includes a public key, in a form of a public-key certificate, and said public key is a companion to said private key used for calculating the digital signature.