Data processing apparatus

• US 9,015,497 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2010
• Issued: 04/21/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Titan Intelligence Technology Limited
• Original Assignee: Telit Automotive Solutions Nv (TUS International Ltd.)
• Inventors: Peeters, Michael Michel Patrick, Nikov, Ventzislav, Debast, Claude
• Primary Examiner(s): PERUNGAVOOR, VENKATANARAY
• Application Number:
  US13/510,890
• Publication Number:
  US 20120246735A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,589 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 713/190
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/52 during program execution, e.g. stack integrity ; Preventing unwanted data erasure; Buffer overflow
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/552 involving long-term monitoring or reporting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/034 Test or assess a computer or a system
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/02 taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems G07B15/06 takes precedence; taximeters G07B13/00; parking meters per se G07F17/24; car rental systems per se G07B15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/06 Arrangements for road pricing or congestion charging of vehicles or vehicle users, e.g. automatic toll systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/126 the source of the received data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1416 Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection

Abstract

A data processing apparatus (30) comprising: a local source of data (4); a first controller (31); and a tamper-resistant second controller (32) configured to communicate with the first controller, the first controller being configured to control and receive data from the local source of data and from a sensing unit connected to the first controller via a communication interface and to perform a series of calculation operations on the data, wherein the second controller is configured to verify the integrity of a selected subset of the operations performed by the first controller.

Claims

1. A data processing apparatus comprising:

a local source of data;

a first controller; and

a tamper-resistant second controller configured to communicate with the first controller and to verify integrity of a series of calculation operations performed by the first controller, the first controller being configured to control and receive data from the local source of data and from a sensing unit connected to the first controller via a communication interface and to perform the series of calculation operations on the data, wherein the first controller is configured to record history data derived from a start state and a finish state of the series of calculation operations and transmit the history data to the tamper-resistant second controller, the tamper-resistant second controller being configured to one of randomly and pseudo-randomly select and verify one of the calculation operations to verify integrity of the series of calculation operations using the history data, wherein the first controller is configured to transmit the history data as each calculation operation is performed, the tamper-resistant second controller being configured to decide whether to store or discard the transmitted history data according to the selection of which operation is to be verified.

2. A vehicle telematics system comprising the data processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensing unit is a location sensing unit and the local source of data comprises a source of map data, the first controller being configured to calculate a location of the vehicle based on data received from the location sensing unit.

3. The vehicle telematics system of claim 2, wherein the local source of data comprises a source of fare data, the first controller is configured to calculate a fare based on the calculated location and data received from both the source of fare data and the source of map data.

4. The vehicle telematics system of claim 2, wherein the tamper-resistant second controller is provided as a removable card comprising data for identifying a user of the vehicle telematics system.

5. The data processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tamper-resistant second controller is configured to one of randomly and pseudo-randomly select a subset of the calculation operations.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the tamper-resistant second controller is configured to verify integrity of a selected subset of the calculation operations performed by the first controller during at least one of a location calculation operation and a fare calculation operation.

7. The data processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tamper-resistant second controller is configured to store the history data only for one selected operation to be verified.

8. The data processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the history data is derived from a hash of the start state and the finish state of the series of calculation operations.

9. The data processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein the tamper-resistant second controller is configured to indicate to the first controller which of the history data are to be transmitted after the first controller has sent a hashed result of the calculation operations performed by the first controller.

10. A metering system comprising the data processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensing unit is an energy meter and the first controller is configured to generate energy pricing based on data received from both the sensing unit and the local source of data.

11. A method of operating the data processing apparatus of claim 1, the method comprising:

the first controller receiving data from the sensing unit and the local source of data;

the first controller performing the series of calculation operations based on the received data;

the first controller recording the history data derived from the start state and the finish state of the series of calculation operations and transmitting the history data to the tamper-resistant second controller; and

the tamper-resistant second controller one of randomly and pseudo-randomly selecting and verifying one of the calculation operations performed by the first controller, verifying integrity of the selected calculation operations using the history data, and providing an indication of correct or incorrect verification.

12. A method of operating the vehicle telematics system according to claim 3, the method comprising:

the first controller receiving data from the location sensing unit, the source of map data, and the source of fare data;

the first controller calculating a location of the vehicle based on data received from the location sensing unit;

the first controller calculating a fare based on the calculated location and the data received from both the source of fare data and the source of map data;

the first controller recording history data derived from the start state and the finish state of a series of calculation operations and transmitting the history data to the tamper-resistant second controller; and

the tamper-resistant second controller one of randomly and pseudo-randomly selecting and verifying one of the series of calculation operations, verifying the integrity of the selected subset of calculation operations performed using the history data and providing an indication of correct or incorrect verification.