Method for validating a road traffic control transaction

• US 8,850,198 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2012
• Issued: 09/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kapsch TrafficCom AG (Datax Handelsgmbh)
• Original Assignee: Kapsch TrafficCom AG (Datax Handelsgmbh)
• Inventors: Hafenscher, Albert
• Primary Examiner(s): Zele, Krista
• Assistant Examiner(s): VOSTAL, ONDREJ C
• Application Number:
  US13/409,542
• Publication Number:
  US 20120246477A1
• Time in Patent Office: 943 Days
• US Class Current: 713/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/00 Pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/84 Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/08 Key distribution or management, e.g. generation, sharing or updating, of cryptographic keys or passwords network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting key management in a packet data network H04L63/06
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3242 involving keyed hash functions, e.g. message authentication codes [MACs], CBC-MAC or HMAC
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/304 Optical code recognition [OCR], e.g. bar code reader
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2017/2525 optical code recognition [OCR], e.g. bar code reader
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00331 with an apparatus performing optical character recognition character recognition G06V30/10

Abstract

A method for validating a road traffic control transaction. The method includes: storing a cryptographic key assigned to a transaction receiver, in the transaction receiver; recording an image of a vehicle; reading an identification of the vehicle in the recorded image by OCR and generating a control transaction thereof in the control station; generating a random key and encrypting the recorded image into authentication data with the random key and the cryptographic key in the control station; transmitting the recorded image, the control transaction, the random key and the authentication data to the transaction receiver; in the transaction receiver, encrypting the received recorded image into nominal authentication data with the received random key and the stored cryptographic key; and comparing the received authentication data with the nominal authentication data. The received control transaction is then validated when the received authentication data and the nominal authentication data are identical.

Claims

1. A method for validating a road traffic control transaction that is sent from a control station of a road traffic control system to a transaction receiver of the road traffic control system, the method comprising:

storing a cryptographic key assigned to the transaction receiver, in the transaction receiver and in a separate processing element of the control station;

recording an image of a vehicle, reading an identification of the vehicle in the recorded image by OCR and generating a control transaction thereof in the control station;

generating a random key and encrypting the recorded image into authentication data with the random key and the cryptographic key in the separate processing element of the control station;

transmitting the recorded image, the control transaction, the random key and the authentication data to the transaction receiver;

in the transaction receiver, receiving the recorded image, the control transaction, the random key, and the authentications data, and encrypting the received recorded image into nominal authentication data with the received random key and the stored cryptographic key; and

comparing the received authentication data with the nominal authentication data,

wherein the received control transaction is validated when the received authentication data and the nominal authentication data are identical.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising storing a plurality of cryptographic keys assigned to different transaction receivers in the processing element, and selecting a cryptographic key to be respectively used, depending on the identification read by OCR.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising sending the authentication data and the random key to the transaction receiver together with the control transaction.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising sending the authentication data and the random key to the transaction receiver together with the recorded image.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the random key defines an image section in the recorded image, and wherein said encryption of the recorded image with the random key comprises extracting the image section from the recorded image, and forming a first hash value of the image section.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said encryption of the recorded image with the cryptographic key comprises forming a second hash value of the first hash value and the cryptographic key, and wherein the second hash value represents the authentication data.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising integrating into the authentication data one or more of a time stamp, an identification of the control station, an identification of the processing element, and a serial count value.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising storing a plurality of cryptographic keys in the transaction receiver and in the processing element together with assigned key identifications, wherein the key identification of the key used is integrated into the authentication data and used for determining the assigned key in the transaction receiver.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein a hardware element is used as said processing element and connected to the control station via a physical interface.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein a separation of the physical interface renders the hardware element unusable.