Qualcomm Incorporated

Certicom Corporation

James Semple

Gregory Gordon Rose

Philip Michael Hawkes

Michael Paddon

John Nasielski

Paul Neil Fahn

Roy Franklin Quick, Jr

Roy Franklin Quick

Parag Arun Agashe

Francesco Grilli

Adrian Edward Escott

Lorenzo Casaccia

Gregory G Rose

Gregory S Rose

A method of requesting and issuing a certificate from certification authority for use by an initiating correspondent with a registration authority is provided. The initiating correspondent makes a request for a certificate to the registration authority, and the registration authority sends the request to a certificate authority, which issues the certificate to the registration authority. The certificate is stored at a location in a directory and this location is associated with a pointer such as uniform resource locator (URL) that is derived from information contained in the certificate request. The initiating correspondent computes the location using the same information and forwards it to other corespondents. The other correspondents can then locate the certificate to authenticate the public key of the initiating correspondent.

URL-based certificate in a PKI

Methods and apparatus for protecting user privacy in a shared key system. According to one aspect, a user generates a derived identity based on a key and a session variable, and sends the derived identity to an application. In one embodiment, a key server may be used to receive the derived identity from the application, and return a sub-key to the application to use for encrypting communications with the user.

Privacy protection in communication systems

In a communication system in which two communication entities seek to have a private or confidential communication session, a trust relationship needs first be established. The trust relationship is based on the determination of a shared secret which in turn is generated from contextual information. The contextual information can be derived from the circumstances surrounding the communication session. For example, the contextual information can include topological information, time-based information, and transactional information. The shared secret may be self-generated or received from a third party. In either event, the shared secret may be used as key material for any cryptographic protocol used between the communication entities.

Context limited shared secret

A method and apparatus for secure generation of a short-term key SK for viewing information content in a Multicast-broadcast-multimedia system are described. A short-term key is generated by a memory module residing in user equipment (UE) only when the source of the information used to generate the short-term key can be validated. A short-term key can be generated by a Broadcast Access Key (BAK) or a derivative of BAK and a changing value with a Message Authentication Code (MAC) appended to the changing value. A short-term key (SK) can also be generated by using a private key and a short-term key (SK) manager with a corresponding public key distributed to the memory module residing in the user equipment (UE), using a digital signature.

Method and apparatus for providing authenticated challenges for broadcast-multicast communications in a communication system

Apparatus and method for provisioning an access key used for a controlled access broadcast service is disclosed. In one aspect, a method for secure processing in a device that securely stores a secret key comprises receiving a plurality of challenges from a network, generating a plurality of ciphering keys based on the secret key and the plurality of challenges, and generating an access key based on the plurality of ciphering keys.

Apparatus and method for a secure broadcast system

A communications system and method of bootstrapping mobile station authentication and establishing a secure encryption key are disclosed. In one embodiment of the communications network, a distinguished random challenge is reserved for generation of a secure encryption key, wherein the distinguished random challenge is not used for authentication of a mobile station. The distinguished random challenge is stored at a mobile station's mobile equipment and used to generate a secure encryption key, and a bootstrapping function in the network uses a normal random challenge to authenticate the mobile station and the distinguished random challenge to generate the secure encryption key.

Bootstrapping authentication using distinguished random challenges

A mutual authentication method is provided for securely agreeing application-security keys with mobile terminals supporting legacy Subscriber Identity Modules (e.g., GSM SIM and CDMA2000 R-UIM, which do not support 3G AKA mechanisms). A challenge-response key exchange is implemented between a bootstrapping server function (BSF) and mobile terminal (MT). The BSF generates an authentication challenge and sends it to the MT under a server-authenticated public key mechanism. The MT receives the challenge and determines whether it originates from the BSF based on a bootstrapping server certificate. The MT formulates a response to the authentication challenge based on keys derived from the authentication challenge and a pre-shared secret key. The BSF receives the authentication response and verifies whether it originates from the MT. Once verified, the BSF and MT independently calculate an application security key that the BSF sends to a requesting network application function to establish secure communications with the MT.

Secure bootstrapping for wireless communications

Methods and devices for instructing a subscriber identity module in a cellular communications network to process non-standard authentication information in a standard manner are disclosed. One embodiment of a method comprises receiving a first message authentication code (MAC) and an authentication management field (AMF) at a subscriber identity module as part of an authentication protocol, calculating a second MAC and determining whether the second MAC is equivalent to the first MAC. If the first and second MAC are not equivalent, the SIM calculates a third MAC and determines whether the first MAC is equivalent to the third MAC, and if so, the subscriber identity module processes the AMF in a predefined or standard manner.

Mutual authentication with modified message authentication code

Systems and methods of securing wireless communications between a network and a subscriber station include inserting a marker denoting an encryption type within a random value used for authentication, calculating a first session key and a first response value as a function of the random value, then calculating a second session key and a second response value as a function of the random value, first session key and first response value. The two levels of session keys and response values may be used by upgraded subscriber stations and network access points to prevent attackers from intercepting authentication triplets.

Method and apparatus for authentication in wireless communications

A method and an apparatus for secure registration for a multicast-broadcast-multimedia system (MBMS) are disclosed. A random number is generated by a broadcast-multicast-service center (BM-SC) and broadcast to user equipment in the coverage area of a radio access network (RAN). A memory module or smart card (UICC) in the user equipment generates a radio access network key (RAK) which is a function of the random number and a key selected from the group consisting of a public land mobile network key (PK) and a broadcast access key (BAK), and then generates a temporary registration key (RGK) as a function of the RAK, a service identification number and a user identification number, for example, P-TMSI, which may be extracted by the RAN to authenticate the registration as legitimate.

Secure registration for a multicast-broadcast-multimedia system (MBMS)

Systems and methods of securing wireless communications between a network and a subscriber station are disclosed. One embodiment creates authentication triplets due to expire after a certain amount of time such that they may not be used indefinitely by an attacker who intercepts them.

Method and application for authentication of a wireless communication using an expiration marker

An authentication system is disclosed. The authentication system includes a content provider configured to distribute encrypted content, wherein the encrypted content is generated using a content key, and a client having a symmetric key and configured to store the encrypted content received from the content provider and issue a request to the content provider, wherein the request includes a cryptographic function configured to have the symmetric key and the encrypted content as input, wherein the content provider is further configured to verify the client via the request to ensure that the client has received the encrypted content.

Growing community of inventors

London, United Kingdom

James Semple