# US 11,443,566 B2 · Unified secure automatic ECU provisioning and ECU message validation

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- Number: US 11,443,566 B2
- Document ID: US11443566B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/837,472
- Filed: 2020-04-01
- Published: 2021-10-07
- Granted: 2022-09-13
- Earliest claimed: 2020-04-01
- Assignees: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
- Applicants: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
- Inventors: Sergio Santos; Yona Shaposhnik; Steven James Craig
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11443566B2

## CPC

- G07C 5/008: {communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C)}
- B60R 16/0231: {Circuits relating to the driving or the functioning of the vehicle (monitoring tyres B60C23/00; indicating overspeed B60K31/00; for dash boards B60K37/00, B60Q3/10; for indicating emergencies B60Q1/52; brake control systems B60T; registering or indicating the working of vehicles G07C5/00; measuring distance G01C, e.g. combinations of speed and distance G01C23/00; engine indicators G01L; measuring speed or acceleration G01P)}
- G06F 16/284: {Relational databases}
- H04W 4/44: for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
- H04W 4/50: Service provisioning or reconfiguring
- H04W 12/0431: Key distribution or pre-distribution; Key agreement
- H04W 12/069: using certificates or pre-shared keys
- H04W 12/106: Packet or message integrity
- G07C: TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE
- B60R: VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

A system includes an electronic control unit (ECU) including a processor that determines that the ECU has been communicably connected to a vehicle communication system. The processor sends a provisioning message, via the communication system, to a remote server, responsive to connection to the vehicle communication system. The message includes a vehicle identifier provided by an element of the vehicle system and signed with a unique security key specific to the ECU. The processor is also receives a confirmation response from the remote server and enables further communication for the ECU responsive to the confirmation response.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system comprising:
one or more hardware processors configured to:
receive a provisioning message from a vehicle electronic control unit (ECU), the provisioning message having a signature from being signed by the ECU with a key unique to the ECU;
check the signature of the provisioning message against a set of stored unique keys, to validate that the message is from a known ECU having the unique key and to determine which ECU the message is from based on the unique key;
responsive to validating the signature, determine a vehicle identifier with which the ECU is to be associated, the vehicle identifier included in a message payload;
store a relationship between the ECU and the vehicle identifier in a database such that the ECU is uniquely associated with a specific vehicle identifier;
receive an alert message from the ECU, the message signed by the ECU with the unique key and including a vehicle identifier in a payload;
based on the signature, validate the message and identify the ECU;
extract the vehicle identifier from the payload of the message, responsive to validating and identifying the ECU;
determine if the identified ECU has an existing stored relationship with the vehicle identifier based on information in the database; and
validate the message based on the identified ECU having the existing stored relationship with the vehicle identifier as indicated in the database.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle identifier includes a vehicle identification number (VIN).

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the payload includes an ECU hardware level or ECU software level.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein the relationship between the ECU and vehicle identifier is further cross-referenced with ECU characteristics of the ECU, including at least one of the hardware level or software level.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the hardware processors are further configured to send a confirmation message to the ECU, responsive to storing the relationship.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The system of claim 5, wherein the confirmation message includes the vehicle identifier identified in the relationship stored by the storing.

### Claim 7

A method comprising:
receiving a provisioning message from a vehicle electronic control unit (ECU), the provisioning message having a signature from being signed by the ECU with a key unique to the ECU;
checking the signature of the provisioning message against a set of stored unique keys, to validate that the message is from a known ECU having the unique key and to determine which ECU the message is from based on the unique key;
responsive to validating the signature, determining a vehicle identifier with which the ECU is to be associated, the vehicle identifier included in a message payload;
storing a relationship between the ECU and the vehicle identifier in a database such that the ECU is uniquely associated with a specific vehicle identifier;
receiving an alert message from the ECU, the message signed by the ECU with the unique key and including a vehicle identifier in a payload;
based on the signature, validating the message and identify the ECU;
extracting the vehicle identifier from the payload of the message, responsive to validating and identifying the ECU;
determining if the identified ECU has an existing stored relationship with the vehicle identifier based on information in the database; and
validating the message based on the identified ECU having the existing stored relationship with the vehicle identifier as indicated in the database.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the vehicle identifier includes a vehicle identification number (YIN).

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the payload includes an ECU hardware level or ECU software level.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the relationship between the ECU and vehicle identifier is further cross-referenced with ECU characteristics of the ECU, including at least one of the hardware level or software level.

### Claim 11 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the processors are further configured to send a confirmation message to the ECU, responsive to storing the relationship.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein the confirmation message includes the vehicle identifier identified in the relationship stored by the storing.