System and method for event-based data acquisition in real-time applications

A method executed by a computer processor for acquiring time limited data from a Real-Time Application (RTA) for integrity verification comprising the steps of:

• defining a time frame of a plurality of time ordered time frames, wherein each time frame of the plurality of time ordered time frames comprises a time duration;
• retrieving one or more collections, with each collection comprising an event signifying a change in state of data of the RTA during the time duration for each of a corresponding one of the time frames;
• calculating one or more local integrity checks for each of the one or more collections at the corresponding one of the time frame, wherein the calculating comprises calculating a first local integrity check based on a first collection at a first time frame and an initialization key;
• retrieving additional collections from the one or more collections for subsequent time frames from the plurality of time ordered time frames that are after the first time frame, wherein each of the additional collections comprises an event signifying a change in state of data of the RTA during each of the subsequent time frames;
• calculating a subsequent local integrity check for a subsequent time frame based on one of the additional collections from that subsequent time frame and based on at least one preceding local integrity check corresponding to a prior time frame;
• receiving, at the subsequent time frame, a selection of the subsequent time frame;
• calculating a global integrity check at the subsequent time frame after the prior time frame for each of the calculated subsequent local integrity checks from a combination of each of the one or more local integrity checks that were calculated prior to the subsequent time frame;
• and
• providing the global integrity check and the one or more collections to a collector, wherein the collector is configured to store the received global integrity check and the one or more collections, and the collector is further configured to calculate, based on the global integrity check and the one or more collections, a validating global integrity check to verify integrity of the global integrity check.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to store non-transitory instructions for execution by a processor, the instructions defining modules for acquiring time limited data to facilitate integrity verification in real-time applications (RTAs) comprising:

• an initialization module configured to provide an initialization key;
• a time frame module configured to define a plurality of time ordered time frames including a first time frame and a second time frame, wherein each time frame comprises a time duration;
• a collection processing module configured for:
• retrieving a first collection comprising one or more events signifying a change in state of data of the RTA occurring during the time duration of the first time frame;
• and
• retrieving a second collection comprising one or more events signifying a change in state of data of the RTA occurring during the time duration of the second time frame;
• and
• an integrity check module configured for:
• calculating a first integrity check corresponding to the first time frame from the initialization key and the first collection;
• calculating a second integrity check corresponding to the second time frame from the first integrity check and the second collection;
• calculating a global integrity check during the second time frame, which is after a prior time frame for the first local integrity check, and is based on a combination of the first integrity check and the second integrity check;
• providing, to a collector, the global integrity check;
• and
• providing, to the collector, the first and second collections so that the collector performs a calculation of a validating global integrity check to verify integrity of the global integrity check, wherein the calculation of the validating global integrity check is based on the global integrity check and the collections.

A device for acquiring reproducible time limited data to facilitate integrity verification in real-time applications (RTAs), comprising a processor and a memory configured to store non-transient instructions which when executed by the processor perform the steps of:

• defining a first time frame of a plurality of time ordered time frames, wherein each time frame of the plurality of time ordered time frames comprises a time duration;
• retrieving a first collection from a plurality of collections comprising an event signifying a change in state of data of the RTA during the time duration for the first time frame;
• and
• calculating, at a first time corresponding to a first time frame from the plurality of time ordered time frames, a first local integrity check from the first collection and an initialization key;
• retrieving additional collections of the plurality of collections that each correspond to individual ones of subsequent time frames from the plurality of time ordered time frames, wherein each of the subsequent time frames is after the first time frame and each of the additional collections comprises an event signifying a change in state of data of the RTA during the time duration for a corresponding one of the subsequent time frames;
• calculating subsequent local integrity checks for each of the subsequent time frames based on a corresponding one of the additional collections and based on a prior local integrity check corresponding to a prior time frame;
• and
• calculating a global integrity check, after the prior time frame for each of the calculated subsequent local integrity checks, at one of the subsequent time frames based on a combination of the calculated local integrity checks preceding the subsequent time frames;
• and
• providing the global integrity check and the retrieved collections to a collector, wherein the collector is configured to store the received global integrity check and the retrieved collections, and the collector is further configured to calculate, based on a combination of the global integrity check and the retrieved collections, a validating global integrity check to verify integrity of the global integrity check.