US 5,434,919 A · Compact endorsement signature systems

Abstract

Cryptographic methods and apparatus for issuing (101), endorsing (102), and verifying (103, 104) compact endorsement signatures are disclosed. Such signatures allow an endorser to provide a public-key verifiable signature on a chosen message more efficiently than if the endorser were to make a public key signature, since the endorser needs only to perform conventional cryptographic operations and has to store less data per signature than required by previously known endorsement schemes. A hierarchy of compression functions takes a plurality of one-time signatures into the value upon which the public key signature is formed. Each endorsement uses up one of the one-time signatures and provides a subset of inputs to the compression hierarchy sufficient to allow its evaluation. Preparation for subsequent endorsements is made by pre-evaluating one-time signatures and saving only some of the intermediate values of the compression hierarchy.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A method for public-key digital authentication of messages, comprising the steps of:

creating a private key by a signing party;
making a public key, corresponding to said private key of said signing party, verifiable by at least a receiving party;
creating a set of one-time signatures;
forming a compression hierarchy of said one-time signatures;
forming a public key digital signature, verifiable with said public key, on said compression hierarchy;
storing edges of said compression hierarchy by an endorser;
endorsing by signing with at least one of said one-time signatures and providing stored edge values;
verification of said one-time signature and said edge values supplied and said digital signature on said compression values;
and
accomplishing the forgoing by said endorser storing substantially less than all edges and computing before each endorsement substantially less than all edges.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Compact endorsement signature systems

Life of this patent

Compact endorsement signature systems

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims6