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US 7,599,496 B2Granted
Secure encryption key distribution
AssigneePine Valley Investments, Inc.
InventorsThomas Andrew Hengeveld, Dennis Michael Martinez
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for distributing encryption keys for use in communication systems such as trunked radio communication systems. Group traffic keys are encrypted at a key administrator and passed to a distribution facility for storage and distribution. The distribution facility passes the encrypted group traffic key to communication devices where the group traffic keys are decrypted and used to encrypt/decrypt traffic.
Claims31
A method for distributing encryption keys, said method comprising the steps of:
- encrypting a group traffic key at a key administrator using a group encryption key;
- passing said encrypted group traffic key to a distribution system for storage and distribution;
- distributing said encrypted group traffic key from said distribution system to at least one communication device belonging to at least one group;
- generating said group encryption key at said at least one communication device;
- decrypting said encrypted group traffic key at said at least one communication device using said generated group encryption key;
- and
- using said decrypted group traffic key for secure communications between said at least one communication device and other communication devices of said at least one group.
4 more elements
A method for distributing encryption keys, said method comprising the steps of:
- encrypting a group traffic key at a key administrator using a first encryption key;
- passing said encrypted group traffic key to a distribution system for storage and distribution;
- distributing said encrypted group traffic key from said distribution system to at least one communication device belonging to at least one group;
- receiving said encrypted group traffic key at one of said at least one communication devices;
- generating a group encryption key corresponding to said first encryption key at said at least one communication device;
- decrypting said encrypted group traffic key at said one of said at least one communication devices using said key corresponding to said first encryption key;
- and
- using said decrypted group traffic key for secure communications between said at least one communication device and other communication devices of said at least one group.
5 more elements
A method for distributing encryption keys, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving an encrypted group traffic key at a distribution system for storage and distribution, said encrypted group traffic key encrypted using a first key;
- distributing said encrypted group traffic key from said distribution system to at least one communication device belonging to at least one group;
- generating said group encryption key corresponding to said first encryption key at said at least one communication device;
- decrypting said group traffic key at said at least one communication device using a key corresponding to said first key;
- and
- using said decrypted group traffic key for secure communications between said at least one communication device and other communication devices of said at least one group.
3 more elements
A encryption key distribution system comprising:
- an encrypted group traffic key generator for encrypting a group traffic key using a first key;
- a distribution system operably connected to said encrypted group traffic key generator for receiving said encrypted group traffic key from said encrypted group traffic key generator, said distribution system storing said encrypted group traffic key on a computer readable medium;
- and
- at least one group device belonging to at least one group and operably connected to said distribution system for receiving said encrypted group traffic key from said distribution system, said at least one group device capable of generating a group encryption key corresponding to said first encryption key at said at least one communication device and decrypting said encrypted group traffic key using said group encryption key to obtain said group traffic key, wherein said group traffic key is used for secure communications between said at least one communication device and other communication devices of said at least one group.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.