Communication system, communication method, and information storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11277388-B2
Application number	US-202016855994-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 22, 2020
Priority date	Apr 26, 2019
Publication date	Mar 15, 2022
Grant date	Mar 15, 2022

Abstract

A communication system, comprising a plurality of industrial machines configured to perform synchronous communication, wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines configured to: encrypt transmission data; transmit the encrypted transmission data to another industrial machine; receive encrypted reception data from the another industrial machine; and decrypt the encrypted reception data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A communication system, comprising a plurality of industrial machines configured to perform synchronous communication, wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt transmission data;
transmit the encrypted transmission data to another industrial machine;
receive encrypted reception data from the another industrial machine; and
decrypt the encrypted reception data,
wherein the communication system further comprises circuitry configured to perform setting relating to encrypted communication for each combination of industrial machines configured to perform communication based on a model of the industrial machines included in each combination of industrial machines.

2. The communication system according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt the transmission data based on a type of the transmission data, and
decrypt the reception data based on a type of the reception data.

3. The communication system according to claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt the transmission data, and
decrypt the reception data if the synchronous communication is to be used, or
encrypt the transmission data and decrypt the reception data if the synchronous communication is not to be used.

4. The communication system according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt the transmission data, and
decrypt the reception data if the synchronous communication is to be used, or
encrypt the trans mission data and decrypt the reception data if the synchronous communication is not to be used.

5. The communication system according to claim 4 , wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt the transmission data, and
decrypt the reception data if the synchronous communication is to be used, or
encrypt the transmission data and decrypt the reception data if the synchronous communication is not to be used.

6. The communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the communication system includes three or more industrial machines configured to perform synchronous communication, and
wherein the communication system includes a combination of industrial machines configured to use encrypted communication and a combination of industrial machines configured to use unencrypted communication.

7. The communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the communication system includes three or more industrial machines configured to perform synchronous communication, and
wherein the communication system includes a combination of industrial machines configured to perform encrypted communication by a first cryptosystem and a combination of industrial machines configured to perform encrypted communication by a second cryptosystem.

8. The communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines configured to perform communication includes a second control circuit configured to perform encrypted communication, the second control circuit being separate from a first control circuit configured to control a machine connected to the each of the plurality of industrial machines, and
wherein at least the encryption and the decryption are implemented by the second control circuit.

9. The communication system according to claim 1 , wherein the communication system further comprises circuitry configured to:
perform setting relating to encrypted communication if the network configuration has been changed.

10. The communication system according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of industrial machines configured to perform communication are configured to avoid performing encrypted communication when debugging is performed.

11. The communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of industrial machines configured to perform communication include a master machine and a slave machine configured to operate based on a command from the master machine.

12. The communication system according to claim 1 ,
wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt the transmission data based on a type of the transmission data, and
decrypt the reception data based on a type of the reception data.

13. A communication system comprising a plurality of industrial machines configured to perform synchronous communication, wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt transmission data;
transmit the encrypted transmission data to another industrial machine;
receive encrypted reception data from the another industrial machine; and
decrypt the encrypted reception data,
wherein the plurality of industrial machines configured to perform communication are configured to use at least one cryptosystem,
wherein the communication system further comprises circuitry configured to confirm a cryptosystem to be used in encrypted communication based on a cryptosystem common to the plurality of industrial machines configured to perform communication, and
wherein, when a plurality of cryptosystems common to the plurality of industrial machines are used, the circuitry confirms the cryptosystem to be used in the encrypted communication based on a priority determined for each of the plurality of cryptosystems.

14. A communication system according to claim 2 comprising a plurality of industrial machines configured to perform synchronous communication, wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt transmission data;
transmit the encrypted transmission data to another industrial machine;
receive encrypted reception data from the another industrial machine; and
decrypt the encrypted reception data,
wherein the communication system further comprises circuitry configured to perform setting relating to encrypted communication for each combination of industrial machines configured to perform communication, and
wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt the transmission data based on a type of the transmission data, and
decrypt the reception data based on a type of the reception data.

15. A communication system comprising a plurality of industrial machines configured to perform synchronous communication, wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt transmission data;
transmit the encrypted transmission data to another industrial machine;
receive encrypted reception data from the another industrial machine; and
decrypt the encrypted reception data,
wherein each of the plurality of industrial machines is configured to:
encrypt the transmission data based on a type of the transmission data,
decrypt the reception data based on a type of the reception data,
encrypt the transmission data, and
decrypt the reception data if the synchronous communication is to be used, or
encrypt the transmission data and decrypt the reception data if the synchronous communication is not to be used.

Assignees

• Yaskawa Electric Corp

Inventors

• Yoshiura Yasufumi
• Niimi Hirotaka
• Koga Minoru
• KIRA Toshinobu

Classifications

• G06F13/4022

  using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network (G06F13/4009 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G05B19/042 Primary

  using digital processors (G05B19/05 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04L12/40104

  Security; Encryption; Content protection (cryptographic protocols H04L9/00; protocols for network security H04L63/00) · CPC title

• H04L63/0428 Primary

  wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title