Distribution of trusted physical layer timing information using attestation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11294417-B2
Application number	US-202016814569-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 10, 2020
Priority date	Mar 10, 2020
Publication date	Apr 5, 2022
Grant date	Apr 5, 2022

Abstract

This disclosure describes methods and systems to for a method for a first computing node to receive frequency information of a system clock. The first computing node receives the frequency information of the system clock from a second computing node at a physical layer of a connection between the first computing node and the second computing node. The first computing node also receives a message from the second computing node at above the physical layer of the connection between the first computing node and the second computing node. The message includes an attestation of the frequency information from which the first computing node may verify that the second computing node is a trusted source of the frequency information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for a first computing node to receive frequency information of a system clock, comprising:
receiving, by the first computing node and via a first layer of a connection between the first computing node and a second computing node, the frequency information of the system clock from the second computing node, the first layer corresponds to a physical layer of the connection; and
receiving, by the first computing node and from the second computing node, a message via a second layer of the connection between the first computing node and the second computing node, the second layer corresponding to a layer above the physical layer of the connection, the message including an attestation of the frequency information from which the first computing node may verify that the second computing node is a trusted source of the frequency information.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the attestation is included in a field of the message.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the attestation is within a type-length value (TLV) encoding in the message.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first computing node and the second computing node are computing nodes of a synchronous ethernet (SyncE) network; and
the message is an Ethernet Synchronization Message Channel (ESMC) message.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein:
the attestation is within a future enhancement TLV portion of the ESMC message.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the attestation includes at least one of new packet header variables, extension fields to carry a proof of integrity blob or container, a canary stamp, or a hardware fingerprint and an associated verifiable proof of possession of the hardware fingerprint.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first computing node and the second computing node are computing nodes of a synchronous ethernet (SyncE) network, and
the message includes proof of freshness that includes a signature using a private key, the private key including a Secure Unique Device Identifier (SUDI) or attestation key.

8. A first computing node, comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations of:
receiving frequency information of a system clock from a second computing node via a first layer of a connection between the first computing node and the second computing node, the first layer corresponding to a physical layer of the connection; and
receiving a message from the second computing node via a second layer of the connection between the first computing node and the second computing node, the second layer corresponding to a layer above the physical layer of the connection, the message including an attestation of the frequency information from which the first computing node may verify that the second computing node is a trusted source of the frequency information.

9. The first computing node of claim 8 , wherein:
the attestation is included in a field of the message.

10. The first computing node of claim 8 , wherein:
the attestation is within a type-length value (TLV) encoding in the message.

11. The first computing node of claim 8 , wherein:
the first computing node and the second computing node are computing nodes of a synchronous ethernet (SyncE) network; and
the message is an Ethernet Synchronization Message Channel (ESMC) message.

12. The first computing node of claim 11 , wherein:
the attestation is within a future enhancement TLV portion of the ESMC message.

13. The first computing node of claim 8 , wherein:
the attestation includes at least one of new packet header variables, extension fields to carry a proof of integrity blob or container, a canary stamp, or a hardware fingerprint and an associated verifiable proof of possession of the hardware fingerprint.

14. The first computing node of claim 8 , wherein:
the first computing node and the second computing node are computing nodes of a synchronous ethernet (SyncE) network, and
the message includes proof of freshness that includes a signature using a private key, the private key including a Secure Unique Device Identifier (SUDI) or attestation key.

15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed, instruct one or more processors of a first computing node to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a second computing node, frequency information of a system clock via a first layer of a connection between the first computing node and the second computing node, the first layer corresponding to a physical layer of the connection; and
receiving, from the second computing node, a message via a second layer of the connection between the first computing node and the second computing node, the second layer corresponding to a layer above the physical layer of the connection, the message including an attestation of the frequency information from which the first computing node may verify that the second computing node is a trusted source of the frequency information.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein:
the attestation is included in a field of the message.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein:
the attestation is within a type-length value (TLV) encoding in the message.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein:
the first computing node and the second computing node are computing nodes of a synchronous ethernet (SyncE) network; and
the message is an Ethernet Synchronization Message Channel (ESMC) message.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein:
the attestation includes at least one of new packet header variables, extension fields to carry a proof of integrity blob or container, a canary stamp, or a hardware fingerprint and an associated verifiable proof of possession of the hardware fingerprint.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein:
the first computing node and the second computing node are computing nodes of a synchronous ethernet (SyncE) network, and

the message includes proof of freshness that includes a signature using a private key, the private key including a Secure Unique Device Identifier (SUDI) or attestation key.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• M M Niranjan
• Kenchaiah Nagaraj

Classifications

• H04L7/0016

  correction of synchronization errors · CPC title

• H04J3/0664 Primary

  unidirectional timestamps · CPC title

• H04J3/0673

  using intermediate nodes, e.g. modification of a received timestamp before further transmission to the next packet node, e.g. including internal delay time or residence time into the packet · CPC title

• G06F1/08 Primary

  Clock generators with changeable or programmable clock frequency · CPC title

• H04J2203/0085

  Support of Ethernet · CPC title