User apparatus using block chain, block chain system including the same and product information managing method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11522714-B2
Application number	US-201916421955-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 24, 2019
Priority date	Jun 4, 2018
Publication date	Dec 6, 2022
Grant date	Dec 6, 2022

Abstract

A product for participating in a block chain system includes: a network interface configured to communicate, by using a first network, with participants of the block chain system to share block chain data, the block chain data including at least one of an ownership record block and an ownership registration block for the product; an output circuitry configured to output a notification signal; and a processor configured to determine, during a booting operation of the product, whether ownership of the product is registered in the block chain data through the network interface and to control the output circuitry to output a message requesting registration of an ownership of the product based on a determination that the ownership of the product is not registered in the block chain data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device configured to participate in a block chain system, the electronic device comprising:
a network interface configured to communicate, by using a first network, with participants of the block chain system to share block chain data, the block chain data comprising at least one of an ownership record block and an ownership registration block for the electronic device;
an indicator configured to output a notification signal to a user of the electronic device; and
a processor configured to determine, during a booting operation of the electronic device, whether ownership of the electronic device is registered in the block chain data through the network interface and to control the indicator to output the notification signal requesting registration of the ownership of the electronic device based on a determination that the ownership of the electronic device is not registered in the block chain data,
wherein the ownership record block comprises a digital signature for a public key of the electronic device done by a manufacturer of the electronic device and a digital signature for warranty information about the electronic device done by the electronic device, and
wherein the ownership registration block comprises a digital signature for a public key of the user of the electronic device done by the manufacturer and a digital signature for the public key of the user of the electronic device done by the electronic device.

2. A user apparatus for participating in a block chain system, the user apparatus configured to communicate with a product, which is an electronic apparatus, through a first network, the user apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory configured to store instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform:
receiving block chain data from at least one of block chain participants of the block chain system, the at least one of the block chain participants being connected to the user apparatus through a second network;
transmitting, to each of a manufacturer of the product and the product, a request for a digital signature for a first public key corresponding to the user apparatus;
receiving a first signature from the manufacturer and a second signature from the product through a corresponding network, respectively;
generating a new block including a payload, the payload comprising the first signature and the second signature, and a third signature for the payload using a secret key of the user apparatus; and
requesting the block chain participants to chain the new block to the received block chain data of the block chain system by connecting the new block to the received block chain data.

3. The user apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the third signature comprises a hash value of a last block included in the received block chain data, the first signature and the second signature.

4. The user apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to perform at least one of:
verify the manufacturer using the received block chain data; and
verify the product using the received block chain data.

5. The user apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the verifying the manufacturer comprises:
retrieving a target block comprising an additional signature of the manufacturer from the received block chain data;
authenticating the additional signature of the manufacturer included in the target block, by using the additional signature of the manufacturer and a target payload included in the target block; and
verifying signers of signatures included in the target payload.

6. The user apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the authenticating the additional signature of the manufacturer comprises comparing a value, obtained by decoding the additional signature of the manufacturer using a public key of the manufacturer, with a digest value of the target payload.

7. The user apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the digest value of the target payload is a hash value of the target payload.

8. The user apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the new block comprises a data block for registering the product to a block chain.

9. The user apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the manufacturer further comprises at least one from among a transferor of the product and a user apparatus of the transferor.

10. The user apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the first signature comprises a digital signature generated using a secret key of the user apparatus of the transferor, and
the second signature comprises a digital signature generated using a secret key of the product.

11. The user apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the new block comprises a data block for writing, to a block chain, information about ownership transfer of the product.

12. The user apparatus of claim 2 , wherein a genesis block of the block chain data comprises a genesis payload comprising a public key of the manufacturer and a digital signature of the manufacturer for the genesis payload.

13. The user apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the block chain data comprises an ownership record block of the product, and
the ownership record block of the product comprises:
a digital signature of the manufacturer for a public key of the product; and
a digital signature of the product for warranty information of the product.

14. A method of managing product information of a product by using a block chain system, the method comprising:
generating a genesis block of block chain data used in the block chain system, the genesis block including a first payload and a first signature of a manufacturer of the product for the first payload, the first payload comprising a public key of the manufacturer, and the first signature being generated by encrypting a digest value of the first payload using a secret key of the manufacturer;
generating a second payload comprising a second signature of the manufacturer for a public key of the product and a third signature of the product for a warranty information of the product;
generating an ownership record block for the product based on the second payload and a fourth signature of the product for the second payload; and
transmitting a chaining request message including the ownership record block to a plurality of participants of the block chain system.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the generating the second payload comprises:
receiving, from the product, the third signature of the product for a time stamp; and
generating the second payload based on the second signature and the third signature.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Choi Myung-Sik

Classifications

• H04L9/30

  Public key, i.e. encryption algorithm being computationally infeasible to invert or user's encryption keys not requiring secrecy · CPC title

• H04L9/50

  using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees · CPC title

• G06F16/1824

  implemented using Network-attached Storage [NAS] architecture (distributed or networked storage systems G06F3/067; protocols for distributed storage of data in a network H04L67/1097) · CPC title

• H04L9/3247 Primary

  involving digital signatures · CPC title

• H04L67/104

  Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks · CPC title