Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Computer conferencing – Demand based messaging
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-13
2001-09-11
Maung, Zarni (Department: 2154)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Computer conferencing
Demand based messaging
C709S207000, C709S249000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06289374
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a message guaranty system and, more particularly, to a message guaranty system capable of guaranteeing that messages have indeed been transmitted and received between terminals connected on a network system.
A number of conventional methods exist for guaranteeing the transmission and reception of messages between workstations connected on a network system. One such method involves having the transmitting and receiving workstations each manage a message start serial number and a message end serial number which are assigned to each message sent from one side to the other. Another method requires establishing a sequence in which the receiving workstation returns an acknowledgement in response to each message received from the transmitting workstation.
More specifically, the former conventional method (of managing message serial numbers) requires that four serial numbers, i.e., the message start and message end serial assigned to each of the transmitting and receiving terminals, coincide with one another before transmission or reception of any message. When the transmitting terminal transmits the message, the receiving terminal increments its message start serial number by 1. With the message received, the receiving terminal increments its message start serial number by 1. The receiving terminal then processes the message. With the message processing completed, the receiving terminal increments its message end serial number by 1 and returns an acknowledgement message to the transmitting terminal. Having received the acknowledgment message, the transmitting terminal increments its message end serial number by 1. This terminates the entire processing of message transmission/reception. This kind of message serial number management is carried out under the NIF/OSI (Network Interface Feature/Open Systems Interconnection) protocol. If there occurs a serial number mismatch between the transmitting and the receiving terminal, an error is suspected to have occurred in the message processing.
The latter conventional method (of establishing an acknowledgement sequence) requires that the receiving terminal must always return an acknowledgement message (ACK) in response to the message sent from the transmitting terminal. The return of the ACK message is supposed to guarantee an error-free message transmission.
A further method is proposed by Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 4-227154 (cited reference 1). The proposed method involves furnishing a securely managed encryption key and a powerful encryption algorithm whereby the transmitting terminal furnishes the target message with a token constituting a collection of specific information. Using the same encryption key and algorithm, the receiving terminal prepares an authentication token (a collection of information for authentication purposes) by which the token of the received message is checked for authenticity. If any dispute occurs between the transmitting and receiving parties regarding the transmission or reception of a particular message, the two parties alone are responsible for resolving it.
The above conventional methods are effective in detecting mismatches in message processing but fail to provide for eventualities in which the transmitting or receiving party denies having transmitted or received a specific message. Although the system of the cited reference
1
provides high degrees of message authentication, the fact that any dispute is left to be resolved not by any reliable third party but only by the parties concerned does not make the system suitable for an open, distributed environment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above and other deficiencies and disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a message guaranty system having a third party intervene in the transmission and reception of a message by a transmitting and a receiving terminal, the system guaranteeing that every message it mediated was indeed transmitted by the transmitting terminal and received by the receiving terminal. This invention differs from that of the cited reference
1
in that this invention gets a reliable third party in a neutral position to prepare evidence information regarding each message handled and that any dispute is resolved by the third party verifying the authenticity of the evidence information about the message in question.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a message guaranty system offering a delayed delivery service that takes a message from a transmitting terminal and delivers the message to its destination on behalf of the transmitting terminal, the system verifying the authenticity of the evidence information regarding any message so delivered which may be disputed between a plurality of terminals. When the reliable third party delivers a message to its destination on behalf of the transmitting terminal, the transmission and reception of the message are carried out more securely than ever. The inventive system acting as the thirty party effectively guarantees to any transmitting terminal both the transmission of the message in question and the reception thereof by the intended receiving terminal.
In achieving the foregoing and other objects of the present invention, there is provided a message guaranty system featuring the following points:
(1) The inventive message guaranty system for use with a plurality of terminals connected on a network furnishes each message sent from a transmitting to a receiving terminal with evidence information which is prepared by a third party and which attests to the transmission and reception of the message, whereby the transmission of any disputed message by the transmitting terminal or the reception of that message by the receiving terminal is subsequently certified.
(2) The evidence information includes the terminal name of the transmitting terminal (transmitter identifier), the terminal name of the receiving terminal (receiver identifier), time of message transmission, and the message length.
(3) The message guaranty system of the invention comprises evidence information preparing means for having a reliable third party prepare evidence information attesting to the transmission and reception of any message within the network, and evidence information converting means for converting the evidence information into an encryption format or other suitable form that will thwart any unscrupulous attempts to forge or falsify that information.
(4) The message guaranty system of the invention includes, within the connected network, delayed delivery means for transmitting a message to the receiving terminal on behalf of the transmitting terminal when such transmission is requested by the latter, so as to ensure more secure delivery of that message.
(5) The message guaranty system of the invention includes third party verification means for verifying the authenticity of evidence information about a particular message when such verification is requested by a plurality of terminals.
In operation, the message guaranty system of the above constitution offers the following advantages:
(1) According to the invention, any message sent from the transmitting terminal to the receiving terminal is furnished with evidence information which, prepared by the reliable third party, attests to the transmission and reception of that message. The highly reliable evidence information demonstrates unfailingly whether a particular message was actually delivered from one party to another. This feature facilitates the resolution of any message-related dispute between two contending parties.
(2) The evidence information preparing means of the invention prepares evidence information on the basis of such message-related information as the terminal name of the transmitting terminal (transmitter identifier), the terminal name of the receiving terminal (receiver identifier), time of message transmission, and the message length. Analyzing this evidence information provides a highly accurate verdict
Antonelli Terry Stout & Kraus LLP
Hitachi , Ltd.
Maung Zarni
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