Systems and methods for verification and authentication of remote sensing imagery
| DWPI Title: System for use in spacecraft for generating and authenticating remote sensing imagery based upon public/private cryptographic key scheme, has hardware logic device for outputting signed image for transmission to remote computing system |
| Abstract: A system for generating and authenticating remote sensing imagery includes a remote sensing platform. The remote sensing platform includes an imaging sensor and a hardware logic device that is directly coupled to the imaging sensor. The hardware logic device receives image data from the imaging sensor and generates a cryptographic signature based upon the image data. The hardware logic device outputs a signed image that includes the image data and the cryptographic signature. A computing device operated by a downstream user receives the signed image and can determine whether the image data has been modified from its original content based upon the cryptographic signature. |
| Use: System for use in airborne vehicle, such as spacecraft or aircraft, for generating and authenticating remote sensing imagery based upon a public/private cryptographic key scheme. Uses include but are not limited to satellite images of agricultural fields, animal migrations, or human activities of interest. |
| Advantage: The imaging system comprises an imaging objective that is configured to receive light from a scene within a field-of-view of the imaging objective, where imaging objective focuses or directs the light to an imaging sensor that outputs image data that are indicative of light received by the imaging sensor, and thus enables to improve the electronics design, space-launch capabilities, and enables the deployment of small, inexpensive satellites for purposes such as communications and remote sensing. The tamper-evident container can prevent unauthorized communications and other electrical connections being made between the hardware logic device and other components of the remote sensing platform. |
| Novelty: The imaging system (100) has a hardware logic device (114,138) included in an airborne vehicle e.g, spacecraft and directly coupled to an imaging sensor (112). The hardware logic device receives image data from the imaging sensor, where the image data indicates a scene in a field-of-view (FOV) of an objective (110) coupled to the imaging sensor. The input is provided to a physical unclonable function (PUF) that is included in the hardware logic device in response to receiving the image data, where the PUF generates an output bases upon the input. A cryptographic signature is generated based upon the image data and a private key, and a signed image for transmission is outputted to a remote computing system. The signed image is authenticatable as a genuine image of the scene based upon the cryptographic signature. The sensor comprises one of a gravimeter, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), an accelerometer, a temperature sensor, or a pressure sensor. |
| Filed: 4/15/2021 |
| Application Number: US17231377A |
| Tech ID: SD 15409.0 |
| This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention. |
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