U.S. patent application number 12/758558 was filed with the patent office on 2010-08-05 for non-repudiable translation of electronic documents.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sterling Commerce, Inc.. Invention is credited to Charles S. Fenton.
Application Number | 20100199097 12/758558 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34859810 |
Filed Date | 2010-08-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100199097 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Fenton; Charles S. |
August 5, 2010 |
NON-REPUDIABLE TRANSLATION OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS
Abstract
A method for non-repudiable translation of documents is
disclosed, whereby a computer application determines a storage
location for a first document, generates a first digital signature
for the first document, determines a storage location for a
plurality of translation instructions, generates a second digital
signature for the plurality of translation instructions, translates
the first document, assembles a second document including the
storage location for the first document, the storage location for
the plurality of translation instructions, the first digital
signature, the second digital signature, the translation, and at
least one encryption key associated with the first document and the
plurality of translation instructions, and digitally signs the
second document. The signed document includes sufficient
information to demonstrate non-repudiable translation of the first
document.
Inventors: |
Fenton; Charles S.;
(Ypsilanti, MI) |
Correspondence
Address: |
AT&T Legal Department - JW;Attn: Patent Docketing
Room 2A-207, One AT&T Way
Bedminster
NJ
07921
US
|
Assignee: |
Sterling Commerce, Inc.
Dublin
OH
|
Family ID: |
34859810 |
Appl. No.: |
12/758558 |
Filed: |
April 12, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11213101 |
Aug 26, 2005 |
7725819 |
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12758558 |
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10052176 |
Jan 16, 2002 |
6938014 |
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11213101 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
713/176 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/40 20200101 |
Class at
Publication: |
713/176 |
International
Class: |
H04L 9/32 20060101
H04L009/32 |
Claims
1. A method for non-reputable translation of documents, comprising
the steps of: determining a storage location for a first document;
generating a first digital signature for said first document;
determining a storage location for a plurality of translation
instructions; generating a second digital signature for said
plurality of translation instructions; translating said first
document to produce a translation; assembling a second document,
said second document including said storage location for said first
document, said storage location for said plurality of translation
instructions, said first digital signature, said second digital
signature, said translation, and at least one encryption key
associated with said first document and said plurality of
translation instructions; and digitally signing said second
document.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the assembling step further
comprises assembling said second document, said second document
further including a first message digest for said first document
and a second message digest for said plurality of translation
instructions.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the assembling step further
comprises assembling said second document, said second document
further including a third message digest for a translator, a
storage location for said translator, a value indicating a time the
translating step was performed, and a digital certificate for
identifying a translation authority.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein said storage location for said
first document comprises a first URN and said storage location for
said plurality of translation instructions comprises a second
URN.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein said storage location for said
translator comprises a third URN.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating steps and the
digitally signing step comprise encryption with at last one private
key.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said first document comprises an
original document, and said digitally signed second document
comprises a resulting document.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein said plurality of translation
instructions comprises a map.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the translating step further
comprises the step of translating said first document in accordance
with said plurality of translation instructions.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating steps comprise a
step of generating a digital signature for said first document and
said plurality of translation instructions.
11. Logic encoded in media and operable to: determine a storage
location for a first document; generate a first digital signature
for said first document; determine a storage location for a
plurality of translation instructions; generate a second digital
signature for said plurality of translation instructions; translate
said first document to produce a translation; assemble a second
document, said second document including said storage location for
said first document, said storage location for said plurality of
translation instructions, said first digital signature, said second
digital signature, said translation, and at least one encryption
key associated with said first document and said plurality of
translation instructions; and digitally sign said second
document.
12. The logic of claim 11, wherein generating said first digital
signature and said second digital signature comprise generating a
digital signature for said first document and said plurality of
translation instructions.
13. A computer-implemented system for non-reputable translation of
documents, comprising: a first application associated with a first
entity; and a second application associated with a second entity,
said first application coupled to said second application and
operable to: determine a storage location for a first document;
generate a first digital signature for said first document;
determine a storage location for a plurality of translation
instructions; generate a second digital signature for said
plurality of translation instructions; translate said first
document to produce a translation; assemble a second document, said
second document including said storage location for said first
document, said storage location for said plurality of translation
instructions, said first digital signature, said second digital
signature, said translation, and at least one encryption key
associated with said first document and said plurality of
translation instructions; and digitally sign said second
document.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein said first application is
further operable to assemble said second document to include a
first message digest for said first document and a second message
digest for said plurality of translation instructions.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein said first application is
further operable to assemble said second document to include a
third message digest for a translator, a storage location for said
translator, a value indicating a time said plurality of translation
instructions were performed, and a digital certificate for
identifying a translation authority.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein said storage location for said
first document comprises a first URN and said storage. location for
said plurality of translation instructions comprises a second
URN.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein said storage location for said
translator comprises a third URN.
18. The system of claim 13, wherein said first application is
further operable to generate said first digital signature for said
first document, generate said second digital signature for said
plurality of translation instructions, and digitally sign said
second documents by encryption with at last one private key.
19. The system of claim 13, wherein said first document comprises
an original document, and said digitally signed second document
comprises a resulting document.
20. The system of claim 13, wherein said plurality of translation
instructions comprises a map.
21-24. (canceled)
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority, under 35
U.S.C. .sctn.120, from U.S. application Ser. No. 10/012,975 filed
Dec. 7, 2001.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates in general to electronic
transfer of information and, in particular, but not exclusively, to
computer-implemented, non-repudiable translation of electronic
documents.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Electronic-business (e-business) is the process of using
Internet-related and computer technologies to improve business
operations. An important e-business function is the secure and
efficient transfer of documents between entities in electronic
form. In this regard, an established component of e-business
operations is the computer-implemented translation of electronic
documents being sent and received.
[0004] The computer applications that undergird e-business
operations are capable of producing and accepting electronic
documents in accordance with agreed upon standards, conventions,
and protocols. However, in most business environments there are no
universal formats to which all such documents may adhere.
Consequently, before electronic documents may be transferred from
one application to another, the documents are translated from a
form acceptable to the first application to another form acceptable
to the second application.
[0005] For a practical example, in the health-care industry, care
providers (e.g., physicians, medical clinics, hospitals, etc,) are
required to send certain information to insurance companies about
the health-care services provided to insured patients. However, in
order to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in health insurance and
health care delivery, the Federal Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 sets forth the U.S. Government's
guidelines for the administration of health insurance and
health-care services. In particular, HIPAA specifies how medical
documents including patient information are to be handled.
Basically, HIPAA specifies that all patient information must not be
made public. Consequently, in providing health insurance and
health-care services, the privacy of patient information included
in documents has to be maintained.
[0006] If, for example, patient information is to be conveyed from
a care provider to an insurer in electronic form, the care provider
typically has to translate the data format of the electronic
document to be conveyed to the data format used by the insurer. The
translation process changes the data format and/or syntax of the
first application's (original) document to that of the second
application's (resulting) document. Since HIPAA specifies that the
privacy of the conveyed information is to be maintained, it is
important to track how the document was handled during the
translation process. In other words, an audit trail including the
translation process should be maintained. For audit purposes (e.g.,
if a question arises about the validity of the health-care
information in the translated document), the original document and
the map (set of instructions used by translator program) for
translating the original document to the resulting document may be
maintained. Nevertheless, a significant problem with previous
electronic document translation techniques is that they do not
assure a recipient of a translated document that it can be
non-repudiably tied to the original document and/or to the map used
for the original document's translation (i.e., "non-repudiable" in
the sense that the recipient may not deny ownership of the
resulting document). Consequently, there is no way for a recipient
(e.g., e-business partner, auditor, etc.) to explicitly or legally
tie the original and resulting documents together, or otherwise
demonstrate the validity of the translation process.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] For a more complete understanding of the present invention
and its advantages, reference is now made to the following
descriptions, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
in which:
[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system that may be used to
implement one example embodiment of the present invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates an example non-repudiable translation
unit that may be used to implement one example embodiment of the
present invention; and
[0010] FIG. 3 illustrates an example method that may be used for
non-repudiable translation of electronic documents, in accordance
with one example embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The preferred embodiment of the present invention and its
advantages are best understood by referring to FIGS. 1-3 of the
drawings, like numerals being used for like and corresponding parts
of the various drawings.
[0012] In accordance with one or more example embodiments of the
present invention, a technique for non-repudiable translation of
electronic documents is provided, whereby an original document that
was translated can be non-repudiably identified, a map applied to
the original document and used for the translation can be
non-repudiably identified, a document resulting from the
translation can be non-repudiably identified, and it can be
demonstrated that the resulting, translated document was produced
from the original document and map. Also, in accordance with one or
more example embodiments, a technique for non-repudiable
translation of electronic documents is provided, whereby a
translation process that invoked a map against an original document
to produce a resulting document may be non-repudiably identified, a
time period when a translation process occurred may be
non-repudiably identified, and an authority responsible for a
translation process may be non-repudiably identified. Furthermore,
in accordance with certain example embodiments, a technique for
non-repudiable translation of electronic documents is provided,
whereby a Universal Resource Name (URN), Message Digest Algorithm
(MDA), and public keys of an original document and map may be
digitally signed into a resulting, translated document. Also, an
MDA of a translation process used, a date and time that a
translation process occurred, and a digital certificate for a
translating authority may be included in a resulting document.
[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 10 that may be used to
implement one example embodiment of the present invention. System
10 includes a network 16 that couples a first computer application
(e.g., Application A) 12 with a second computer application (e.g.,
Application B) 18. System 10 can enable performance of e-business
transactions between Application A 12 and Application B 18. For
example, Application A 12 may be a computer application executed in
software by a processor at a first business entity's location, and
Application B 18 may be a computer application executed in software
by a processor at a second business entity's location.
[0014] Network 16 may include any suitable private and/or public
network that can couple together two or more business entities
together for e-business purposes. In an example embodiment, network
16 may include the Internet and/or any suitable Local Area Network
(LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), or Wide Area Network (WAN)
coupling one or more business entities (e.g., including Application
A 12 and Application B 18) to the Internet. In a second example
embodiment, network 16 may include a private network within one
company coupling two computer applications (e.g., Application A 12
and Application B 18). In other words, the present invention is not
intended to be limited to any particular type of network or other
medium capable of coupling two or more business entities' computer
applications (e.g., in an e-business environment). Preferably, at
least two computer applications (e.g., Application A 12 and
Application B 18) are coupled together for the purpose of
transferring electronic documents from one application in a first
data format (e.g., data format A 14) to a second application in a
second data format (e.g., data format B 20).
[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates an example non-repudiable translation
unit 100 that may be used to implement one example embodiment of
the present invention. For example, translation unit 100 may be
used in conjunction with Application A 12 (FIG. 1) for
non-repudiably translating an original document in data format A 14
to a resulting document in data format B 20. Then, the resulting
document may be transferred via network 16 (or other suitable
communications medium) to Application B 18. As another example,
translation unit 100 may be used in conjunction with Application B
18 for non-repudiably translating an original document in data
format A 14 to a resulting document in data format B 20 (i.e.,
after the original document from Application A 12 has been
transferred to Application B 18). As still another example,
translation unit 100 may be used in conjunction with Application B
18 for non-repudiably translating an original document in data
format B 20 to a resulting document in data format A 14. Then, the
resulting document may be transferred via network 16 (or other
suitable communications medium) from Application B 18 to
Application A 12. As illustrated by these examples, the present
invention is not intended to be limited to any particular location
where non-repudiable translation may be performed. However, for
practical design purposes, it may be preferable to implement unit
100 at the location where the original documents are produced. As
such, non-repudiable translation unit 100 may be implemented in
software, hardware or firmware, or any suitable combination
thereof.
[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates an example method 200 that may be used
for non-repudiable translation of electronic documents, in
accordance with one example embodiment of the present invention.
For example, method 200 may be implemented in software and executed
by a processor used in conjunction with non-repudiable translation
unit 100 of FIG. 2 and Application A 12 of FIG. 1. In this regard,
at step 202, translation unit 100 retrieves an original document
102 (e.g., in data format A 14 from a suitable data storage
location). At step 204, translation unit 100 determines a URN 104
for the original document 102. For this example, in accordance with
Request For Comments (RFC) 2396, a URN may be defined as the
persistent location of such a document (e.g., stored in an
archive).
[0017] At step 206, translation unit 100 generates a digital
signature for the original document 102 (e.g., using a private key
associated with Application A 12). For example, a private key may
be held exclusively by the owner of a document for use in
encrypting and decrypting such a document and information related
to such a document. A companion public key (e.g., key made
available to the public for use in encryption and decryption) may
be used to decrypt information encrypted with the private key.
Conversely, a private key may be used to decrypt information
encrypted with the companion public key.
[0018] As an optional step (included for technical reasons but not
necessarily for implementing the present invention), an MD
extractor 106 may be used to extract the MD of the original
document 108 from the digital signature (e.g., by use of a public
key 110). For this example, an MD may be a one-way hash value of
the associated document (e.g., original document 102). An MD may be
used to confirm that an original document has not been changed
during translation, because if an original document is changed
during translation, then the resulting MD will be different than
the original MD. As such, for this example, a digital signature may
be a private key encryption of an MD associated with the document
from which the MD was produced. A corresponding public key may be
used to decrypt the original MD and MDA applied to the original
document, in order to confirm that the document has not changed.
For one example embodiment, an MDA may be implemented using an MDS
ALGOL.RTM..
[0019] At step 208, translation unit 100 retrieves a map 112 used
for translation of original document 102. For this example, map 112
may be a set of instructions executed by translator 114 (e.g.,
processor including computer program for performing translation).
At step 210, translation unit 100 determines a URN 116 for the map
112. At step 212, translation unit 100 generates a digital
signature for the map 112 (e.g., using a private key associated
with Application A 12). As another optional step (again included
for technical reasons but not necessarily for implementing the
present invention), MD extractor 106 may be used to extract the MD
of the map 118 from the digital signature (e.g., by use of a public
key 120).
[0020] At step 214, translation unit 100 invokes translation of the
original document 102. For this example, translator unit 100 may
provide the original document 102 and the map 112 directly to
translator 114 for execution of translation instructions (e.g.,
convert input document syntax to output document syntax according
to map). As another alternative, MD extractor 106 may be used to
feed the original document 102 and map 112 to translator 114 for
execution of the translation instructions (e.g., if the
above-described optional steps including the MD extractor 106 have
been performed).
[0021] At step 216, translation unit 100 assembles into a document
the translation, along with the digital signatures, URNs (e.g.,
104, 116), and public keys (e.g., 110, 120) for the original
document 102 and map 112. For example, translator 114 may assemble
this document. Alternatively, this document may be assembled by a
digital signer 122 (e.g., implemented by suitable software,
hardware, etc.). At step 218, translation unit 100 digitally signs
the assembled document (e.g., using a private key 124). For
example, translator 114 or digital signer 122 may be used for
digitally signing the assembled document. Notably, as an optional
step, the MD for the original document 108 and the MD for the map
118 may also be assembled into the document before it is digitally
signed (e.g., if the above-described optional steps including the
MD extractor 106 have been performed). The digitally signed,
resulting document 126 (including at least the translation, and the
digital signatures, URNs, and public keys for the original document
102 and map 112) may be transferred to Application B 18.
[0022] As such, resulting document 126 includes sufficient
information for a recipient to demonstrate non-repudiable
translation. In other words, the resulting, digitally signed
document 126 includes sufficient information for a recipient to
demonstrate the ownership and relationship of the map and the
original and translated documents, and digitally certifies (e.g.,
using digital signature with private key 124) to demonstrate that
the map and original document have not been changed.
[0023] Additionally, if the above-described optional steps for the
MD extractor 106 are performed, the MD of the resulting document
may be extracted and reproduced to assure a recipient that the
resulting information has not been changed. For example, a
recipient may use the URN of the original document to reference the
original document, extract the MD of the original document using
the public key, and reproduce and compare the MD of the original
document with the MD of the resulting document. In this way, a
recipient may be assured that the original document has not been
changed and was, in fact, the original document. If the original
and resulting MDs do not match, then it may be inferred that the
original document has been changed. Also, a recipient may use the
URN of the map to reference the map, extract the MD of the map
using the public key, and reproduce and compare the MD of the
original map with the MD of the resulting map. In this way, a
recipient may be assured that the original map has not been changed
and was, in fact, the map used to produce the resulting document.
If the original and resulting map MDs do not match; then it may be
inferred that the original map has been changed. As a result of the
above, the resulting document is non-repudiably tied to the
referenced original document and map.
[0024] As yet another option (e.g., again included for technical
reasons but not necessarily for implementing the present
invention), in order to improve an electronic audit to be
performed, additional information may be added to the resulting
document (e.g., during an assembly step 216). For example, an MD
and URN of the translator program may be added to the assembled
document to identify the software that executed the map. Also, a
time stamp indicating the time that a translation occurred may be
added to the assembled document. Furthermore, a digital certificate
may be added to the assembled document in order to identify the
translation authority.
[0025] Certain embodiments of the present invention may provide one
or more technical advantages. For example, certain embodiments of
the present invention provide assurance that a translated
electronic document can be non-repudiably tied to an original
electronic document and a map used for the translation. Also,
certain embodiments provide one or more techniques for
non-repudiable translation of electronic documents that enable
companies to more accurately communicate business information with
e-business partners, customers and vendors than previous
techniques. Furthermore, certain embodiments provide one or more
techniques for non-repudiable translation of electronic documents,
which enable companies to more efficiently and securely conduct
commercial transactions than with previous translation
techniques.
[0026] Although example embodiments of the present invention have
been illustrated in the accompanying Drawings and described in the
foregoing Detailed Description, it will be understood that the
invention is not limited to any embodiment disclosed, but is
capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions
without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth and
defined by the following claims.
* * * * *