Method and system for securing communications in a metering device

摘要

A method and system for securing the communication link between the accounting device and printer of a metering system by authenticating the data being sent via the link utilizing a Nonlinear Feedback Shift Register (NLFSR) based system is provided. A NLFSR is provided in each of the accounting unit and printing unit of a metering system. The NLFSR in the accounting unit is utilized to generate a message authentication code (MAC) for the image data being sent from the accounting unit to the printing unit. The printing unit generates a corresponding MAC for the received image data using the NLFSR in the printing unit. The MAC generated by the printing unit is compared with the MAC generated by the accounting unit. If the MACs are similar, the image data is accepted as authentic and the printing unit will print the image corresponding to the image data.