Authentication and authorization in a wearable ensemble

• US 10,045,214 B2
• Filed: 02/20/2017
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Weast, John Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Nimesh
• Application Number:
  US15/437,207
• Publication Number:
  US 20170325090A1
• Time in Patent Office: 533 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/005 Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/33 using wearable devices, e.g. using a smartwatch or smart-glasses
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/64 using geofenced areas
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Various systems and methods for authentication and authorization in a wearable ensemble are described herein. A system for authenticating a wearable device includes an access module to access a second wearable device from a first wearable device, the first and second wearable devices being worn by a wearer and the first wearable device being a trusted device to the wearer, a measurement module to measure a distance from the first wearable device to the second wearable device, and an authentication module to authenticate the second wearable device when the distance is within a threshold range of an initialized distance.

Claims

1. A first wireless computing device, comprising:

interface circuitry to access a second wireless computing device from the first wireless computing device;

storage device to store instructions; and

processing circuitry configured to execute the stored instructions to determine a value corresponding to a distance from the first computing device to the second computing device, and authenticate the second computing device when the distance is within a threshold distance,

wherein to determine the value corresponding to the distance from the first computing device to the second wireless computing device, the processing circuitry is to;

transmit, at a transmit time, first data from the first wireless computing device to the second wireless computing device;

receive, at a receipt time, second data from the second wireless computing device at the first wireless computing device;

measure a round-trip time based on the transmit time of the first data and the receipt time of the second data; and

calculate the value corresponding to the distance from the first wireless computing device to the second wireless computing device based on the round-trip time.

2. The first wireless computing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to execute the stored instructions to:

transmit security information from the first computing device to the second computing device to perform an initial authentication of the second computing device.

3. The first wireless computing device according to claim 2, wherein the security information comprises a secure key.

4. The first wireless computing device according to claim 1, wherein, to access the second wireless computing device from the first wireless computing device, the interface circuitry is to:

access the second computing device using a wireless communication technology.

5. The first wireless computing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is to:

verify the second wireless computing device is associated with the first wireless computing device before authenticating the second wireless computing device.

6. The first wireless computing device according to claim 5, wherein to verify the second wireless computing device is associated with the first computing device, the processing circuitry is to:

prompt a wearer of the second wireless computing device to perform an action;

determine that the wearer performed the action; and

verify the second wireless computing device being associated with the first wireless computing device based on the determining that the wearer performed the action.

7. The first wireless computing device according to claim 6, wherein the action comprises moving the second wearable wireless computing device in a specific manner.

8. The first wireless computing device according to claim 6, wherein the action comprises moving the second wireless computing device from a first location on the wearer'"'"'s body to a second location on the wearer'"'"'s body.

9. A method for authenticating a wireless computing device, the method comprising:

accessing a second wireless computing device from a first wireless computing device;

determining a value corresponding to a distance from the first wireless computing device to the second wireless computing device, wherein determining the value comprises;

transmitting, at a transmit time, first data from the first wireless computing device to the second wireless computing device;

receiving, at a receipt time, second data from the second wireless computing device at the first wireless computing device;

measuring a round-trip time based on the transmit time of the first data and the receipt time of the second data; and

calculating the value corresponding to the distance from the first wireless computing device to the second wireless computing device based on the round-trip time; and

authenticating the second wireless computing device when the distance is within a threshold distance.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

transmitting security information from the first wireless computing device to the second wireless computing device to perform an initial authentication of the second wireless computing device.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the security information comprises a secure key.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein accessing the second wireless computing device comprises:

accessing the second wireless computing device using a wireless communication technology.

13. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

verifying the second wireless computing device is associated with the first wireless computing device before authenticating the second wireless computing device.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the verifying comprises:

prompting a wearer of the second wireless computing device to perform an action;

determining that the wearer performed the action; and

verifying the second wireless computing device is associated with the first computing device based on the determining that the wearer performed the action.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the action comprises moving the second wireless computing wearable device in a specific manner.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a first wireless computing device, the instructions to configure the one or more processors to cause the first wireless computing device to:

access a second wireless computing device from the first wireless computing device;

determine a value corresponding to a distance from the first wireless computing device to the second wireless computing device, wherein to determine the value, the instructions further cause the first wireless computing device to;

transmit, at a transmit time, first data from the first wireless computing device to the second wireless computing device;

receive, at a receipt time, second data from the second wireless computing device at the first wireless computing device;

measure a round-trip time based on the transmit time of the first data and the receipt time of the second data; and

calculate the value corresponding to the distance from the first wireless computing device to the second wireless computing device based on the round-trip time; and

authenticate the second wireless computing device when the distance is within a threshold distance.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors further cause the first wireless computing device to:

transmit security information from the first wireless computing device to the second wireless computing device to perform an initial authentication of the second wireless computing device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the security information comprises a secure key.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors further cause the first wireless computing device to:

access the second wireless computing device using a wireless communication technology.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors further cause the first wireless computing device to:

verify the second wireless computing device is associated with the first computing device before authenticating the second wireless computing device.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the one or more processors further cause the first wireless computing device to:

prompt a wearer of the second computing device to perform an action;

determine that the wearer performed the action; and

verify the second wireless computing device is associated with the first wireless computing device based on the determining that the wearer performed the action.