Wireless pairing and communication between devices using biometric data

• US 10,171,458 B2
• Filed: 02/25/2016
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Zhang, Chang, Liu, Qing
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughan, Michael R
• Application Number:
  US15/053,590
• Publication Number:
  US 20160182507A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,041 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/108 when the policy decisions are valid for a limited amount of time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/64 file transfer between terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices

Abstract

In a first implementation, a host determines to pair with a device and transmits biometric data for a user to the device. The device receives the transmitted biometric data and compares such to device biometric data to determine whether or not to pair with the host and/or what data stored by the device to allow the host to access. The host then accesses data of the device to which the device has allowed access. In another implementation, a device determines to pair with a host and transmits biometric data for a user to the host. The host receives the transmitted biometric data and compares such to device biometric data to determine whether or not to pair with the device and/or what data stored by the host to allow the device to access. The device then accesses data of the host to which the host has allowed access.

Claims

1. A system for wireless pairing and communication between devices using biometrics, the system comprising:

a device, comprising;

a processing unit;

a wireless communication component coupled to the processing unit;

a touchscreen display coupled to the processing unit;

a biometric sensor coupled to the processing unit; and

a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions executable by the processing unit to cause the device to;

display a pairing prompt on the touchscreen display when a host and the device are in wireless communication range of each other;

capture biometric data using the biometric sensor when a user initiates pairing using the touchscreen display; and

receive a configuration file from the host based at least on the captured biometric data, wherein;

the configuration file specifies an arrangement of one or more navigation items in a user interface of the host; and

the device reconfigures, based at least in part on the configuration file, an arrangement of one or more navigation items in a user interface of the device according to the arrangement of the one or more navigation items in the user interface of the host, thereby causing a configuration of the device to resemble the configuration of the host.

2. The system as in claim 1, wherein the configuration file further comprises one or more of:

one or more background images;

one or more sound settings;

one or more alert settings;

one or more browser bookmarks;

or

the one or more navigation items.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one navigation item comprises an icon.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the processing unit modifies the biometric data before transmission to the host.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the modification of the biometric data comprises at least one of hashing the biometric data or encrypting the biometric data.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the biometric data comprises at least one of:

a fingerprint;

a palm print;

a handprint;

a facial image;

a retinal image;

or

a voice signature.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein the user interface component comprises a touchscreen display coupled to the processing unit, the touch screen display including a fingerprint reader, and wherein the processing unit executes instructions to:

display a pairing prompt on the touchscreen display when the host and the device are in wireless communication range of each other;

capture fingerprint data using the fingerprint reader when the user initiates pairing by pressing a finger on the pairing prompt displayed on the touchscreen display.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein the user interface component comprises a microphone and the processing unit executes instructions to:

receive a pairing request using the microphone; and

capture a voice signature when the user initiates pairing with the pairing request.

11. The system of claim 2, wherein the user interface component comprises a fingerprint reader and the processing unit executes instructions to capture a fingerprint using the fingerprint reader when the user initiates pairing.

12. The system of claim 2, wherein the host comprises a first smart phone and the device comprises a second smart phone.

4. A system for wireless pairing and communication between devices using biometrics, comprising:

a device comprising;

a processing unit;

a wireless communication component coupled to the processing unit;

a user interface component configured to captured biometric data; and

a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions executable by the processing unit to cause the device to;

capture biometric data using the user interface component when a user initiates pairing with a host;

transmit the biometric data to the host utilizing the wireless communication component; and

receive a configuration file associated with a configuration of the host based at least on the transmitted biometric data, wherein;

the configuration file specifies an arrangement of one or more navigation items in a user interface of the host; and

in response to receiving the configuration file, the device reconfigures an arrangement of one or more navigation items in a user interface of the device to be substantially the same as the arrangement of the one or more navigation items in the user interface of the host.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the configuration file further comprises one or more of:

a background image;

an additional display setting;

a sound setting;

a language setting;

a default setting;

an alert setting;

a browser bookmark;

or

at least one of the one or more navigation items.

13. A method for wireless paring and communication between devices using biometrics, the method comprising:

determining, utilizing a device, to pair with a host;

capturing biometric data, utilizing a user interface component in the device, when initiating pairing with the host;

transmitting, utilizing a wireless communication component in the device, the biometric data to the host;

receiving, by the device, a configuration file associated with a configuration of the host based at least on the transmitted biometric data, the configuration file specifying an arrangement of one or more navigation items in a user interface of the host; and

changing, by the device, based at least in part on the configuration file, an arrangement of one or more navigation items in a user interface of the device to be substantially the same as the arrangement of the one or more navigation items in the user interface of the host.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration file further comprises one or more of:

a background image;

a display setting;

a sound setting;

a language setting;

a default setting;

an alert setting;

a browser bookmark;

or

at least one of the one or more navigation items.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the biometric data comprises at least one of:

a fingerprint;

a palm print;

a handprint;

a facial image;

a retinal image;

or

a voice signature.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the host and the device comprise at least a portion of a cloud computing system and the biometric data is transmitted from the device to the host utilizing a cloud computing server and the configuration file is received by the device from the host utilizing the cloud computing server.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising modifying the biometric data prior to transmitting the biometric data to the host.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein modifying the biometric data comprises hashing the biometric data.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein modifying the biometric data comprises encrypting the biometric data.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein determining, utilizing the device, to pair with the host and capturing biometric data, utilizing the user interface component in the device, when initiating pairing with the host comprises:

displaying a pairing prompt on a touchscreen display when the host and the device are in wireless communication range of each other; and

capturing fingerprint data utilizing a fingerprint reader associated with the touchscreen display when the user initiates pairing by pressing a finger on the pairing prompt displayed on the touchscreen display.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein determining, utilizing the device, to pair with the host and capturing biometric data, utilizing the user interface component in the device, when initiating pairing with the host comprises:

receiving, utilizing a microphone, a pairing request from a user; and

capturing a voice signature when the user initiates pairing with the pairing request.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein determining, utilizing the device, to pair with the host and capturing biometric data, utilizing the user interface component in the device, when initiating pairing with the host comprises:

capturing, utilizing a fingerprint reader, a fingerprint when a user initiates pairing.