Distributed management system for security of remote assets

• US 10,200,858 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2016
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rajaram Lalgudi Natarajan, Srikrishna Marur Varadharajan
• Original Assignee: Rajaram Lalgudi Natarajan, Srikrishna Marur Varadharajan
• Inventors: Lalgudi Natarajan, Rajaram, Marur Varadharajan, Srikrishna
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller, Brian E
• Application Number:
  US15/182,634
• Publication Number:
  US 20180020344A1
• Time in Patent Office: 965 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00309 operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00896 specially adapted for particular uses
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/21 having a variable access code
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/27 with central registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/32 including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3234 involving additional secure or trusted devices, e.g. TPM, smartcard, USB or software token network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using an additional device in a packet data network H04L63/0853
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication

Abstract

A Distributed management system for security of remote assets which provides security for widely distributed assets while at the same time providing great flexibility for a multiplicity of authorized persons without passcodes or personal keys to access multiple assets. The system has great flexibility by separating the lock and Key function and provides complete history of Key-Lock operations of the asset in real time scenario. The system gives a comprehensive solution to the static or mobile asset located at remote location to the owner.

Claims

1. A distributed management system to manage and provide secure access to remote assets to an asset owner, comprising:

a hosted business management server running an asset management service software for monitoring and managing a plurality of an owner'"'"'s remote assets;

an authorized mobile device comprising a mobile application authenticated and installed by a due authorization process of the asset management service software through which the owner communicates with the server to access and manage the remote assets;

a key that secures the assets that is connected to the server and accessed by the owner wherein the key is an electronic device; and

a lock securing access to the assets and the key providing access to the assets through the server wherein the key receives operational commands from the server for each transaction through the mobile application and the owner performs operations on the lock which interprets and carries out a physical action of opening or closing the lock on the remote assets wherein the lock is an electronic device.

2. The distributed management system of claim 1, wherein the owner predefines or dynamically defines a set of rules customizing security decisions of the assets in the asset management service software to authenticate every transaction, between the lock and the key, of the assets at various remote locations.

3. The distributed management system of claim 1, wherein the owner communicates to the server a request for the key to access the lock on the asset, wherein the asset management service software through the rules authenticates the mobile application and authorizes the mobile application to operate on the key for performing a particular operation on the lock to secure or manage the asset.

4. The distributed management system of claim 1, wherein the hosted business management server continuously receives transaction history of the locks and monitors a status of all locks of the assets and alerts the asset owner and communicates instructions of the owner to the lock, or is capable of directly and automatically commanding the lock to open or lock the asset that may be remotely located, depending on a set of rules defined by the owner for a particular operation of that lock.

5. The distributed management system of claim 1, wherein the asset management service software running on the server customizes security decisions for a single or for a plurality of the remote assets based on the set of parameters under which the assets are to be operated, and circumstances under which different requesters, as authorized by the owner, to operate the remote assets, wherein credentials such as a one-time password (OTP) are generated by the server to access the asset, where the one-time password (OTP) can be used only once by the owner or requester.

6. The distributed management system of claim 1, wherein the asset management service software maintains and provides real time information of all assets to the owner and stores transaction history of all operations on all assets that may be mobile, static or portable, the assets located remotely or within vicinity of the owner.

7. The distributed management system of claim 1, wherein the mobile application dynamically generates a unique identity and is authorized to generate credentials when the key requests to operate the lock and the requester allows the mobile device to send credentials to the key to operate the lock on the asset, thereby bypassing the server altogether.

8. The distributed management system of claim 1, wherein the key has a unique Key identity number, receives operational commands from the mobile application through which the owner performs operational commands on the lock, or the key obtains a one-time password (OTP) directly from the server every time the lock has to be operated.

9. The distributed management system of claim 1, wherein lock has a unique identity, where the key and the lock establish compatibility through an identity establishment process wherein the key communicates instructions of the owner to the lock which interprets and carries out a physical action of opening or closing of a door of the asset and a status of the lock can be accessed at any time from any location by the server or the owner or the requester.