Wireless device detection, tracking, and authentication platform and techniques

• US 10,721,590 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2019
• Issued: 07/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pfngt LLC
• Original Assignee: Scrrd Inc.
• Inventors: Thoresen, Lucas, Cohen, Joshua
• Primary Examiner(s): Brandt, Christopher M
• Application Number:
  US16/437,299
• Publication Number:
  US 20200137516A1
• Time in Patent Office: 406 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/02 using radio waves G01S19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/74 Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/308 using the Internet of Things
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/12 Network monitoring probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/18 Protocol analysers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/068 using credential vaults, e.g. password manager applications or one time password [OTP] applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/069 using certificates or pre-shared keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

Methods, systems, and techniques for wireless device detection, information, tracking, and authentication within a platform are provided. Example embodiments provide a Wireless Device Detection, Tracking, and Authentication System and methods, which enables users to detect wireless devices, obtain stored information about wireless devices, and authenticate wireless devices for a variety of purposes including determining similarity of devices based upon prior network connections, pinpointing the location of the device, verifying the cryptographic signature of the device, obtaining metadata associated with the device, and controlling the device to perform a particular action such as alerts and notifications. An example WDDTAS platform includes a server, one or more edge sensors communicatively connected to wireless/wired devices with or without software to configure the device to perform as an electronic tag and connected to electronic smart tags, and a persistent data repository.

Claims

1. A wireless device detection and tracking system comprising:

a plurality of sensor devices associated with one or more geofenced zones, each sensor device comprising;

a wireless network interface controller (NIC);

code figured to;

place the wireless NIC into a mode that causes the wireless NIC to monitor wireless network traffic from one or more wireless devices passively; and

upon the wireless NIC receiving at least one request for a possible connection to a previously connected network from a monitored wireless device of the one or more wireless devices through passive monitoring, generate data describing the at least one request for the possible connection; and

at least one computing device configured to;

receive the data describing the at least one request for the possible connection; and

using trilateration techniques, determine a location of the monitored wireless device based on the data describing the at least one request for the possible connection.