METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SECURELY DETERMINING ASPECTS OF THE HISTORY OF A GOOD

• US 20020186145A1
• Filed: 01/11/1999
• Published: 12/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: PULLEYBLANK, WILLIAM R., WU, CHAI W., TRESSER, CHARLES P., CHAINER, TIMOTHY J., GREENGARD, CLAUDE A.
• Granted Patent: US 6,501,390 B1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/870.16
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/27 preventing use
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/273 preventing reuse, e.g. of disposables
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/6054 Magnetic identification systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/5086 for indicating if defective, used, tampered with or unsterile
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0717 the sensor being capable of sensing environmental conditions such as temperature history or pressure
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/073 Special arrangements for circuits, e.g. for protecting identification code in memory protection against unauthorised use of computer memory G06F12/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07372 by detecting tampering with the circuit
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07381 with deactivation or otherwise incapacitation of at least a part of the circuit upon detected tampering
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/02 Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when empty; Advertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus alarms or warning devices indicating the interruption of flow to be metered G07F15/10
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0054 with control of supplementary check-parameters, e.g. weight or number of articles

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and apparatus to detect and reliably record the physical history of a product including effects due to one or more of the following: 1) product use 2) handling 3) tampering and 4) environment of the product (as changes in the environment, such as excessive temperatures, humidity, or shocks, can result in degradation to a product). The apparatus includes a “smart card”, or, more generally, “smart token”, in combination with one or more sensors which record the external influences on the product and/or the environment and records those changes in an encrypted form. This information can then be verified by any individual who is equipped with a (possibly public) decryption key, but capability to modify this information, depending on the application, is restricted to those with access to the encrypting key. Furthermore, the apparatus contains authentication information which can be reliably verified, in particular to confirm that the apparatus is attached to the product it supposed to be attached to.

Claims

1. A method of securely recording and storing information in an integrated smart tag about at least one of physical, chemical and environmental effects on an object, over time, comprising the steps of:

sensing data regarding a state of said object or an environment of said object, with at least one of a plurality of sensors;

securely sending a signal from said sensor to a storage device embedded within the smart tag; and

securely recording using encryption of said signal in said storage device for later retrieval.

2. A method as in claim 1 further comprising the step of recording a time in said storage device for each said signal recorded in said storage device.

3. A method as in claim 1 wherein said sensors detect changes in one or more states of the of the object selected from the group comprising temperature, humidity, pressure, light, vibration, shock, electromagnetic field, and chemical composition.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said object is a motor vehicle and said sensors detects at least one of the group comprising:

time, mileage, shock, temperature, geographic location, speed, and securely records using encryption said signals in said storage device, creating a time sequence history of said motor vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said object is a packaging container which encloses pharmacological products, food products, or chemical products, and said sensors detect at least one of the group of temperature, humidity, pressure, light, vibration, shock, electromagnetic field, chemical composition, and opening of said packaging container.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said object is an electronic consumer product and said sensors detect a number of power on hours of said consumer product.

7. A method of recording and storing information in an integrated smart tag about at least one of physical, chemical and environmental effects on an object over time comprising the steps of:

sensing data regarding a state of said object or an environment of said object, with at least one of a plurality of sensors;

processing said data to compute at least one of a plurality of functions of said data; and

storing a combination of said data and values of said functions in a storage device.

8. A method of recording and storing information in an integrated smart tag as in claim 7, further comprising the step of encrypting at least one of said data and said values of said functions prior to storage in said storage device.

9. A method of recording and storing information in an integrated smart tag as in claim 7 further comprising displaying a result from said processing step.

10. A smart tag security system comprising:

a storage device;

a sensor securely sending a signal to said storage device; and

an encryption module altering data from said signal being securely recorded in said storage device, for later retrieval.

11. The smart tag security system of claim 10 further comprising a processing unit which acts upon said signals from said sensor.

12. The smart tag security system of claim 11 wherein said processing unit acts upon said signal to determine if said signal meets a threshold for recording in said storage device.

13. The smart tag security system of claim 11 wherein said processing unit acts upon said signal to execute an algorithm to process said signal to determine a state of an object.

14. The smart tag security system of claims 11 further comprising a display displaying a result determined by said processing unit.

15. The smart tag security system of claim 14 wherein said display includes a secure access.

16. The smart tag security system as in claim 10, wherein said smart tag is integrated onto a single silicon substrate.

17. The smart tag security system as in claim 10, further comprising a timing unit which sends a time stamp to said storage device to be recorded for each signal recorded from said sensor.

18. The smart tag security system as in claim 10, wherein said sensor is comprised of a pressure sensor sending signals to said storage device in response to changes in pressure around said sensor.

19. The smart tag security system as in claim 10, wherein said sensor is comprised of a light sensor sending a signal to said storage device when light exposure to said sensor is changed.

20. The smart tag security system as in claim 10, wherein said sensor is composed of an electrical connection which if broken sends a signal to said storage device.

21. The smart tag security system as in claim 10, further comprising an identification code encrypted in said storage device specific to an object protected by said security system.

22. A security system as in claim 21 wherein said identification code is authenticated using a zero-knowledge protocol.

23. A smart tag security system for recording and storing information in an integrated smart tag about at least one of physical, chemical and environmental effects on an object over time, said system comprising

a sensor for sensing data regarding a state of said object or an environment of said object,

a processor for computing one of a plurality of functions of said data, and

a storage device for storing said data and values of said functions of said data in a storage device.