Cruable U-NII wireless radio with secure, integral antenna connection via validation registers in U-NII wireless ready device

• US 20050075136A1
• Filed: 10/07/2003
• Published: 04/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Fujii, Kazuo, Cromer, Daryl Carvis, Itoh, Masaharu, Matsunaga, Kozo, Jakes, Philip John, Oie, Masaki, Griffiths, Ronald John Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 7,072,691 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/558
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2129 Authenticate client device independently of the user
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2266 disposed inside the computer
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits

Abstract

A method that utilizes software means to meet the FCC requirement for an U-NII antenna to be an integral part of the device in which it operates, while providing wireless ready U-NII devices and CRUable U-NII radios. Enhancements are made to the system BIOS, including the inclusion of a table of PCI IDs and secret key pairs. The CRUable radio includes a pair of validation registers (VRs) and an EEPROM storing an PCI ID and secret key of an approved device. During boot up of the device, the PCI ID and secret key from the device'"'"'s BIOS are compared against the PCI ID and secret key stored in the radio'"'"'s EEPROM. The first comparison completes a radio-to-device authentication in the device, while the second comparison completes a device-to-radio authentication in the radio. U-NII transmission capability is enabled only when both parameters match, indicating FCC approved device-antenna-radio combination under the “integral” requirement.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a CRUable U-NII radio into an interface slot within a wireless ready device designed for receiving radio cards, said radio having a pair of identifying parameters, wherein said slot enables said radio to interface with an antenna built into the device and having a unique distinguishing characteristic;

during boot up of the device, completing an authentication process that verifies that said radio is an authorized radio for utilization with the antenna within the device under U-NII standards; and

when said authentication process verifies that said radio is authorized, completing a boot of said device and enable U-NII communication via the combination of said antenna and said radio, wherein a U-NII transmitter meeting an FCC “

integral”

requirement is provided within a wireless ready device having an embedded antenna.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said CRUable U-NII radio is fabricated on a wireless module that also comprises an EEPROM, comparator logic, and a plurality of configuration registers, including PCI ID register, validation input register and validation output register, and an interface for connecting to said interface slot of said device;

said device comprises the antenna, the interface slot, a coax connector slot and coax coupling the connector slot to said antenna, a basic input/output system (BIOS) and an EEPROM, said EEPROM storing an index that points to a particular entry of a table of paired values stored within the BIOS, said table of paired values providing an PCI ID of the device and an associated secret key; and

said step for completing a software-based authentication process comprises completing a radio-to-device authentication process and completing a device-to-radio authentication process.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of completing a radio-to-device authentication process comprises:

reading a first PCI ID from the table within the BIOS, wherein said PCI ID read is stored as an entry in said table at which said index stored within the EEPROM points;

receiving a second PCI ID from the PCI ID register of wireless module, said PCI ID corresponding to an antenna/device PCI ID for which said radio is authorized;

comparing said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID for a match; and

when said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID matches, approving said radio-to-device authentication process as a successful authentication of said radio for operation within said device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

when said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID matches, exporting a secret key affiliated with said first PCI ID within the table to the VR of the wireless module.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

when said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID matches, allowing a boot process being executed on the device to complete, wherein when said match does not occur, said boot process is terminated.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

when said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID does not match, disabling said radio from operating within said device, wherein said device is booted without U-NII transmission capability.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of completing device-to-radio authentication process, comprises:

reading a first secret key from the EEPROM of the wireless module;

receiving a second secret key from the device, said second secret key being temporarily stored within the validation input register;

comparing said first secret key with said second secret key for a match; and

enabling said radio for U-NII transmission within said device when said first secret key and said second secret key matches.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said second secret key is received within said validation input register only after an PCI ID stored in the EEPROM of the wireless module matches the PCI ID of the device/antenna, whereby a dual authentication process is completed to activate said radio for U-NII operation within the device.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

when said match does not occur, disabling said radio from operating within said device, wherein said device is booted without U-NII transmission capability.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein said enabling step further comprises:

storing an indication of said match within said validation output register;

checking said validation output register for said indication prior to completing a U-NII connection with said device, wherein a request for U-NII connection is allowed to proceed only when said indication is present in said validation output register; and

clearing said validation output register whenever a triggering condition is registered on the device, said triggering condition being a condition form among rebooting the device, removing the wireless module, breaking a connection between said antenna and said radio, modification/replacement of said radio, modification/replacement of said antenna.

11. A wireless-ready device comprising:

an interface slot which receives a CRUable U-NII radio into an interface slot within said device designed for receiving radio cards, said radio having a pair of identifying parameters, wherein said slot enables said radio to interface with an antenna built into the device and having a unique distinguishing characteristic;

an authentication mechanism that completes an verification process during boot up of the device that verifies that said radio is an authorized radio for utilization with the antenna within the device under U-NII standards; and

U-NII transmitter activation logic that, when said verification process verifies that said radio is authorized, for completing a boot of said device and enabling U-NII communication via the combination of said antenna and said radio, wherein a U-NII transmitter meeting an FCC “

integral”

requirement is provided within the wireless ready device.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein:

said CRUable U-NII radio is fabricated on a wireless module that also comprises an EEPROM, comparator logic, and a plurality of configuration registers, including PCI ID register, validation input register and validation output register, and an interface for connecting to said interface slot of said device;

said device comprises the antenna, the interface slot, a coax connector slot and coax coupling the connector slot to said antenna, a basic input/output system (BIOS) and an EEPROM, said EEPROM storing an index that points to a particular entry of a table of paired values stored within the BIOS, said table of paired values providing an PCI ID of the device and an associated secret key; and

said authentication mechanism provides both radio-to-device authentication and device-to-radio authentication.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein said radio-to-device authentication comprises:

reading logic for retrieving a first PCI ID from the table within the BIOS, wherein said PCI ID read is stored as an entry in said table at which said index stored within the EEPROM points;

validation input register that receives a second PCI ID from the PCI ID register of the wireless module, said PCI ID corresponding to an antenna/device PCI ID for which said radio is authorized;

a comparator that compares said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID for a match; and

verification logic that, when said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID matches, signals an approval of said radio-to-device authentication as a successful authentication of said radio for operation within said device.

14. The device of claim 13, further comprising:

issuing logic that responds to a match of said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID, by exporting a secret key affiliated with said first PCI ID within the table to the VR of the wireless module.

15. The device of claim 13, further comprising:

boot termination mechanism that allows a boot process being executed on the device to complete when said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID matches, wherein when said match does not occur, said boot termination mechanism terminates said boot process.

16. The device of claim 13, further comprising:

a transmission disabling mechanism that disables said radio from operating within said device when said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID does not match, wherein said device is booted without U-NII transmission capability.

17. The device of claim 12, wherein said device-to-radio authentication, comprises:

a comparator that compares a first secret key received from the wireless module with a second secret key from the device'"'"'s BIOS for a match;

a secret key register within the EEPROM of the wireless module that stores the first secret key and forwards the first secret key to the comparator during boot-up of said device;

a switch mechanism that enables forwarding of the second secret key from the device when radio-to-device authentication is verified;

a validation input register that temporarily stores the second secret key forwarded by the switch mechanism; and

transmission activation mechanism that enables said radio for U-NII transmission within said device when said comparator indicates that said first secret key and said second secret key matches.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein said second secret key is received within said validation input register only after an PCI ID stored in the EEPROM of the wireless module matches the PCI ID of the device/antenna, whereby a dual authentication process is completed to activate said radio for U-NII operation within the device.

19. The device of claim 17, further comprising a transmission disabling mechanism, including a switch, that disables said radio from operating within said device when said first PCI ID and said second PCI ID do not match, wherein said device is booted without U-NII transmission capability.

20. The device of claim 17, wherein said transmission activation mechanism further comprises:

a validation output register that stores a result of whether the first secret key matches the said second secret key;

means for checking said validation output register for said result prior to completing a U-NII connection with said device, wherein a request for U-NII connection is allowed to proceed only when said result indicates a match between said secret keys; and

reset mechanism for resetting a value of said validation output register whenever a triggering condition is registered on the device, said triggering condition being a condition from among rebooting the device, removing the wireless module, breaking a connection between said antenna and said radio, modification/replacement of said radio, modification/replacement of said antenna.

21. In a device having an embedded antenna designed for supporting wireless communication via the U-NII wireless protocol, a basic input/output system (BIOS), a first EEPROM, and an interface for receiving a CRUable U-NII radio, a method for providing an approved U-NII transmitter within the device, said method comprising:

receiving at an interface slot of the device an mPCI card containing said CRUable U-NII radio into said electronic device, wherein said mPCI card comprises a second EEPROM and a plurality of PCI configuration registers, including PCI ID register, validation input register and validation output register;

comparing a second PCI ID obtained from the second EEPROM with a first PCI ID associated with the approved antenna for the device and stored within the BIOS of the device;

comparing a second secret key obtained from the second EEPROM with a secret key of said first PCI ID that is also stored within the BIOS;

enabling U-NII transmission via the combination of the radio and the antenna only when both the first comparing step and the second comparing step results in a match.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

initiating a boot up of the device after said receiving step, wherein said boot up activates a BIOS check of the device and the radio;

copying the first PCI ID from an EEPROM of mPCI card into the PCI ID register during said boot up;

reading said first PCI ID from a table of said BIOS that stores PCI ID and secret key pairs as entries, wherein said first PCI ID is identified by an index within the first EEPROM that points to an entry of the table containing the first PCI ID; and

exporting said first secret key to said validation input register only after said first comparing step results in a match, wherein said second comparing step occurs sequentially after said first comparing step.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising terminating said boot up when at least one of said first comparing and said second comparing steps does not result in a match.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising disabling said mPCI card when at least one of said first comparing and said second comparing steps does not result in a match, wherein said device boots up without U-NII transmission capability.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein said enabling step further comprises:

storing an indication of said match within said validation output register;

checking said validation output register for said indication prior to completing an U-NII connection with said device, wherein a request for U-NII connection is allowed to proceed only when said indication is present in said validation output register; and

clearing said validation output register whenever a triggering condition is registered on the device, said triggering condition being a condition form among rebooting the device, removing the wireless module, breaking a connection between said antenna and said radio, modification/replacement of said radio, modification/replacement of said antenna.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein said device is a portable computer system.