Radio Frequency Certificates of Authenticity and Related Scanners
First Claim
1. An apparatus for reading an electromagnetic fingerprint associated with a radio frequency certificate of authenticity (RFCOA), wherein the apparatus transmits RF energy at the RFCOA to create the electromagnetic fingerprint and receives electromagnetic effects back from the RFCOA, the electromagnetic effects representing the electromagnetic fingerprint of the RFCOA, comprising:
- an array of antenna elements capable of being positioned in a near-field of the RFCOA;
each antenna element comprising multiple electrically conductive surfaces;
wherein a folded and meandered geometry of the conductive surfaces enables each antenna element to be miniaturized to one-eighth or less of the wavelength of the radio frequency (RF) energy used to obtain the electromagnetic fingerprint of the RFCOA.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Radio frequency certificates of authenticity (RFCOAs) and associated scanners are presented. In one implementation, an array of miniaturized antenna elements in an RFCOA scanner occupies an area smaller than a credit card yet obtains a unique electromagnetic fingerprint from an RFCOA associated with an item, such as the credit card. The antenna elements are miniaturized by a combination of both folding and meandering the antenna patch components. The electromagnetic fingerprint of an exemplary RFCOA embeddable in a credit card or other item is computationally infeasible to fake, and the RFCOA cannot be physically copied or counterfeited based only on possession of the electromagnetic fingerprint.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for reading an electromagnetic fingerprint associated with a radio frequency certificate of authenticity (RFCOA), wherein the apparatus transmits RF energy at the RFCOA to create the electromagnetic fingerprint and receives electromagnetic effects back from the RFCOA, the electromagnetic effects representing the electromagnetic fingerprint of the RFCOA, comprising:
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an array of antenna elements capable of being positioned in a near-field of the RFCOA; each antenna element comprising multiple electrically conductive surfaces; wherein a folded and meandered geometry of the conductive surfaces enables each antenna element to be miniaturized to one-eighth or less of the wavelength of the radio frequency (RF) energy used to obtain the electromagnetic fingerprint of the RFCOA. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system, comprising:
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a reader for obtaining an electromagnetic fingerprint from a radio frequency certificate of authenticity (RFCOA); an antenna array associated with the reader capable of being placed within a millimeter of a surface of the RFCOA; antenna elements in the antenna array, each antenna element comprising a folded ground plane and one or more folded and meandered microstrip antenna patches; wherein the folded ground plane and the one or more folded and meandered microstrip antenna patches are capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) energy to and from the RFCOA; and wherein the longest dimension of each antenna element is equal to or less than one-eighth the wavelength of RF energy. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A credit card, comprising:
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an embedded radio frequency certificate of authenticity (RFCOA); the RFCOA comprising an agent to interact with radio frequency (RF) energy such that an array of RF antennae in a credit card scanner obtains a unique electromagnetic fingerprint of the RFCOA in the credit card; stored information representing the electromagnetic fingerprint obtained from a scan of the RFCOA for comparison with subsequent scans of the RFCOA; wherein the electromagnetic fingerprint is computationally infeasible to fake; wherein the RFCOA is infeasible to physically copy based only on possession of the electromagnetic fingerprint; and wherein the stored information resides in a barcode, a magnetic strip, or a chip.
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Specification