Peer-to-peer communication method for near field communication

• US 20080065877A1
• Filed: 02/07/2007
• Published: 03/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Son, Jae-Seung, Won, Eun-Tae, Ann, Jong-Hoon
• Granted Patent: US 8,380,977 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/151
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/162 at the data link layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/324 in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/326 in the transport layer [OSI layer 4] H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A peer-to-peer communication method for NFC is provided. A link-level security is started by exchanging a link-level security request and a link-level security response between an initiator terminal and a target terminal, then transmission data are encrypted at link-level security layers of the initiator terminal and the target terminal, and the encrypted data are exchanged between the initiator terminal and the target terminal. The link-level security is released by exchanging a link-level security release request and a link-level security release response between the initiator terminal and the target terminal.

Claims

1. A peer-to-peer communication method for Near Field Communication (NFC), comprising the steps of:

starting a link-level security by exchanging a link-level security request and a link-level security release response between an initiator terminal and a target terminal;

encrypting transmission data at link-level security layers of the initiator terminal and the target terminal, and exchanging the encrypted data between the initiator terminal and the target terminal; and

releasing the link-level security by exchanging the link-level security release request and the link-level security release response between the initiator terminal and the target terminal.

2. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 1, wherein each of the initiator terminal and the target terminal has an NFC protocol stack, the NFC protocol stack having a Radio Frequency (RF) layer corresponding to a physical layer, for data modulation and demodulation and radio transmission, a Logical Link Control Protocol (LLCP) layer for link management, segmentation and reassembly, and connectivity to a plurality of upper-layer protocols, a transport layer, an NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) layer for defining a_common data format for an NFC Forum-compliant device and an NFC Forum-compliant tag, an application layer, and a security layer being a sub-layer of the LLCP layer, for notifying starting and releasing of key exchange and encryption to provide the link-level security.

3. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 1, wherein the step of starting the link-level security comprises the step of starting the link-level security according to a preset user selection as to determine whether the link-level security is to be performed for an application program associated with NFC when the application program is executed.

4. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 1, wherein the step of starting the link-level security comprises the step of exchanging random variables during exchanging the link-level security request and the link-level security response.

5. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 4, wherein the step of encrypting transmission data comprises the step of encrypting the transmission data with encryption keys created by the random variables.

6. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 1, wherein the step of starting the link-level security comprises the step of starting the link-level security when communications start between the initiator terminal and the target terminal or during the communications.

7. A peer-to-peer communication method for Near Field Communication (NFC) between NFC Forum-compliant terminals each having a protocol stack with a security layer being a sub-layer of a Logical Link Control Protocol (LLCP) layer, for notifying starting and releasing of key exchange and encryption to provide a link-level security, comprising the steps of:

requesting the link-level security to a target terminal by an initiator terminal when an application program for which a user presets the link-level security is executed;

responding to the initiator terminal for the link-level security request by the target terminal; and

encrypting transmission data at the security layer of the initiator terminal and sending the encrypted data to the target terminal by the initiator terminal.

8. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 7, wherein the step of link-level security comprises the steps of:

sending a command requesting starting of the link-level security to the security layer of the initiator terminal by an application layer of the initiator terminal; and

sending a message requesting security setup to the security layer of the target terminal by the security layer of the initiator terminal,

wherein the security setup requesting message includes the Identifier (ID) of the application program requesting the link-level security and a random variable for creating an encryption key.

9. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 8, wherein the step of responding to the initiator terminal comprises the steps of:

sending a commanding requesting starting of the link-level security to an application layer of the target terminal by the security layer of the target terminal;

sending a response command for the link-level security starting request to the security layer of the target terminal by the application layer of the target terminal; and

sending a response message for the security setup request of the initiator terminal to the initiator terminal by the security layer of the target terminal,

wherein the response message for the security setup request includes an indicator indicating that the target terminal uses the link-level security and a random variable for creating an encryption key.

10. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 9, wherein the step of encrypting transmission data comprises the step of encrypting the transmission data with an encryption key created using the random variable received from the target terminal at the security layer of the initiator terminal and sending the encrypted data to the target terminal by the initiator terminal.

11. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:

requesting a release of the link-level security to the target terminal by the initiator terminal; and

releasing the link-level security in response to the link-level security release request by the target terminal.

12. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 11, wherein the step of requesting the release of the link-level security comprises the steps of:

sending a command requesting the release of the link-level security to the security layer of the initiator terminal by the application layer of the initiator terminal; and

sending a message requesting the release of the link-level security to the security layer of the target terminal by the security layer of the initiator terminal,

wherein the message requesting the release of the link-level security includes the Identifier (ID) of the application program from which the link-level security is to be released.

13. The peer-to-peer communication method of claim 12, wherein the step of releasing the link-level security in response to the link-level security release request comprises the steps of:

sending a command requesting the release of the link-level security to the application layer of the target terminal by the security layer of the target terminal;

sending a response for the link-level security release request to the security layer of the target terminal by the application layer of the target terminal; and

sending a response message for the link-level security release request of the initiator terminal to the initiator terminal by the security layer of the target terminal.