METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SECURE RFID COMMUNICATION BETWEEN A NOISY READER AND A COMMUNICATING OBJECT

• US 20110084796A1
• Filed: 10/07/2010
• Published: 04/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (AES Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (AES Corporation)
• Inventors: SAVRY, Olivier
• Application Number:
  US12/899,852
• Publication Number:
  US 20110084796A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.8
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10257 arrangements for protecting the interrogation against piracy attacks computer security in general G06F21/00; jamming of communication, countermeasures H04K3/00; secret communication H04K1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 2203/20 for contactless carriers, e.g. RFID carriers record carriers with integrated circuit chips including means for preventing undesired reading or writing from or to record carriers by hindering electromagnetic reading or writing G06K19/07318; arrangements for sensing record carriers including arrangements for protecting the interrogation against piracy attacks G06K7/10257
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 3/82 related to preventing surveillance, interception or detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/805 Lightweight hardware, e.g. radio-frequency identification [RFID] or sensor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3273 for mutual authentication network architectures or network communication protocols for achieving mutual authentication in a packet data network H04L63/0869

Abstract

A method for communication between a RFID noisy reader (100) and a RFID communicating object, including a method for authenticating the noisy reader done between the noisy reader and the communicating object before a transmission of data from the communicating object to the noisy reader, said data transmission being subject to a valid authentication of the noisy reader by the communicating object, and wherein the authentication method is implemented at the same time as an anti-collision method between the noisy reader and at least the communicating object.

Claims

1. A method for communication between at least one RFID noisy reader and at least one RFID communicating object, including at least one method for authenticating the noisy reader done between the noisy reader and the communicating object before a transmission of data from the communicating object to the noisy reader, said data transmission being subject to a valid authentication of the noisy reader by the communicating object, and wherein the authentication method is implemented at the same time as an anti-collision method between the noisy reader and at least the communicating object.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission subject to a valid authentication of the noisy reader is a transmission of identifying data of the communicating object.

3. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the authentication method includes at least the following steps:

generating a first pseudorandom number from a physical pseudorandom number generator of the communicating object,

masking the first pseudorandom number with at least one bijective encryption function;

sending, from the communicating object to the noisy reader, the first masked pseudorandom number,

unmasking of the first pseudorandom number by the noisy reader,

generating a second pseudorandom number from the first pseudorandom number used as seed for a pseudorandom number generator of the communicating object,

generating a third pseudorandom number from the first pseudorandom number used as seed for a pseudorandom number generator of the noisy reader similar to the pseudorandom number generator of the communicating object,

sending, from the noisy reader to the communicating object, the third pseudorandom number,

comparing the second pseudorandom number with the third pseudorandom number by the communicating object, the noisy reader being identified as valid when the second pseudorandom number is similar to the third pseudorandom number.

4. The communication method according to claim 3, wherein the bijective encryption function used to mask the first pseudorandom number includes at least one Exclusive OR operation done between the first pseudorandom number and a secret key known by the communicating object and the noisy reader, and wherein the unmasking of the first pseudorandom number by the noisy reader includes at least one Exclusive OR operation done between the first masked pseudorandom number and the secret key.

5. The communication method according to claim 3, wherein the first, second and third pseudorandom numbers are at least 16-bit binary numbers.

6. The communication method according to claim 3, also including, before the step for generating the first pseudorandom number, a step for selecting, among several communicating objects found in the communication field of the noisy reader, part of the communicating objects, and a step for assigning distinct communication time slots to each of the selected communicating objects.

7. The communication method according to claim 3, wherein the step for generating the first pseudorandom number includes generating a pseudorandom number by the physical pseudorandom number generator, then generating the first pseudorandom number from said pseudorandom number used as seed by the pseudorandom number generator of the communicating object.

8. A RFID noisy reader, including means for carrying out a communication method according to claim 1 with at least one RFID communicating object.

9. A RFID communicating object, including means for carrying out a communication method according to claim 1 with at least one RFID noisy reader.

10. The communicating object according to claim 9, said communicating object including at least one RFID tag and/or at least one RFID contactless card.

11. A RFID communication system including at least one RFID noisy reader and at least one RFID communicating object, in which the noisy reader and the communicating object include means for carrying out an authentication method of the noisy reader between the noisy reader and the communicating object before transmitting data from the communicating object to the noisy reader, said data transmission being subject to a valid authentication of the noisy reader by the communicating object, and also including means for carrying out an anti-collision method between the noisy reader and at least the communicating object at the same time as the authentication method of the noisy reader.

12. The communication system according to claim 11, including at least:

means for generating a first pseudorandom number from a physical pseudorandom number generator of the communicating object,

means for masking the first pseudorandom number with at least one bijective encryption function;

means for sending, from the communicating object to the noisy reader, the first masked pseudorandom number,

means for unmasking of the first pseudorandom number by the noisy reader,

means for generating a second pseudorandom number from the first pseudorandom number used as seed for a pseudorandom number generator of the communicating object,

means for generating a third pseudorandom number from the first pseudorandom number used as seed for a pseudorandom number generator of the noisy reader similar to the pseudorandom number generator of the communicating object,

means for sending, from the noisy reader to the communicating object, the third pseudorandom number,

means for comparing the second pseudorandom number with the third pseudorandom number by the communicating object, the noisy reader being identified as valid when the second pseudorandom number is similar to the third pseudorandom number.

13. The communication system according to claim 12, wherein the masking means includes at least one Exclusive OR operator capable of performing an Exclusive OR operation between the first pseudorandom number and a secret key known by the communicating object and the noisy reader, and wherein the unmasking means include at least one Exclusive OR operator capable of performing an Exclusive OR operation between the first masked pseudorandom number and the secret key.

14. The communication system according to claim 12, also including means for selecting, among several communicating objects located in the communication field of the noisy reader, part of the communicating objects, and means for assigning distinct communication time slots to each of the selected communicating objects.

15. The communication system according to claim 12, wherein the means for generating the first pseudorandom number include means for generating a pseudorandom number by the physical pseudorandom number generator and means for generating the first pseudorandom number from said pseudorandom number used as seed by the pseudorandom number generator of the communicating object.