GEOTHENTICATION BASED ON NETWORK RANGING

• US 20120309416A1
• Filed: 10/27/2011
• Published: 12/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Whelan, David A., Gutt, Gregory M., Lawrence, David G., O'Connor, Michael Lee, Schmalzried, Rachel Rane'
• Granted Patent: US 8,949,941 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18593 Arrangements for preventing unauthorised access or for providing user protection arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/80 Wireless network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0884 by delegation of authentication, e.g. a proxy authenticates an entity to be authenticated on behalf of this entity vis-à-vis an authentication entity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/321 involving a third party or a trusted authority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3271 using challenge-response

Abstract

A system, method, and apparatus for the authentication of the physical location of a target node are disclosed herein. In one or more embodiments, the authentication of the target node'"'"'s physical location is achieved by using ping ranging measurements obtained from the amount of time that elapses during ping messages being sent between the target node and at least one trusted node with a known physical location. The physical location of the trusted node(s) is obtained by using satellite geolocation techniques. The accuracy of the ranging measurements may be improved upon by using pre-coordination and/or priority determination of the ping messages being sent between the target node and the trusted node(s). In at least one embodiment, the ping messages are sent by dedicated ping response hardware that is associated with the target node and/or the trusted node(s). In some embodiments, the ping messages include a pseudo random code bit sequence.

Claims

1. A method for authenticating a physical location of a target node, the method comprising:

sending, by the target node, a geothentication request to at least one trusted node with a known physical location;

receiving, by the at least one trusted node, the geothentication request;

sending, by the at least one trusted node, an inquiry message to the target node;

receiving, by the target node, the inquiry message;

sending, by the target node, a response message to the at least one trusted node;

receiving, by the at least one trusted node, the response message;

calculating a ranging measurement from the target node to the at least one trusted node by using an amount of time elapsed from the sending of the inquiry message to the receiving of the response message; and

authenticating the physical location of the target node by using the ranging measurement from the target node to the at least one trusted node.

2. A method for authenticating a physical location of a target node, the method comprising:

sending, by at least one trusted node with a known physical location, an inquiry message to the target node;

receiving, by the target node, the inquiry message;

sending, by the target node, a response message to the at least one trusted node;

receiving, by the at least one trusted node, the response message;

calculating a ranging measurement from the target node to the at least one trusted node by using an amount of time elapsed from the sending of the inquiry message to the receiving of the response message; and

authenticating the physical location of the target node by using the ranging measurement from the target node to the at least one trusted node.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the physical location of the at least one trusted node is obtained via satellite geolocation techniques.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the satellite geolocation techniques use at least one authentication signal in order to obtain the physical location of the at least one trusted node.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one authentication signal is transmitted by at least one transmission source, and is received by at least one receiving source associated with the at least one trusted node.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein two or more of the at least one authentication signal are transmitted from a same transmission source.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein two or more of the at least one authentication signal are transmitted from different transmission sources.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein two or more of the at least one authentication signal are transmitted on a same frequency.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein two or more of the at least one authentication signal are transmitted on different frequencies.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one transmission source is employed in at least one of at least one satellite and at least one pseudo-satellite.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one satellite is at least one of a Lower Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellite, a Medium Earth Orbiting (MEO) satellite, and a Geosynchronous Earth Orbiting (GEO) satellite.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the target node is programmed to send the response message after a specific amount of time has passed after the target node has received the inquiry message.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein the target node is programmed to send the response message at a specific time.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the target node is programmed to perform the action of sending the response message before performing other actions.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the target node utilizes response message hardware for sending the response message.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the inquiry message includes a pseudo random code bit sequence, and

wherein the response message includes at least a portion of the pseudo random code bit sequence.

17. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

generating a map of the physical location of the target node and the physical location of the at least one trusted node.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the map includes Internet Protocol (IP) information related to the target node and the at least one trusted node.

19. A system for authenticating a physical location of a target node, the system comprising:

at least one trusted node with a known physical location for sending an inquiry message to the target node,

wherein the physical location of the at least one trusted node is obtained via satellite geolocation techniques;

the target node for receiving the inquiry message, and for sending a response message to the at least one trusted node; and

at least one processor for calculating a ranging measurement from the target node to the at least one trusted node by using an amount of time elapsed from the sending of the inquiry message to the receiving of the response message.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is for authenticating the physical location of the target node by using the ranging measurement from the target node to the at least one trusted node.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is for generating a map of the physical location of the target node and the physical location of the at least one trusted node.

22. An apparatus for fast tracking a response message, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver capable of receiving an inquiry message;

a transmitter capable of transmitting the response message after the inquiry message is received;

a buffer for storing communication data packets that are delayed in their transmission during the transmission of the response message;

memory for storing a message schedule; and

a data splitter through which the communication data packets are transmitted.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the apparatus further comprises at least one of satellite tracking hardware to perform verification of a physical location of at least one trusted node, satellite tracking firmware to perform verification of the physical location of the at least one trusted node, and a pseudo random number generator.