NETWORK DISCOVERY AND CONNECTION USING DEVICE ADDRESSES NOT CORRELATED TO A DEVICE

• US 20150095501A1
• Filed: 10/02/2013
• Published: 04/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Candelore, Brant
• Granted Patent: US 9,647,981 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/604 Address structures or formats
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/622 Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5038 for local use, e.g. in LAN or USB networks, or in a controller area network [CAN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5092 by self-assignment, e.g. picking addresses at random and testing if they are already in use

Abstract

To prevent tracking as it roams through a network of wireless access points (WAPs), a wireless device changes the MAC address. The device does this by randomizing some or all of the bits in the MAC address or selecting the MAC address from a group of MAC addresses assigned to the device by the device manufacturer. Furthermore, in order to further confuse tracking and make analytics not useful, a device can share MAC addresses with other devices, and check to make sure that a shared MAC address is not actively being used before selecting and using it.

Claims

1. A wireless communication device comprising:

at least one wireless transceiver;

at least one processor configured for accessing a computer readable storage medium to execute instructions which configure the processor for;

creating a first temporary device address wherein at least one of the bits in the address is randomly determined;

sending a first wireless network message including the first temporary device address through the wireless transceiver upon discovering an access point (AP);

creating a second temporary device address wherein at least one of the bits in the address is randomly determined; and

sending a second wireless network message including the second temporary device address through the wireless transceiver upon discovering an AP.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the randomly determined bits are created using one or more algorithms configured to prevent same-address collisions between devices.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the addresses are media access control (MAC) addresses.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein a portion of each temporary address otherwise indicating a manufacturing entity according to a standard address format is formatted to indicate an entity that is incorrect or does not exist, such that use of a temporary address does not identify the device with a manufacturing entity or the correct manufacturing entity.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein a permanent MAC address that the manufacturer has uniquely identified with the device is used for user-driven communication.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the permanent address is used for communication of user voice and/or user data messages.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the addresses are temporary in that their use is limited, meaning that a service provider (SP) of APs cannot track the same address around as a person possessing the device roams.

8. A wireless communication device comprising:

at least one wireless transceiver;

at least one processor configured for accessing a computer readable storage medium to execute instructions which configure the processor for;

selecting a first device address from a group of device addresses assigned to the device;

sending a first wireless network message including the first device address through the wireless transceiver responsive to discovering a wireless access point (WAP);

selecting a second device address from a group of device addresses assigned to the device different from the first device address; and

sending a second wireless network message including the second address through the wireless transceiver responsive to discovering a WAP.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein one or more of the device addresses assigned to a device are shared by other devices at different times and configured such that an address tracker is unable to distinguish between the devices using the shared device addresses.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the wireless communication device determines that a device address selected from a group of shared addresses is not being used by another device prior to being used by the wireless communication device.

11. The device of claim 8, wherein one of the addresses is a permanent address configured for use when a WAP prevents use of non-permanent random addresses and/or multiple addresses.

12. The device of claim 8, wherein the addresses are media access control (MAC) addresses.

13. The device of claim 8, wherein a portion of each address otherwise indicating a manufacturing entity according to a standard address format is formatted to indicate an entity that does not exist or an incorrect entity, such that use of a temporary address does not identify the device with a manufacturing entity or correct manufacturing entity.

14. A wireless communication device comprising:

at least one wireless transceiver;

at least one computer readable storage medium bearing a permanent address associated with the wireless transceiver and uniquely identifying the device and plural temporary addresses, the plural temporary addresses being provided by a manufacturer of the device or by a service provider (SP) of a wireless network; and

at least one processor configured for accessing the computer readable storage medium to execute instructions which configure the processor for;

selecting a first temporary address from the plural temporary addresses;

sending a first wireless network message including the first temporary address through the wireless transceiver pursuant to discovering a wireless access point (WAP);

selecting a second temporary address from the plural temporary addresses; and

sending a second wireless network message including the second temporary address through the wireless transceiver pursuant to discovering a WAP.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the addresses are media access control (MAC) addresses.

16. The device of claim 14, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor further configure the processor for:

using the permanent address for communication of user voice and/or user data messages through the wireless transceiver.

17. The device of claim 14, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor further configure the processor for:

not using the permanent address for communication of user voice and/or user data messages through the wireless transceiver when a WAP requires use of the permanent address; and

using at least one of the temporary addresses for communication of user voice and/or user data messages through the wireless transceiver when a WAP does not require use of the permanent address.

19. The device of claim 14, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor further configure the processor for:

using the permanent address for communication of user voice and/or user data messages through the wireless transceiver when a WAP is only able to handle the permanent address; and

using at least one of the temporary addresses for communication of user voice and/or user data messages through the wireless transceiver for WAPs that do not need to use the permanent address.

20. The device of claim 14, wherein a portion of each temporary address otherwise indicating a manufacturing entity according to a standard address format is formatted to indicate an entity that does not exist or an incorrect entity, such that use of a temporary address does not identify the device with a manufacturing entity or correct entity.

18. The device of claim 18, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor further configure the processor for:

responsive to a WAP that requires the use of the permanent address;

ceasing communication with the WAP; and

/or

presenting an alert on the device perceptible by a person that a network does not permit anonymous communication.