PRESENCE-BASED NETWORK AUTHENTICATION

• US 20170289119A1
• Filed: 04/04/2016
• Published: 10/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gogo Business Aviation LLC (GOGO Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Gogo LLC (GOGO Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lauer, Bryan Adrian
• Granted Patent: US 10,148,759 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2133 Verifying human interaction, e.g., Captcha
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/84 Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/068 using credential vaults, e.g. password manager applications or one time password [OTP] applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided to authenticating an electronic device with a wireless network using a presence-based authentication process. As part of the presence-based authentication process, an authentication entity may receive a registration message from an electronic device. The authentication entity may respond to the registration message by transmitting an authentication challenge associated with providing access to the wireless network and/or network feature thereof. If the electronic device provides a successful response to the authentication challenge, then the authentication entity may authenticate the electronic device to utilize the wireless network and/or network feature thereof.

Claims

1. A method of authenticating an electronic device with a wireless network the method comprising:

detecting, by an authentication server, a registration request, the registration request being automatically transmitted by the electronic device in response to the electronic device detecting the presence of the wireless network;

in response to detecting the registration request, transmitting, via the wireless network, a challenge, the challenge including (i) an indication of an expected sequence of symbols and (ii) an indication of a first feature of the wireless network;

detecting, at the authentication server, a response to the challenge, the response including user input received by the electronic device;

determining, by the authentication server, that the user input matches the expected sequence of symbols; and

causing, by the authentication server, the electronic device to be authorized to utilize the first feature of the wireless network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first feature of the wireless network is a communication service, the communication service being one or more of:

a short message service (SMS), a multimedia messaging service (MMS), a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) service, an internet communication service, or an email service.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the authentication server, that the user input does not match the desired sequence of symbols; and

blocking, by the authentication server, the electronic device from accessing the first feature of the wireless network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the challenge comprises at least one of:

an image, a math equation, or a contextual challenge being contextual to a vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the electronic device being authorized to utilize the first feature of the wireless network, transmitting, by the authentication server, a notification that the electronic device has been authorized to utilize the first feature of the wireless network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

subsequent to the electronic device being authorized to utilize the first feature of the wireless network;

associating, by the authentication server, a plurality of additional network features of the wireless network with respective sequences of symbols; and

transmitting, to the electronic device, a secondary challenge, the secondary challenge including an indication of the plurality of additional network features and the respective sequences of symbols.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

detecting, at the authentication server, a response to the secondary challenge, the response including an indication of a second set of user input,

determining, by the authentication server, that the second set of user input matches one or more of the respective sequences of symbols; and

causing, by the authentication server, the electronic device to be authorized to utilize one or more network features corresponding to the one or more sequences of symbols.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein:

at least one of the first network feature or the one or more network features is associated with a fee; and

causing, by the authentication server, the fee to be billed to a wireless carrier associated with the electronic device or a communication service provider associated with a user of the electronic device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the plurality of additional network features include at least one of:

unrestricted internet access, limited internet access, in-flight entertainment (IFE) services, or virtual private network (VPN) access.

10. A system for authenticating an electronic device with a wireless network, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory, computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to;

detect a registration attempt by the electronic device, the registration attempt initiated in response to the electronic device detecting the presence of the wireless network;

in response to detecting the registration attempt, transmit, via the wireless network, a challenge, the challenge including an indication of an access code associated with a first feature of the wireless network;

detect a response to the challenge, the response including an indication of user input received by the electronic device;

determine that the user input matches the access code; and

update a profile associated with the electronic device to authorize the electronic device to utilize the first feature of the wireless network.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first feature of the wireless network is a communication service, the communication service being one or more of:

a short message service (SMS), a multimedia messaging service (MMS), a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) service an internet communication service, or an email service.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the system to:

determine that the user input does not match the access code; and

prevent the electronic device from accessing the first feature of the wireless network.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the challenge comprises at least one of:

an image, a math equation, or a contextual challenge being contextual to a vehicle.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the system to:

responsive to the electronic device being authorized to utilize the first feature of the wireless network, transmit a confirmation that the electronic device has been authorized to utilize the first feature of the wireless network.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the system to:

subsequent to the electronic device being authorized to utilize the first feature of the wireless network;

associate a plurality of additional network features of the wireless network with respective access codes; and

transmit to the electronic device a secondary challenge, the secondary challenge including an indication of the plurality of additional network features and the respective access codes.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the system to:

detect a response to the secondary challenge, the response including an indication of a second set of user input,

determine that the second set of user input matches one or more access codes of the plurality of respective access codes; and

update the profile associated with the electronic device to authorize the electronic device to utilize the one or more network features corresponding to the one or more access codes.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the system to:

causing a fee associated with at least one of the first network feature or the one or more network features to be billed to a wireless carrier associated with the electronic device or a communication service provider associated with a user of the electronic device.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of additional network features include at least one of:

unrestricted internet access, limited internet access, in-flight entertainment (IFE) services, or virtual private network (VPN) access.

19. A system for authenticating an electronic device with a wireless network, the system comprising:

registration detection means for detecting a registration attempt by the electronic device, the registration attempt initiated in response to the electronic device detecting the presence of the wireless network;

transmission means for, responsive to detecting the registration attempt, transmitting, via the wireless network, a challenge, the challenge including an indication of an access code associated with a first feature of the wireless network;

response detection means for detecting a response to the challenge, the response including an indication of user input received by the electronic device;

determination means for determining that the user input matches the access code; and

update means for updating a profile associated with the electronic device to authorize the electronic device to utilize the first feature of the wireless network.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the system further comprises:

access prevention means for, responsive to the determination means determining that the user input does not match the access code, preventing the electronic device from accessing the first feature of the wireless network.