SECURITY DESIGN FOR A WAKE UP FRAME

• US 20180018185A1
• Filed: 03/15/2017
• Published: 01/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Jung-Hoon Suh
• Inventors: Sun, Sheng, Xin, Yan, Aboul-Magd, Osama, Suh, Jung Hoon, Au, Kwok Shum
• Granted Patent: US 10,445,107 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4416 Network booting; Remote initial program loading [RIPL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4418 Suspend and resume; Hibernate and awake
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0235 where the received signal is a power saving command
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Methods and systems for waking up an electronic device having a wake-up receiver circuit. A signal is transmitted, carrying a wake-up frame (WUF) including a protocol data unit (PDU). A wake-up sequence is inserted in a portion ahead of the PDU. The wake-up sequence is used by the electronic device for detection of the WUF and identification of the intended recipient. The WUF also includes a wake-up identifier (WUID) that is used by the electronic device to authenticate the WUF.

Claims

1. A method of waking up a electronic device (ED) having a wake-up receiver circuit, the method comprising:

transmitting a signal comprising a wake-up frame (WUF) within a physical protocol data unit (PPDU);

wherein the WUF includes a wake-up sequence inserted in a portion within the PPDU, the wake-up sequence encoding information for detection of the WUF and identification of at least one intended recipient device; and

wherein the WUF further includes a wake-up identifier (WUID) in a data portion following the wake-up sequence, the WUID encoding information for authenticating the WUF.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the WUF includes a physical layer preamble (PHY preamble), and the wake-up sequence is inserted in the PHY preamble.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the WUF includes a physical layer preamble (PHY preamble) and a physical layer header (PHY header), and the wake-up sequence is inserted between the PHY preamble and the PHY header.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the information encoded in the WUID further is for identifying the at least one intended recipient device.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating the wake-up sequence using at least a portion of a device identifier of the intended recipient device as input for a sequence generation algorithm, the sequence generation algorithm being selected to generate sequences having good autocorrelation properties.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the sequence generation algorithm is for generation of a Gold sequence.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the at least the portion of the device identifier is used to define a shift operator for generation of the Gold sequence.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the WUID is generated by a source of the WUF based on a wake-up key (WUK) shared between the source and the ED.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

after transmitting a first WUF with a first WUID generated using the WUK, using the first WUID and the same WUK to generate a second WUID for a second WUF.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the WUID is assigned to the ED by a source of the WUF.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

encrypting at least a data portion of the WUF using a wake-up key (WUK) before transmitting the signal comprising the WUF;

wherein the WUK is shared between a source of the WUF and the ED.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

scrambling at least a data portion of the WUF using a wake-up key (WUK) or using the WUID, before transmitting the signal comprising the WUF.

13. A method of waking up an electronic device (ED)having a wake-up receiver circuit, the method comprising:

receiving a signal comprising a wake-up frame (WUF);

decoding a first portion of the WUF to obtain a received wake-up sequence and performing correlation on the received wake-up sequence;

after successful correlation, decoding a second portion of the WUF to obtain a wake-up identifier (WUID) and validating authentication of the WUID; and

after successful validation, transmitting an internal signal to a main receiver circuit to wake up the ED.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

decrypting at least a data portion of the WUF using a wake-up key (WUK) shared between a source of the WUF and the ED.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

unscrambling at least a data portion of the WUF using a wake-up key (WUK) or using the WUID.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein performing correlation on the received wake-up sequence comprises:

generating a local wake-up sequence; and

performing correlation between the received wake-up sequence and the local wake-up sequence.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein generating the local wake-up sequence comprises:

using at least a portion of a device identifier of the ED as input for a sequence generation algorithm, the sequence generation algorithm being selected to generate sequences having good autocorrelation properties.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the sequence generation algorithm is for generation of a Gold sequence.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the at least the portion of the device identifier is used to define a shift operator for generation of the Gold sequence.

20. An electronic device (ED)comprising a wake-up receiver circuit configured to:

receive a signal comprising a wake-up frame (WUF);

decode a first portion of the WUF to obtain a received wake-up sequence and perform correlation on the received wake-up sequence;

after successful correlation, decode a second portion of the WUF to obtain a wake-up identifier (WUID) and validating authentication of the WUID; and

after successful validation, transmit an internal signal to a main receiver circuit to wake up the ED.

21. The device of claim 20 wherein the wake-up receiver circuit is further configured to perform correlation on the received wake-up sequence by:

generating a local wake-up sequence; and

performing correlation between the received wake-up sequence and the local wake-up sequence.

22. The device of claim 21 wherein the wake-up receiver circuit is further configured to generate the local wake-up sequence by:

using at least a portion of a device identifier of the ED as input for a sequence generation algorithm, the sequence generation algorithm being selected to generate sequences having good autocorrelation properties.