SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING A SECURED TRANSACTION BETWEEN A MOBILE DEVICE AND A SERVICE MACHINE

• US 20190332828A1
• Filed: 04/28/2019
• Published: 10/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ronen Ostri
• Original Assignee: Ronen Ostri
• Inventors: Ostri, Ronen
• Granted Patent: US 10,824,828 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10128 the step consisting of detection of the presence of one or more record carriers in the vicinity of the interrogation device
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10217 parameter settings controlling the transmission power of the interrogator
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/352 Contactless payments by cards
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/0893 the card reader reading the card in a contactless manner

Abstract

Systems and methods for facilitating transactions between a mobile device and a service machine are disclosed. The system comprises a wireless radio frequency (RF) communication module configured to transmit a RF signal using a RF technology with a given operation range; and a hardware attenuation module configured to attenuate the RF signal to a predefined Transmitted Power Output (TPO) in a first attenuation mode such that communication between the apparatus and the mobile device starts only when the mobile device is positioned relative to the service machine in a detection range that is significantly smaller than the given operation range.

Claims

1. Apparatus for facilitating transactions between a mobile device and a service machine, comprising:

a) a wireless radio frequency (RF) communication module configured to transmit a RF signal using a RF technology with a given operation range; and

b) a hardware attenuation module configured to attenuate the RF signal to a predefined Transmitted Power Output (TPO) in a first attenuation mode such that communication between the apparatus and the mobile device starts only when the mobile device is positioned relative to the service machine in a detection range that is significantly smaller than the given operation range.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detection range is in the range of 0-25 cm.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

c) a processor configured to command the attenuation module to attenuate the RF transmission signal in the first attenuation mode.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to command the attenuation module to switch between the first attenuation mode and a second attenuation mode, wherein the second attenuation mode is associated with a second level of attenuation and a second TPO level and has a transmission range larger than the detection range.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the switch between the first attenuation mode and the second attenuation mode occurs upon completion of a handshake between the RF communication module and the mobile device.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein if the communication between the RF communication module and the mobile device is interrupted, or upon completion of a transaction between the mobile device and the service machine, the processor is further configured to command the attenuation module to switch back to the first attenuation mode.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wireless RF technology is selected from the group consisting of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, a Bluetooth technology, a WiFi technology and a WiFi direct technology.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the hardware attenuation module is a hardware analog RF attenuation module.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the hardware attenuation module is a hardware digital step RF attenuation module.

10. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a secure access module (SAM) configured to store at least one of a symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic key for facilitating secure, end-to-end transactions between the service machine and a transaction server.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive transaction data from the service machine relating to a pending transaction,

obtain at least one of a symmetric cryptographic key or an asymmetric cryptographic key from the secure access module,

encrypt the transaction data using the at least one cryptographic key,

communicate the encrypted transaction data to the mobile device,

receive an encrypted transaction code data from the mobile device indicating whether the transaction has been successfully cleared by the transaction server,

decrypt the received transaction code data, and

send the decrypted transaction response data to the controller to finalize the transaction.

12. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein in the first attenuation mode, the RF communication module is configured to initiate communication and perform the handshake with the mobile device over a SRC protocol.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein in the second attenuation mode, the RF communication module is configured to communicate with the mobile device over the same SRC protocol as used for the handshake.

14. A method for facilitating transactions between a mobile device and a service machine, comprising:

a) transmitting a radio frequency (RF) signal using a RF technology with a given operation range; and

b) by a hardware attenuation module, attenuating the RF signal to a predefined Transmitted Power Output (TPO) in a first attenuation mode such that communication between the apparatus and the mobile device starts only when the mobile device is positioned relative to the service machine in a detection range that is significantly smaller than the given operation range.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the detection range is in the range of 0-25 cm.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

c) switching between the first attenuation mode and a second attenuation mode, wherein the second attenuation mode is associated with a second level of attenuation and a second TPO level and has a transmission range larger than the detection range.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the switching between the first attenuation mode and the second attenuation mode occurs upon completion of a handshake between the RF communication module and the mobile device.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising switching back to the first attenuation mode if the communication between the RF communication module and the mobile device is interrupted, or upon completion of a transaction between the mobile device and the service machine.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the wireless RF technology is selected from the group consisting of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, a Bluetooth technology, a WiFi technology and a WiFi direct technology.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the hardware attenuation module is one of a hardware analog RF attenuation module or a hardware digital step RF attenuation module.