Method and apparatus for electronically preventing unauthorized access to equipment

• US 5,699,430 A
• Filed: 09/12/1995
• Issued: 12/16/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mario John Krizay, Sam Lazarakis
• Original Assignee: Mario John Krizay, Sam Lazarakis
• Inventors: Krizay, Mario John, Lazarakis, Sam
• Primary Examiner(s): Cain, David C.
• Application Number:
  US08/526,996
• Time in Patent Office: 826 Days
• Field of Search: 380/23, 380/3, 380/49, 340/825.39
• US Class Current: 340/5.26
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00253 dynamically, e.g. variable code - rolling code
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00793 by Hertzian waves
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00182 operated with unidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks

Abstract

An electronic security method and apparatus prevents unauthorized access to a security device, communications equipment or other equipment by generating a data coded signal between an encoding device couple with a transmitter and a decoding device coupled with a receiver; part of the coded signal is fixed but the remainder is continuously and automatically changing with reference to time and synchronization is maintained between transmitter and receiver by an identical timer chip clock in each which operates on the same oscillation frequency; specially designed computer software is used to program an identical microcontroller unit within the transmitter and the receiver.

Claims

1. An electronic security apparatus for preventing unauthorized access to a security device or communications equipment, the apparatus comprising of an encoding device coupled with a transmitter and a decoding device coupled with a receiver, a data-coded signal being generated between the said transmitter and the said receiver, part of the coded signal being fixed while the remainder of the signal is continuously and automatically changing with reference to time, and means for maintaining synchronization between the said transmitter and the said receiver.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means for maintaining synchronization between the transmitter and receiver is a timer clock chip in the transmitter and another timer clock chip in the receiver, both timer clock chips being identical and being adapted to operate on the same internal oscillation frequency.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a programmable microcontroller chip is in the encoder which is within the transmitter and another microcontroller chip identical to that in the encoder is in the decoder which is within the receiver.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the frequency of the timer clock chip of the transmitter and also that of the receiver is factory-adjustable during manufacture by interchanging crystals of different value.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the means for maintaining synchronization between the transmitter and the receiver is a timer clock chip in the transmitter and an identical chip in the receiver, both said chips operating on the same internal oscillation frequency and wherein a programmable microcontroller chip is in the encoder in the transmitter and an identical programmable microcontroller chip is in the decoder in the receiver, and wherein each timer clock chip and each microcontroller chip is incorporated into a single chip.

6. The apparatus according to claim 3 wherein each microcontroller chip has its own re-set mode programmed in at the time of manufacture.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 including a timer clock chip in the transmitter and an identical timer clock chip in the receiver for maintaining synchronization of data-coded signals between the transmitter and the receiver, identical programmable microcontroller chips being in the encoder in the transmitter and in the decoder in the receiver respectively and wherein the said apparatus is adapted to be incorporated into a system which additionally comprises a vehicle or any other equipment to be abled or disabled.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the transmitter is portable and hand held and operates on radio-frequency signals and the receiver is fixed within a vehicle and operates on the same radio-frequency signals as the signals of the transmitter.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the transmitter is portable and is hand-held and operates on radio-frequency signals and the receiver is fixed within a garage and operates on the same radio-frequency signals as the signals of the transmitter.

10. A method for preventing unauthorized access to a security device, communications equipment or other equipment, the method comprising generating a data coded signal between an encoder device coupled with a transmitter and a decoding device coupled with a receiver, fixing part of the coded signal and continuously and automatically changing the remainder of the signal with reference to time while maintaining synchronization of the signals of both transmitter and receiver.

11. The method according to claim 10 which further comprises programming specially-designed software into a microcontroller chip contained within the encoder device and into a microcontroller chip contained within the decoding device while maintaining synchronization of the changing signal code by operating a timer chip clock in both the transmitter and the receiver, each of said clocks being identical and operating at the same internal oscillation frequency which determines rate of change of the code.

12. The method according to claim 11 which further comprises using identical timer clock chips and identical microcontroller chips in both encoding and decoding devices to continuously and automatically change the non-fixed part of the coded signal while maintaining synchronization between the encoding device and thus the transmitter and the decoding device and thus the receiver.

13. The method according to claim 10 which further comprises programming specially-designed software into a microcontroller chip contained within the encoder device and into a microcontroller chip contained within the decoding device while maintaining synchronization of the changing signal code by operating a timer chip clock in both the transmitter and the receiver, each of the said clocks being identical and operating at the same internal oscillation frequency which determines the rate of change of the code the method further comprising using identical timer clock chips and identical microcontroller chips in both encoding and decoding devices to continuously and automatically change the non-fixed part of the coded signal while maintaining synchronization between the encoding device and thus the transmitter and the decoding device and thus the receiver, and wherein after electric power is connected to the transmitter and to the receiver via an in unit battery or other source of direct current voltage, reset initialization is effected of the timer chip clocks of both the transmitter and the receiver respectively to synchronize the chips in time from any random and different time mode by a reset mode.

14. A method of preventing unauthorized access to a security device, communications equipment or other equipment the method comprising generating a coded signal between an encoder device coupled with a transmitter and a decoding device coupled with a receiver, fixing part of the coded signal and continously and automatically changing the remainder of the signal with reference to time whilst maintaining synchronization of both the transmitter and the receiver by timer clock chips of the same internal oscillation frequency in the encoder and transmitter and in the decoder and receiver and also by programmable identical microcontroller chips in the encoder and transmitter and the decoder and receiver wherein when an operator presses a switch on a hand-held portable transmitter transmitting a data-coded signal wherein part of the signal is fixed and the remainder is changing, the signal is retrieved from a look-up table corresponding to signal transmission time, the timer clock chips change part of the coded signal at pre-set time intervals whereby if the fixed part of the data-coded signal from the transmitter is detected and identified by the receiver as being correct, the receiver compares the changing part of the coded signal which if the clocks are aligned will be identical on both transmitter and receiver dependent on transmission time and whereby if the changing part of the signal is correct the receiver then activates or de-activates whatever equipment it is controlling and if a wrong signal is detected by the receiver it does not respond.