Validation method and apparatus for preventing unauthorized use of cellular phones

• US 5,870,672 A
• Filed: 04/05/1996
• Issued: 02/09/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Authorize Net LLC (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Corsair Communications, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Stoddard, Robert Eugene, McKinley, Michael Shaw
• Primary Examiner(s): Hudspeth, David R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): RICHARDSON, SCO
• Application Number:
  US08/628,786
• Time in Patent Office: 1,040 Days
• Field of Search: 379/59, 379/58, 379/63, 455/33.1, 455/115, 455/410, 455/515, 455/67.1, 455/67.3, 455/67.6, 342/165, 342/13
• US Class Current: 455/410
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning

Abstract

Validating identification clusters formed of unique transmitter intercepts and validating clusters based on information within the cluster data with or without the aid of specific intercepts. Transmitter validation signals are allocated for validating specific ones of the transmitters. Analyzers identify specific received intercepts from specific ones of the transmitters to form an identification signal. Storage is provide for storing the specific received intercepts with corresponding identification clusters for marking the specific identification cluster as validated or invalidated. The valid and invalid states of the stored clusters are used to authorize or prevent access by the transmitters to the communication system.

Claims

1. In a transmitter identification system for identifying transmitters where each transmitter broadcasts transmitter signals and where,

said transmitter signals are formed by processing information for manipulating a carrier, said transmitter signals include signal traits resulting from said processing that are characteristic of said transmitter, and said transmitter signals including an identification code identifying said transmitter,

said transmitter identification system including,

receiver means for receiving transmitter signals transmitted by said transmitters to provide corresponding received signals, detection means for detecting said received signals to recover identification codes corresponding to said transmitters, characterizing means for characterizing features of the signal traits of said received signals to form received intercepts corresponding to said transmitters, storage means for associating said received intercepts as identification clusters for identifying said transmitters,

an apparatus for validating identification clusters derived from intercepts from a specific one of said transmitters comprising:

control means for specifying known transmitter validation signals allocated for validating said specific one of said transmitters and for generating a known specific identification intercept,

analysis means for identifying said known specific identification intercept received from said specific one of said transmitters to form an identification signal,

storing means for associating said known specific identification intercept with a corresponding specific identification cluster stored in said storage means,

marking means for marking said specific identification cluster as validated in response to said identification signal.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said control means specifies said transmitter validation signals as transmission signals received in response to a requested transmission from said specific one of said transmitters.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said transmitter validation signals include a specific cellular phone number allocated for validation.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said control means specifies said transmitter validation signals as transmission signals received in response to a call placed by a cellular phone for validation.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said control means specifies said transmitter validation signals as transmission signals received in response to a cellular call placed at a location of manufacture of said cellular phone.

5. In a transmitter identification system for identifying transmitters where each transmitter broadcasts transmitter signals and where,

said transmitter signals are formed by processing information for manipulating a carrier, said transmitter signals include signal traits resulting from said processing that are characteristic of said transmitter, and said transmitter signals including an identification code identifying said transmitter,

said transmitter identification system including,

receiver means for receiving transmitter signals transmitted by said transmitters to provide corresponding received signals, detection means for detecting said received signals to recover identification codes corresponding to said transmitters, characterizing means for characterizing features of the signal traits of said received signals to form received intercepts corresponding to said transmitters, storage means for associating said received intercepts with identification clusters for identifying said transmitters,

an apparatus for validating identification clusters derived from intercepts from a specific one of said transmitters comprising:

control means for specifying transmitter validation signals allocated for validating said specific one of said transmitters and for generating a specific identification intercept wherein said control means specifies said transmitter validation signals as transmission signals received in response to the first call placed by a cellular phone for a new account,

analysis means for identifying said specific identification intercept received from said specific one of said transmitters to form an identification signal,

storing means for associating said specific received intercept with a corresponding specific identification cluster stored in said storage means,

marking means for marking said specific identification cluster as validated in response to said identification signal.

7. In a transmitter identification system for identifying transmitters where each transmitter broadcasts transmitter signals and where,

said transmitter signals are formed by processing information for manipulating a carrier, said transmitter signals include signal traits resulting from said processing that are characteristic of said transmitter, and said transmitter signals including an identification code identifying said transmitter,

said transmitter identification system including,

receiver means for receiving transmitter signals transmitted by said transmitters to provide corresponding received signals, detection means for detecting said received signals to recover identification codes corresponding to said transmitters, characterizing means for characterizing features of the signal traits of said received signals to form received intercepts corresponding to said transmitters, storage means for associating said received intercepts with identification clusters for identifying said transmitters,

an apparatus for validating identification clusters derived from intercepts from a specific one of said transmitters comprising:

control means for specifying transmitter validation signals allocated for validating said specific one of said transmitters and for generating a specific identification intercept wherein said control means specifies said transmitter validation signals as transmission signals received in response to a cellular call placed at the location of customer distribution of said cellular phone,

analysis means for identifying said specific identification intercept received from said specific one of said transmitters to form an identification signal,

storing means for associating said specific received intercept with a corresponding specific identification cluster stored in said storage means,

marking means for marking said specific identification cluster as validated in response to said identification signal.

8. A transmitter identification system for identifying transmitters where each transmitter broadcasts transmitter signals and where,

said transmitter signals are formed by processing information for manipulating a carrier, said transmitter signals include signal traits resulting from said processing that are characteristic of said transmitter, and said transmitter signals include an identification code identifying said transmitter,

said transmitter identification system including,

receiver means for receiving transmitter signals transmitted by said transmitters to provide corresponding received signals, detection means for detecting said received signals to recover identification codes corresponding to said transmitters, characterizing means for characterizing features of the signal traits of said received signals to form received intercepts corresponding to said transmitters, storage means for associating said received intercepts with identification clusters for identifying said transmitters,

validating means for validating identification clusters derived from intercepts, including one or more known intercepts, received from authorized ones of said transmitters,

invalidating means for invalidating identification clusters derived from intercepts, including one or more known intercepts, received from unauthorized ones of said transmitters, said invalidating means including comparing means for comparing said known intercepts with said stored intercepts to provide an invalid indication for an identification cluster when said known intercepts do not match said stored intercepts.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said identification code includes dialed digits, wherein said storage means stores dialed digits together with an associated intercept of a received signal and wherein said invalidating means signals that service is to be denied for all cellular calls from transmitters with an intercept for an identification cluster having an invalid indication corresponding to said dialed digits.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said identification code includes dialed digits, therein said storage means stores dialed digits together with an associated intercept of a received signal and an associated identification cluster, wherein said comparing means compares said received intercept and corresponding dialed digits with stored invalidated intercepts and corresponding dialed digits to provide an invalid indication when said received intercepts and said dialed digits match said stored invalidated intercepts and corresponding dialed digits, and wherein said invalidating means marks the associated identification cluster invalid in response to said invalid indication.

11. An apparatus to validate identification clusters for transmitters that create intercepts where identification clusters are groups of statistical values derived from statistically processing intercepts comprising:

storage means for associating intercepts from transmitters with identification clusters, said storage means for associating multiple intercepts with a specific transmitter associated with a specific identification cluster,

analysis means to process intercepts and identification clusters including said specific identification cluster stored in said storage means associated with said specific transmitter, said analysis means operating independently of individual intercepts, and said analysis means forming a validation signal or an invalidation signal as a function of processing said specific identification cluster for statistical comparison with other ones of said identification clusters, if any,

marking means to mark said specific identification cluster valid or invalid in response to said validation signal or said invalidation signal, respectively.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when said specific identification cluster is the only identification cluster compiled from multiple intercepts for multiple received signals having the same identification code.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when said specific identification cluster is determined to be statistically significant.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when said specific identification cluster is determined to be typical of identification clusters observed from cellular phones from a manufacturer identified as part of the identification code.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when said specific identification cluster is statistically more significant than other identification clusters having the same identification code.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when none of the identification clusters have been marked valid for received signals having the same identification code.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when no other identification cluster has been marked valid for received signals having the same identification code and said specific identification cluster is determined to be typical of identification clusters observed from cellular phones from a manufacturer identified as part of the identification code.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when no identification cluster has been marked valid for received signals having the same identification code and said specific identification cluster is determined to be not atypical of identification clusters observed from cellular phones from a manufacturer identified as part of the identification code.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said analysis means operates to form said invalidation when said specific identification cluster is determined to be not typical of identification clusters observed from cellular phones from a manufacturer identified as part of the identification code.

20. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said analysis means operates to form said invalidation signal when said specific identification cluster is determined to be typical of identification clusters observed from cellular phones from a manufacturer other than a manufacturer identified as part of the identification code.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein said analysis means operates to form said invalidation s when said specific identification cluster is determined to be more than 10⁶ times more likely to be typical of identification clusters observed from cellular phones from a manufacturer other than the a manufacturer identified as part of the identification code.

22. An apparatus to validate identification clusters for transmitters that create intercepts where identification clusters are groups of statistical values derived from statistically processing intercepts comprising:

storage means for associating intercepts from transmitters with identification clusters, said storage means for associating multiple intercepts for a transmitter with a corresponding identification cluster,

analysis means to process intercepts and identification clusters stored in said storage means to detect specific intercepts for specific identification clusters associated with specific transmitters, said analysis means operating to form a validation signal or an invalidation signal as a function of processing ones of said specific identification clusters for statistical comparison with other ones of said specific identification clusters, if any, said analysis means forming said validation signal when received signals from multiple transmitters have the same identification number and have one or more common dialed digits that constitute one or more phone numbers,

marking means to mark said specific identification clusters valid or invalid in response to said validation signal or said invalidation signal, respectively.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation seal only if at least one of said specific identification clusters is already marked valid.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when received signals from multiple transmitters have common dialed digits that constitute a common phone number.

25. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when received signals are from multiple transmitters including both high-power transmitters and low-power transmitters and have common dialed digits that constitute a common phone number.

26. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when received signals are from multiple transmitters including both high-power transmitters and low-power transmitters having common dialed digits that constitute a common phone number and wherein all said specific identification clusters are typical of those produced by Motorola phones and wherein said marking means marks all said specific identification clusters valid.

27. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when received signals from multiple transmitters have common dialed digits that constitute a common phone number and wherein said marking means marks only a specific one of said specific identification clusters valid.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said analysis means operates to form said invalidation signal when received signals from multiple transmitters have common dialed digits that constitute a common phone number and wherein said marking means marks ones of said specific identification clusters other than said-specific one of said specific identification clusters invalid.

29. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when received signals from multiple transmitters have the same identification number and have one or more common dialed digits that constitute one or more common phone numbers occurring from received signals two or more times.

30. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said analysis means operates to form said validation signal when received signals from multiple transmitters have the same identification number and have one or more common dialed digits that constitute one or more common phone numbers and the common dialed digits that constitute a common phone number are not observed as dialed digits that constitute a phone number from recently received signals from a transmitter from another cellular phone.

31. In a transmitter identification system for identifying transmitters where each transmitter broadcasts transmitter signals and where,

said transmitter signals are formed by processing information for manipulating a carrier, said transmitter signals include signal traits resulting from said processing that are characteristic of said transmitter, and said transmitter signals including an identification code identifying said transmitter,

said transmitter identification system including,

receiver means for receiving transmitter signals transmitted by said transmitters to provide corresponding received signals, detection means for detecting said received signals to recover identification codes corresponding to said transmitters, characterizing means for characterizing features of the signal traits of said received signals to form received intercepts corresponding to said transmitters, storage means for associating said received intercepts with identification clusters for identifying said transmitters,

an apparatus for validating identification clusters derived from intercepts from a specific one of said transmitters comprising:

analysis means for counting a first number of received intercepts corresponding to first identification clusters from specific received signals from said specific one of said transmitters and for counting a second number of received intercepts corresponding to second identification clusters from received signals from other ones of said transmitters having the same identification code as said specific one of said transmitters, said analysis means generating a validating signal when said first number exceeds a first threshold and said second number is below a second threshold where said first threshold is greater than said second threshold,

storing means for associating said specific received intercepts with a corresponding specific identification cluster and for associating other received intercepts with other identification clusters in said storage means,

marking means for marking said first specific identification cluster as validated in response to said validation signal.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein said analysis means generates said validation signal only if none of said identification clusters have been previously validated.

33. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein said analysis means generates said validation signal only if said specific identification cluster is determined to be typical of identification clusters observed from cellular phones from a manufacturer identified as part of the identification code in said specific received signals.

34. The apparatus of claim 33 wherein said analysis means generates said validation signal only if none of said identification clusters have been previously validated.

35. In a transmitter identification system for identifying transmitters where each transmitter broadcasts transmitter signals and where,

said transmitter signals are formed by processing information for manipulating a carrier, said transmitter signals include signal traits resulting from said processing that are characteristic of said transmitter, and said transmitter signals including an identification code identifying said transmitter,

said transmitter identification system including,

receiver means for receiving transmitter signals transmitted by said transmitters to provide corresponding received signals, detection means for detecting said received signals to recover identification codes corresponding to said transmitters, characterizing means for characterizing features of the signal traits of said received signals to form received intercepts corresponding to said transmitters, storage means for associating said received intercepts with identification clusters for identifying said transmitters,

an apparatus for validating identification clusters derived from intercepts from a specific one of said transmitters comprising:

analysis means operating to generate an invalidating signal when said specific identification cluster is more likely to be from a manufacturer different from the manufacturer identified as part of the identification code,

storing means for associating said specific received intercepts with a corresponding specific identification cluster in said storage means,

marking means for marking said specific identification cluster as invalid in response to said invalidation signal.

36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said analysis means generates said validation signal only if none of said identification clusters have been previously validated.

37. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said analysis means generates validation signals for all identification clusters having said specific identification code and not corresponding to a specific identification cluster marked invalid, said marking means marking said particular specific identification clusters valid.

38. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein said analysis means generates said validation signal only if none of said identification clusters have been previously validated.