Method and apparatus for authenticating users of an emergency communication network

• US 8,090,944 B2
• Filed: 07/05/2006
• Issued: 01/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Rockstar Bidco LP (Rockstar Consortium Inc.)
• Inventors: Lee, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Davis, Zachary A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pan, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US11/481,076
• Publication Number:
  US 20080010674A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,008 Days
• Field of Search: 713/1, 713/2, 713/188, 713/194, 713/166, 713/170, 713/186, 713/168, 713/182, 713/185, 380/200, 380/201, 380/255, 380/277, 726/2, 726/3, 726/4, 379/37, 379/208.01, 379/221, 379/8, 379/143, 379/45, 379/308, 379/243, 455/404.1, 455/450, 455/410, 455/411
• US Class Current: 713/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/34 involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/10 Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities

Abstract

An authentication system is configured to weight multiple available network supplied and user supplied authentication factors to determine whether a user should be provided with access to an Emergency Communication Network (ECN). The multiple factors may include the location of the user, MIN, short PIN, token, biometric information, and other information. The level of access to be provided to the user may be tiered based on the authentication level achieved during the weighting process. Authentication information may be shared between groups of individuals, so that the authentication requirements for group members may be reduced as other members of the group supply authentication information to the ECN. Group authentication may be used to enable group services such as conferencing and push-to-talk to be set up automatically for the group.

Claims

1. A method of providing access to an emergency communication network, the method comprising the steps of:

authenticating a user to authorize the user to access a public communication network, the emergency communication network being implemented as a priority access system to the public communication network to enable authorized users of the emergency communication network to obtain preferential access to network resources of the public communication network during an emergency ahead of non-authorized users, the preferential access enabling the authorized user to place or receive telephone calls on the public communication network or to initiate a request for data over the public communication network;

collecting multiple authentication factors associated with the user, no single factor being sufficient to authenticate the user sufficiently to enable the user to access the emergency communication network;

applying the multiple authentication factors to a weighted authentication process; and

determining, from the weighted authentication process, a level of access to the emergency communication network to be provided to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of applying the multiple authentication factors comprises applying separate weighting factors to each of the collected authentication factors.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the level of access to the emergency communication network is selected from a plurality of levels of access.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of levels of access comprise a no access level and at least two differentiated access levels.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the emergency communication network is Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) or the Nationwide Wireless Priority Service (WPS), and wherein one of the authentication factors is a short Personal Identification Number (PIN) having no more than six digits.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of applying the multiple authentication factors is performed by an authentication server associated with the GETS/WPS.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein at least one of the authentication factors is derived from other users of the network the other users being part of a group of users collectively authenticating along with the user on the emergency communication network.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the authentication factors comprise at least one biometric authentication factor.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one biometric authentication factor comprises at least one of fingerprint information, voice information, and retinal scan information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication factors comprise at least a Mobile Identification Number or an International Mobile Subscriber Identity number associated with a telephone being used to access the emergency communication network and location of the user within an emergency zone.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of applying the multiple authentication factors to a weighted authentication process comprises weighting the authentication factors according to their reliability.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of prompting the user for at least one additional authentication factor when the result of the step of determining indicates that the user will not be provided with access to the emergency communication network.

13. A method of enabling in-bound calls to an emergency communication network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, by the emergency communication network, authentication information associated with an authorized user of the emergency communication network, the emergency communication network being implemented as a priority access system to a public communication network to enable authorized users of the emergency communication network to obtain preferential access to network resources on the public communication network during an emergency ahead of non-authorized users;

associating, by the emergency communication network, telephone information with the authorized user;

receiving, by the emergency communication network, a setup request from a second user, the setup request identifying the authorized user of the emergency communication network and requesting establishment of a communication session with the authorized user of the emergency communication network; and

enabling the communication session associated with the setup request to be established using at least some of the resources associated with the emergency communication network based on the authentication information associated with the authorized user without requiring the second user to authenticate with the emergency communication network or have authorization to use the emergency communication network.

14. A method of authenticating a group of users of an emergency communication network, the method comprising the steps of:

authenticating a plurality of users to authorize each of the plurality of users to access a public communication network, the emergency communication network being implemented as a priority access system to the public communication network to enable authorized users of the emergency communication network to obtain preferential access to network resources of the public communication network during an emergency ahead of non-authorized users;

establishing a group association between a plurality of potential users of the emergency communication network;

receiving authentication information from at least one of the potential users of the group association in connection with a request for access by the at least one potential user to the emergency communication network;

authenticating the at least one of the potential users using the authentication information on the emergency communication network; and

using the authentication information from the at least one of the potential users in connection with authenticating other potential users of the emergency communication network;

wherein the step of using the authentication information comprises using the authentication information in a weighted authentication process; and

wherein the step of authenticating the at least one of the potential users using the authentication information further comprises enabling access to the emergency communication network for the potential users in the group association without requiring authentication by the other potential users.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of using the authentication information comprises reducing a number of authentication factors required by other potential members to obtain access to the emergency communication network.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of using the authentication information comprises reducing a length of a Personal Identification Number required to be input by the other potential members to obtain access to the emergency communication network.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of establishing a talk group for members of the group association on the emergency communication network.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of establishing a talk group for members of the group association enable members of the group to use push-to-talk services to communicate with other members of the group.