Method and apparatus for providing security in a radio frequency identification system
First Claim
1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) system, comprising:
- a plurality of RFID tags; and
at least one RFID interrogator, wherein the at least one RFID interrogator comprises;
a transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit an interrogation communication to the plurality of tags at a predetermined carrier frequency;
a receiver configured to receive a response frequency from the plurality of tags at the predetermined carrier frequency; and
a memory, the memory storing a firmware module, the firmware module including a security shim, wherein;
the security shim is configured to encrypt at least a portion of the interrogation communication with a first key, the first key being randomly generated for each transmitted communication;
the security shim is configured to encrypt the first key with a second key corresponding to a private key stored in a memory of at least one of the plurality of tags; and
the transmitter is further configured to transmit the interrogation communication including the at least one encrypted portion and the encrypted first key.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
One aspect involves a communication that contains a portion encrypted with a selected key can be wirelessly transmitted by a part for reception and decryption by plural tags. A different aspect involves a tag receiving a first sequence of wireless communications that each contain sequencing information regarding the first sequence, while receiving a second sequence of wireless communications that each include sequencing information regarding the second sequence, and further involves monitoring the sequencing information from received communications of the first sequence while separately monitoring the sequencing information from received communications of the second sequence.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) system, comprising:
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a plurality of RFID tags; and at least one RFID interrogator, wherein the at least one RFID interrogator comprises; a transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit an interrogation communication to the plurality of tags at a predetermined carrier frequency; a receiver configured to receive a response frequency from the plurality of tags at the predetermined carrier frequency; and a memory, the memory storing a firmware module, the firmware module including a security shim, wherein; the security shim is configured to encrypt at least a portion of the interrogation communication with a first key, the first key being randomly generated for each transmitted communication; the security shim is configured to encrypt the first key with a second key corresponding to a private key stored in a memory of at least one of the plurality of tags; and the transmitter is further configured to transmit the interrogation communication including the at least one encrypted portion and the encrypted first key. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of operating a tag, comprising:
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receiving a first sequence of wireless communications that each contain encrypted information and sequencing information regarding said first sequence while receiving a second sequence of wireless communications that each include encrypted information and sequencing information regarding said second sequence, using a single transceiver operating at a fixed carrier frequency to receive said first and second sequences; and monitoring said sequencing information from received communications of said first sequence while separately monitoring said sequencing information from received communications of said second sequence, the monitoring comprising; comparing a first sequence number associated with the first sequence with a second sequence number associated with the second sequence; determining that an error has occurred if the second sequence number is less than or equal to the first sequence number; calculating, by the tag, an authentication checksum; comparing the calculated authentication checksum with a predetermined authentication checksum associated with the first sequence and the second sequence; and decrypting the encrypted information associated with the first sequence and the second sequence if the calculated authentication checksum is equal to the predetermined authentication checksum and no error is determined by comparing the first sequence number and the second sequence number. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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Specification