Data packet generator for generating passcodes

• US 8,351,408 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2009
• Issued: 01/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wherepro, LLC
• Original Assignee: Wherepro, LLC
• Inventors: Daigle, Mark R.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HANH N
• Application Number:
  US12/544,798
• Publication Number:
  US 20100046553A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,237 Days
• Field of Search: 713/161, 713/178, 713/184, 713/194, 713/171, 713/172, 713/180, 709/203, 709/219, 709/220, 709/221, 709/223, 709/224, 709/222, 709/228, 726/21, 726/7, 726/5, 455/410, 370/254, 370/395.53
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/35 communicating wirelessly
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/46 by designing passwords or checking the strength of passwords
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/08 Payment architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/257 electronically G07C9/26 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0846 using time-dependent-passwords, e.g. periodically changing passwords
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/068 using credential vaults, e.g. password manager applications or one time password [OTP] applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security

Abstract

A data packet generator periodically generates a data packet including a passcode comprising a plurality of characters. The data packet is sent to a server or a computing device for validation. If validated, the data packet is used, for example, to identify the location of a user or device. Additional systems and methods involving such a data packet generator are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A data packet generator comprising:

a processing device;

memory storing data instructions, which when executed by the processing device cause the processing device to periodically generate at least one non-network name code the at least one code including a plurality of characters; and

a wireless communication device that wirelessly transmits the at least one code in a network name field according to a wireless data communication protocol.

2. The data packet generator of claim 1, wherein the code includes data selected from a serial number, a passcode, a temperature, a humidity, a username, a distance-to-floor, a GPS coordinate, data received from a neighboring data packet generator, and a tamper code.

3. The data packet generator of claim 1, wherein the network name field is a service set identifier field.

4. The data packet generator of claim 1, wherein the plurality of characters is in a range from five to ten characters.

5. The data packet generator of claim 1, further comprising an attachment device including one or more of a screw, a bolt, a nail, and adhesive.

6. The data packet generator of claim 5, wherein the attachment device is configured for attachment to a component of a workstation.

7. The data packet generator of claim 1, further comprising a housing.

8. The data packet generator of claim 7, wherein the processing device and memory are contained within the housing.

9. The data packet generator of claim 1, further comprising a battery and electrical contacts, wherein the electrical contacts are configured to receive power from a charging station to recharge the battery of the data packet generator.

10. The data packet generator of claim 1, wherein the processing device periodically generates the code according to a passcode generation algorithm.

11. The data packet generator of claim 1, wherein periodically is a period of time less than ten minutes.

12. The data packet generator of claim 1, wherein the processing device periodically generates the code by retrieving the code from a lookup table.

13. The data packet generator of claim 1, wherein the data packet generator is battery powered.

14. The data packet generator of claim 13, wherein the data packet generator is separated from an Internet to prevent data communication from the Internet to the data packet generator.

15. The data packet generator of claim 1, further comprising a sensor, wherein the code includes data describing an event that is measured or detected by the sensor.

16. The data packet generator of claim 1, wherein the data packet generator is incorporated into a smart dust device.

17. A data packet generator comprising:

a processing device;

memory storing data instructions, which when executed by the processing device cause the processing device to periodically generate a passcode, the passcode including a plurality of characters; and

a wireless communication device that outputs a data packet including the passcode in a network name field, and wherein the wireless communication device is continually free from network communication.

18. The data packet generator of claim 17, wherein the only data transmitted by the wireless communication device is passcodes generated by the processing device.

19. The data packet generator of claim 17, wherein the wireless communication device is a transmit-only device that transmits the data packet to another device without connecting to the other device.

20. The data packet generator of claim 17, wherein the wireless communication device transmits the data packet in a service set identifier according to a standard wireless radio frequency data communication protocol.

21. The data packet generator of claim 20, wherein the wireless radio frequency data communication protocol is a Wi-Fi protocol according to an IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol.

22. A data packet generator comprising:

a processing device;

memory storing data instructions, which when executed by the processing device cause the processing device to periodically generate a non-network name code including a sequence of characters; and

a wireless communication device that wirelessly transmits the non-network name code in a network name field according to a wireless data communication protocol.

23. The data packet generator of claim 22, wherein the network name further comprises other data in addition to the non-network name code.