Secure access to restricted resource

• US 8,606,227 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2009
• Issued: 12/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Karam, Gerald Michael, Abella, Alicia
• Primary Examiner(s): Batista, Marcos
• Assistant Examiner(s): DONADO, FRANK E
• Application Number:
  US12/564,647
• Publication Number:
  US 20110070864A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,540 Days
• Field of Search: 455/410, 455/411
• US Class Current: 455/410
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/34 involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/67 by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041

Abstract

Devices, systems and methods are disclosed which relate to restricting access to a secure resource by requiring a multimodal input sequence as a passkey to access the secure resource. Certain techniques allow a user to provide simultaneous input through a plurality of input sensors on a handheld device to create a multimodal input sequence, which is used as a unique passkey required to access secure resources. Combinations of input sensors are used to complete the multimodal input sequence. Among the available input sensors are an accelerometer, a touch screen, a camera, a proximity sensor, a position sensor, etc. The secure resource can be data or materials.

Claims

1. A handheld device comprising:

a plurality of input sensors, the plurality of input sensors comprising an accelerometer, a touchscreen, and a location sensor, the plurality of input sensors generating a plurality of input signals, the plurality of input signals comprising a motion signal generated by the accelerometer, an orientation signal generated by the accelerometer, a touch signal generated by the touchscreen in response to a touch input, and a location signal generated by the location sensor;

a processor; and

a memory that stores a secure resource and a security logic, the security logic comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising

receiving a multimodal input sequence from the plurality of input sensors, the multimodal input sequence comprising the motion signal, the orientation signal, the touch signal, and the location signal, wherein the motion signal and the orientation signal are indicative of a transition of the handheld device from a first orientation to a second orientation, the touch signal is indicative of the touch input provided while the transition of the handheld device from the first orientation to the second orientation occurs, and the location signal is indicative of a location of the handheld device while the touch input is provided and while the transition of the handheld device from the first orientation to the second orientation occurs,

comparing the multimodal input sequence with a passkey stored on the memory to determine whether the multimodal input sequence matches a defined multimodal input sequence comprised in the passkey, and

restricting access to the secure resource stored on the memory unless the multimodal input sequence matches the defined multimodal input sequence comprised in the passkey.

2. The handheld device of claim 1, wherein the multimodal input sequence further comprises input signals generated from a relative position and a global position, the relative position being a position of the handheld device relative to another device.

3. The handheld device of claim 1, wherein the security logic further comprises a further instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform a further operation comprising determining that the multimodal input sequence matches the defined multimodal input sequence comprised in the passkey within a tolerance threshold.

4. The handheld device of claim 1, wherein the multimodal input sequence further comprises input signals generated from a relative position and a global position, the relative position being a position of the handheld device relative to a user.

5. The handheld device of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver, wherein the transceiver comprises a cellular radio frequency transceiver, a WIFI transceiver, or a BLUETOOTH transceiver.

6. The handheld device of claim 5, wherein the handheld device communicates, via the transceiver, with a server that is in communication with a physical barrier to control access to the physical barrier.

7. The handheld device of claim 6, wherein the physical barrier is opened after the security logic causes the processor to determine that a match exists between the multimodal input sequence and defined multimodal input sequence comprised in the passkey.

8. A security system comprising:

a handheld device comprising a plurality of input sensors, the plurality of input sensors comprising an accelerometer, a touchscreen, and a location sensor, the plurality of input sensors generating a plurality of input signals, the plurality of input signals comprising a motion signal generated by the accelerometer, an orientation signal generated by the accelerometer, a touch signal generated by the touchscreen in response to a touch input, and a location signal generated by the location sensor; and

a server in communication with the handheld device, the server comprising a memory that stores a secure resource and a security logic, the security logic comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising

receiving a multimodal input sequence from the plurality of input sensors, the multimodal input sequence comprising the motion signal, the orientation signal, the touch signal, and the location signal, wherein the motion signal and the orientation signal are indicative of a transition of the handheld device from a first orientation to a second orientation, the touch signal is indicative of the touch input provided while the transition of the handheld device from the first orientation to the second orientation occurs, and the location signal is indicative of a location of the handheld device while the touch input is provided and while the transition of the handheld device from the first orientation to the second orientation occurs,

comparing the multimodal input sequence with a passkey stored on the memory to determine whether the multimodal input sequence matches a defined multimodal input sequence comprised in the passkey, and

restricting access to the secure resource unless the multimodal input sequence matches the defined multimodal input sequence comprised in the passkey.

9. The security system of claim 8, wherein the multimodal input sequence further comprises input signals generated from a relative position and a global position, the relative position being a position of the handheld device relative to another device or relative to a user.

10. The security system of claim 8, wherein the handheld device further comprises a device transceiver and the server further comprises a server transceiver, and wherein the device transceiver and the server transceiver enable communication between the handheld device and the server.

11. The security system of claim 8, wherein the security logic further comprises a further instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform a further operation comprising determining that the multimodal input sequence matches the defined multimodal input comprised in the passkey within a tolerance threshold.

12. A method comprising:

recording, by a handheld device comprising a processor, an attempted multimodal input sequence comprising a plurality of input signals comprising a motion signal, an orientation signal, a touch signal, and a location signal, the attempted multimodal input sequence being recorded on the handheld device having a plurality of input sensors, the plurality of input sensors comprising an accelerometer, a touchscreen, and a location sensor, wherein the motion signal and the orientation signal are indicative of a transition of the handheld device from a first orientation to a second orientation, the touch signal is indicative of a touch input provided via the touchscreen while the transition of the handheld device from the first orientation to the second orientation occurs, and the location signal is indicative of a location of the handheld device while the touch input is provided and while the transition of the handheld device from the first orientation to the second orientation occurs;

comparing, by the handheld device, the attempted multimodal input sequence to a passkey to determine whether the attempted multimodal input sequence matches a defined multimodal input sequence comprised in the passkey; and

if the handheld device determines that the attempted multimodal input sequence matches the defined multimodal input sequence comprised in the passkey, granting, by the handheld device, access to a secure resource.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein comparing the attempted multimodal input sequence to the passkey is performed to within a tolerance threshold.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving a request to define the passkey;

recording a first temporary multimodal input sequence;

requesting a second temporary multimodal input sequence;

recording the second temporary multimodal input sequence;

determining that the first temporary multimodal input sequence matches the second temporary multimodal input sequence; and

storing the temporary multimodal input sequence as the passkey.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising associating the passkey with the secure resource.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the secure resource is secured by a physical barrier.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein granting access to the secure resource comprises one of unlocking and opening the physical barrier.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the handheld device further comprises a transceiver.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the secure resource is data.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein granting access to the secure resource comprises enabling access to the secure resource.