System and method for managing sonic token verifiers

• US 8,943,583 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2008
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Gantman, Alexander, Rose, Gregory G.
• Primary Examiner(s): LANIER, BENJAMIN E
• Application Number:
  US12/172,930
• Publication Number:
  US 20090044015A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,388 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 726/20
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/34 involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/35 communicating wirelessly
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/341 Active cards, i.e. cards including their own processing means, e.g. including an IC or chip
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4014 Identity check for transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40145 Biometric identity checks
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/203 Dispensing operations within ATMs dispensing in general G07D11/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1016 Devices or methods for securing the PIN and other transaction-data, e.g. by encryption arrangements for secret communication, see H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/84 Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/30 Public key, i.e. encryption algorithm being computationally infeasible to invert or user's encryption keys not requiring secrecy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3234 involving additional secure or trusted devices, e.g. TPM, smartcard, USB or software token network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using an additional device in a packet data network H04L63/0853
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures

Abstract

A hand-held token can be operated to generate an acoustic signal representing the digital signature generated by a private key of a public key/private key pair. Verifiers that might be located at, e.g., buildings, in vehicles, at bank ATMs, etc. receive the signal and retrieve the corresponding public key to selectively grant access authorization to components served by the verifiers. Methods and systems permit adding and removing a token from the access list of a verifier. Other methods and systems enable the token to be used with several verifiers that are nearby each other, such as might be the case with multiple vehicles owned by the same user and parked nearby each other, without more than one verifier being operated to grant access.

Claims

1. A system for authentication, comprising:

a verifier that includes an acoustic receiving device to receive and record an audio label including a human voice or an acoustic signal from an audio speaker of a hand-held token, wherein the acoustic signal represents a digital signature associated with a unique key identifier generated by the hand-held token;

a data store coupled to the verifier that stores a data structure, wherein the data structure stores unique key identifiers of authorized hand-held tokens, and wherein each of the unique key identifiers is associated with a recording of an audio label including a human voice; and

a processor coupled to the data store, wherein the processor is to selectively grant access to at least one component associated with the verifier when the unique key identifier associated with the hand-held token is present in the data structure, and wherein the processor, in response to an acoustic signal addition request from one of the authorized hand-held tokens, is to add an additional key identifier and a recording of an additional audio label including a human voice associated therewith to the data structure.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the data structure is a list.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the unique key identifier is a public key, and the public key is part of a private key/public key pair.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the verifier inputs the addition request and transmits an audible signal in response to the addition request.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the verifier is to transmit an acknowledgement audible signal when the additional unique key identifier has been successfully added to the data structure.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the verifier is to remove one of the unique key identifiers from the data structure.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the verifier is to input a removal request and transmits a first audible signal in response to the removal request.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the verifier is to receive a recording of one of the unique key identifiers and is to access the recording for removing the one of the unique key identifiers from the data structure.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the verifier is to associate an audio label with the one unique key identifiers and is to facilitate removal of one of the unique key identifiers from the data structure based on the audio label, wherein the unique key identifier to be removed is identified by correlating a captured human voice with an audio label associated with the unique key identifier to be removed.

10. A system for authentication, comprising:

a verifier that includes an acoustic receiving device to receive and record an audio label including a human voice or an acoustic signal from an audio speaker of a hand-held token, wherein the acoustic signal represents a digital signature associated with a unique key identifier generated by the hand-held token, and, in response to the acoustic signal, accesses a data structure associated with the verifier, wherein the data structure stores unique key identifiers of authorized hand-held tokens and wherein each of the unique key identifiers is associated with a recording of an audio label including a human voice, and grants access to at least one associated component if the unique key identifier associated with the hand-held token is present in the data structure,

wherein the verifier is coupled to a processor that removes the unique key identifier associated with the hand-held token from the data structure by correlating a captured human voice included in a removal request with an audio label associated with the unique key identifier, wherein the processor, in response to an acoustic signal addition request from one of the authorized hand-held tokens, adds an additional key identifier and a recording of an additional audio label including a human voice associated therewith to the data structure.

11. A method for authentication, comprising:

receiving a first acoustic signal at an acoustic receiving device of a verifier from an audio speaker of a hand-held token, wherein the first acoustic signal represents a digital signature associated with a key identifier generated by the hand-held token, and wherein the first acoustic signal is a request to add the key identifier associated with the hand-held token to a data structure accessible to the verifier, wherein the data structure stores unique key identifiers of authorized hand-held tokens and wherein each of the unique key identifiers is associated with a recording of an audio label including a human voice;

recording an audio label including a human voice from the acoustic receiving device of the verifier;

adding the key identifier to the data structure and the recording of the audio label including the human voice associated therewith in response to the first acoustic signal;

receiving a second acoustic signal from the hand-held token at the acoustic receiving device of the verifier, wherein the second acoustic signal represents the digital signature associated with the key identifier and the hand-held token;

accessing the data structure; and

granting access to a component associated with the verifier if the key identifier is present in the data structure.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the data structure is a list.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the key identifier is a public key, and the public key is part of a private key/public key pair.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

transmitting a third acoustic signal in response to the first acoustic signal.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting an acknowledgement audible signal when the adding is completed.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

transmitting a fourth acoustic signal to the verifier, wherein the fourth acoustic signal comprises a removal request;

removing the key identifier from the data structure in response to the removal request; and

transmitting an audible signal from the verifier in response to the removal request.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

retrieving a recording of the unique key identifier; and

accessing the recording to remove the unique key identifier from the data structure.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

receiving at least one audio label at the verifier;

associating the at least one audio label with the unique key identifiers in the data structure; and

removing one of the unique key identifiers from the data structure using the audio label, wherein the unique key identifier to be removed is identified by correlating a captured human voice with an audio label associated with the unique key identifier to be removed.