Extending user authentication across a trust group of smart devices

• US 9,684,778 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2013
• Issued: 06/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Tharappel, Francis M., Shah, Saurin S., Krishnamurthy, Lakshman, Dadu, Saurabh
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Dao
• Assistant Examiner(s): STEINLE, ANDREW J
• Application Number:
  US14/142,795
• Publication Number:
  US 20150186636A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,270 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/35 communicating wirelessly
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/41 where a single sign-on provides access to a plurality of computers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/629 to features or functions of an application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2117 User registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3231 Biological data, e.g. fingerprint, voice or retina network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using biometrical features in a packet data network H04L63/0861
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/065 Continuous authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security

Abstract

Particular embodiments described herein provide for a wearable electronic device with a biometric sensor and logic. At least a portion of the logic is implemented in hardware. The logic is configured to receive input data indicative of biometric input and attempt to authenticate the input data based, at least in part, on at least one biometric credential of an authorized user. The logic is configured to establish a wireless connection to a smart device, determine whether the smart device is included in a trust group of one or more smart devices, and send a communication to unlock the smart device when the input data is successfully authenticated and when the trust group includes the smart device.

Claims

1. A wearable electronic device, comprising:

a biometric sensor including at least one of a voice sensor, a fingerprint sensor, an eye sensor, a facial feature sensor, a pulse sensor, or a hand sensor; and

logic, at least a portion of which is implemented in hardware, the logic configured to;

receive first input data indicative of biometric input;

establish a wireless connection to a smart device upon the first input data being authenticated by the wearable electronic device based, at least in part, on at least one biometric credential of an authorized user, wherein the smart device is an electronic device capable of wireless communication exchanges with the wearable electronic device;

determine the smart device is included in a trust group of smart devices based on determining a device identifier of the smart device is mapped to a shared secret in a trust group table in the wearable electronic device, the mapping in the trust group table established a priori based on a prior wireless connection between the smart device and the wearable electronic device, wherein for each smart device of the trust group, a respective device identifier is mapped to a unique shared secret established between that smart device of the trust group and the wearable electronic device;

receive second input data indicative of user input to access the smart device; and

send a communication to unlock the smart device upon a first condition and a second condition being satisfied, the first condition being that the first input data is successfully authenticated by the wearable electronic device and the second condition being that the trust group is determined to include the smart device, wherein the communication is based on the second input data indicative of user input to access the smart device.

2. The wearable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the logic is configured to receive the at least one biometric credential of the authorized user from the smart device or the cloud.

3. The wearable electronic device of claim 2, further comprising:

one or more memory elements, wherein the logic is configured to store the at least one biometric credential in the one or more memory elements.

4. The wearable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the device identifier includes information uniquely identifying the smart device.

5. The wearable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the shared secret is used to encrypt communications sent over the wireless connection.

6. The wearable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the

second input data includes other biometric input.

7. The wearable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the logic is configured to:

not send the communication to unlock the smart device when the first input data is not successfully authenticated.

8. The wearable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the logic is further configured to:

send an authentication result to the smart device, wherein the authentication result indicates whether the first input data was successfully authenticated.

9. The wearable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the biometric sensor includes a voice sensor, wherein the logic is configured to authenticate the first input data based on verifying a voice trigger in the first input data and verifying a voice represented by the first input data corresponds to a voice of the authorized user.

10. The wearable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the biometric sensor includes one or more other sensors selected from a group of sensors including a voice sensor, a fingerprint sensor, an eye sensor, a facial features sensor, a pulse sensor, and a hand sensor.

11. The wearable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the wireless connection between the smart device and the wearable electronic device is secured using the shared secret.

12. The wearable electronic device of claim 11, wherein the shared secret is created during a process to enable secure wireless connections between the wearable electronic device and the smart device.

13. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions for a wearable electronic device that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

receive first input data indicative of biometric input, wherein the wearable electronic device includes at least one of a voice sensor, a fingerprint sensor, an eye sensor, a facial feature sensor, a pulse sensor, or a hand sensor;

establish a wireless connection to a smart device upon the first input data being authenticated by the wearable electronic device based, at least in part, on at least one biometric credential of an authorized user, wherein the smart device is an electronic device capable of wireless communication exchanges with the wearable electronic device;

determine the smart device is included in a trust group of smart devices based on determining a device identifier of the smart device is mapped to a shared secret in a trust group table in the wearable electronic device, the mapping in the trust group table established a priori based on a prior wireless connection between the smart device and the wearable electronic device, wherein for each smart device of the trust group, a respective device identifier is mapped to a unique shared secret established between that smart device of the trust group and the wearable electronic device;

receive second input data indicative of user input to access the smart device; and

send a communication to unlock the smart device upon a first condition and a second condition being satisfied, the first condition being that the first input data is successfully authenticated by the wearable electronic device and the second condition being that the trust group is determined to include the smart device, wherein the communication is based on the second input data indicative of user input to access the smart device.

14. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

receive the at least one biometric credential of the authorized user from one of the smart device and a cloud.

15. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the

second input data is indicative of user input to access an application or service on the smart device.

16. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein a type of the user input is distinct from a type of the biometric input.

17. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the wearable electronic device includes one or more other biometric sensors to receive one or more other biometric input.

18. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the second input data includes other biometric input.

19. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

not send the communication to unlock the smart device when the first input data is not successfully authenticated.

20. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

send an authentication result to the smart device, wherein the authentication result indicates whether the first input data was successfully authenticated.

21. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the wireless connection between the smart device and the wearable electronic device is secured using the shared secret.

22. A method for a wearable electronic device, comprising:

receiving first input data indicative of biometric input, wherein the wearable electronic device includes at least one of a voice sensor, a fingerprint sensor, an eye sensor, a facial feature sensor, a pulse sensor, or a hand sensor;

establishing a wireless connection to a smart device upon the first input data being authenticated by the wearable electronic device based, at least in part, on at least one biometric credential of an authorized user, wherein the smart device is an electronic device capable of wireless communication exchanges with the wearable electronic device;

determining the smart device is included in a trust group of smart devices based on determining a device identifier of the smart device is mapped to a shared secret in a trust group table in the wearable electronic device, the mapping in the trust group table established a priori based on a prior wireless connection between the smart device and the wearable electronic device, wherein for each smart device of the trust group, a respective device identifier is mapped to a unique shared secret established between that smart device of the trust group and the wearable electronic device;

receiving second input data indicative of user input to access the smart device; and

sending a communication to unlock the smart device upon a first condition and a second condition being satisfied, the first condition being that the first input data is successfully authenticated by the wearable electronic device and the second condition being that the trust group is determined to include the smart device, wherein the communication is based on the second input data indicative of user input to access the smart device.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving the at least one biometric credential of the authorized user from one of the smart device and a cloud.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the device identifier includes information uniquely identifying the smart device.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the wearable electronic device includes one or more other biometric sensors to receive one or more other biometric input.