System and method to prevent eavesdropping of IoT-enabled object-user interactions

• US 10,728,753 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2018
• Issued: 07/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Ekambaram, Vijay, Seshadri, Padmanabha Venkatagiri, Murali, Srikanth K., Seshadri, Aparna
• Primary Examiner(s): Steinle, Andrew J
• Application Number:
  US16/119,105
• Publication Number:
  US 20200077257A1
• Time in Patent Office: 697 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/57 Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/60 Protecting data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/27 for locating or positioning the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0414 during transmission, i.e. party's identity is protected against eavesdropping, e.g. by using temporary identifiers, but is known to the other party or parties involved in the communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1425 Traffic logging, e.g. anomaly detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1475 Passive attacks, e.g. eavesdropping or listening without modification of the traffic monitored
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/122 Counter-measures against attacks; Protection against rogue devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/30 Security of mobile devices; Security of mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/55 involving three or more devices, e.g. group pairing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/283 : Power depending on the position of the mobile

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments provide techniques for data communication to mobile electronic devices utilizing nodes equipped with directional transmitters. The mobile electronic devices are classified as registered or unregistered. A current location for each mobile electronic device in an area is determined. A registered mobile electronic device is identified from a group of mobile electronic devices. Based on the determined location, a distance to a registered mobile electronic device from a transmitter is determined. The transmitter is a directional transmitter, capable of transmitting along a sector. A sector corresponding to the registered mobile electronic device based on an angle range and distance from a transmitter to the registered mobile electronic device is determined. Data is transmitted to the registered mobile device with directed communication from multiple transmitters, operating to create constructive interference to enable a suitable signal strength at the location of the registered mobile electronic device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for electronic communication, comprising:

determining a classification for a plurality of mobile electronic devices as registered or unregistered;

determining a current location for each of the plurality of mobile electronic devices;

determining a registered mobile electronic device from the plurality of mobile electronic devices;

determining a distance to the registered mobile electronic device from a transmitter;

determining a sector corresponding to the registered mobile electronic device based on angle range and distance from the transmitter to the registered mobile electronic device;

determining if the sector is a safe sector; and

in response to determining the sector is a safe sector;

exchanging safe sector information with one or more neighboring transmitters;

obtaining a count of safe sectors for the registered mobile electronic device;

computing a transmission signal strength based on the distance and the count of safe sectors; and

transmitting data to the registered mobile electronic device with directed communication using the computed transmission signal strength.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

estimating a future location for the registered mobile electronic device;

determining a future sector corresponding to the registered mobile electronic device at the future location based on angle range and distance from a transmitter to the registered mobile electronic device; and

in response to determining that the future sector is a safe sector, continuing transmitting data with directed communication within the future sector.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein estimating a future location includes:

identifying a user corresponding to a current location of the registered mobile electronic device in a camera feed;

computing a motion vector based on multiple video frames within the camera feed; and

estimating the future location based on the computed motion vector.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein estimating a future location includes:

computing a motion vector based on received RF signals from the registered mobile electronic device; and

estimating the future location based on the computed motion vector.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

obtaining floorplan data for an area containing the current location of the registered mobile electronic device; and

constraining the estimated future location based on the floorplan data.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

obtaining building material information; and

adjusting the computed transmission signal strength based on the obtained building material information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a quality-of-service (QoS) value for data transmitted to the registered mobile electronic device; and

adjusting the computed transmission signal strength based on the QoS value.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a privacy setting value for the data; and

adjusting an angle of the sector based on the privacy setting.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining ambient humidity data; and

adjusting the computed transmission signal strength based on the ambient humidity data.

10. An electronic communication device comprising:

a processor;

a directional transmitter coupled to the processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory containing instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the steps of;

determining a classification for a plurality of mobile electronic devices as registered or unregistered;

determining a current location for each of the plurality of mobile electronic devices;

determining a registered mobile electronic device from the plurality of mobile electronic devices;

determining a distance to the registered mobile electronic device from a transmitter;

determining a sector corresponding to the registered mobile electronic device based on angle range and distance from a transmitter to the registered mobile electronic device;

determining if the sector is a safe sector; and

in response to determining that the sector is a safe sector;

exchanging safe sector information with one or more neighboring transmitters;

obtaining a count of safe sectors for the registered mobile electronic device;

computing a transmission signal strength based on the distance and the count of safe sectors; and

transmitting data to the registered mobile electronic device via the directional transmitter using the computed transmission signal strength.

11. The electronic communication device of claim 10, wherein the memory further comprises instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the steps of:

estimating a future location for the registered mobile electronic device;

determining a future sector corresponding to the registered mobile electronic device at the future location based on angle range and distance from a transmitter to the registered mobile electronic device; and

in response to determining that the future sector is a safe sector, continuing transmitting data with directed communication within the future sector.

12. The electronic communication device of claim 11, wherein the memory further comprises instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the steps of:

identifying a user corresponding to a current location of the registered mobile electronic device in a camera feed;

computing a motion vector based on multiple video frames within the camera feed; and

estimating the future location based on the computed motion vector.

13. The electronic communication device of claim 12, wherein the memory further comprises instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the steps of:

computing a motion vector based on received RF signals from the registered mobile electronic device; and

estimating the future location based on the computed motion vector.

14. The electronic communication device of claim 13, wherein the memory further comprises instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the steps of:

obtaining floorplan data for an area containing the current location of the registered mobile electronic device; and

constraining the estimated future location based on the floorplan data.

15. The electronic communication device of claim 11, wherein the memory further comprises instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the steps of:

determining a quality-of-service (QoS) value for data transmitted to the registered mobile electronic device; and

adjusting the computed transmission signal strength based on the QoS value.

16. The electronic communication device of claim 11, wherein the memory further comprises instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the steps of:

determining a privacy setting value for the data; and

adjusting an angle of the sector based on the privacy setting.

17. The electronic communication device of claim 11, wherein the memory further comprises instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the steps of:

obtaining ambient humidity data; and

adjusting the computed transmission signal strength based on the ambient humidity data.

18. The electronic communication device of claim 11, wherein the memory further comprises instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the steps of:

obtaining building material information; and

adjusting the computed transmission signal strength based on the obtained building material information.

19. The electronic communication device of claim 11, wherein the directional transmitter includes a phased array antenna.

20. A computer program product for an electronic communication device comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the electronic communication device to perform the steps of:

determining a classification for a plurality of mobile electronic devices as registered or unregistered;

determining a current location for each of the plurality of mobile electronic devices;

determining a registered mobile electronic device from the plurality of mobile electronic devices;

determining a distance to the registered mobile electronic device from a transmitter;

determining a sector corresponding to the registered mobile electronic device based on angle range and distance from a transmitter to the registered mobile electronic device;

determining if the sector is a safe sector; and

in response to determining that the sector is a safe sector;

exchanging safe sector information with one or more neighboring transmitters;

obtaining a count of safe sectors for the registered mobile electronic device;

computing a transmission signal strength based on the distance and the count of safe sectors; and

transmitting data to the registered mobile electronic device with directed communication using the computed transmission signal strength.