AUTHENTICATION METHOD

• US 20170034701A1
• Filed: 10/12/2016
• Published: 02/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: MIYAMOTO, SHINGO, ITO, HAYASHI, HARADA, KUMI
• Granted Patent: US 10,278,070 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/34 involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/42 using separate channels for security data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

Power usage of each of one or more devices belonging to a group is collected at prescribed intervals, and an authentication request including group identification information for identification of the group to be authenticated is received from a terminal. Upon receipt of the authentication request, a device as a manipulation target in the group and details of a manipulation on the device are determined, and notification is provided to the terminal. Whether the device designated by the notification is manipulated is judged on the basis of a change in the power usage of each of the devices belonging to the group. If the device designated by the notification is judged to be manipulated, authentication information is transmitted to the terminal.

Claims

1. An authentication method for a terminal in an authentication system which authenticates the terminal, the authentication method comprising:

collecting power usage of each of one or more devices belonging to a group at prescribed intervals;

receiving, from the terminal, an authentication request including group identification information for identification of the group to be authenticated;

providing a notification for determining a device as a manipulation target in the group and details of a manipulation on the device and providing notification to the terminal, upon receipt of the authentication request;

judging, on a basis of a change in the power usage of each of the devices belonging to the group, whether the device designated by the notification is manipulated; and

authenticating the terminal for transmitting authentication information to the terminal if the device designated by the notification is judged to be manipulated.

2. The authentication method according to claim 1, wherein

the providing a notification further includes transmitting part of the notification to the terminal and displaying the rest of the notification on a device which belongs to the group and includes a display apparatus.

3. The authentication method according to claim 1, wherein

the providing a notification further includes increasing the number of manipulations or increasing the number of devices as manipulation targets with a decrease in the number of authentication requests from the terminal.

4. The authentication method according to claim 1, wherein

the device designated by the notification includes a device incapable of being remotely manipulated.

5. The authentication method according to claim 1, wherein

the authentication request transmitted from the terminal includes an image of a space where a device belonging to the group is installed, and a device as a target of the manipulation performed for authentication is identified on a basis of the image.

6. The authentication method according to claim 1, wherein

the authenticating further includes transmitting the authentication information to the terminal only if the terminal as a transmitter of the authentication request is connected via a device belonging to the group.

7. The authentication method according to claim 1, wherein

the authenticating further includes managing the number of currently authenticated terminals and, if the number of currently authenticated terminals reaches a prescribed number set in advance, not transmitting the authentication information to a terminal as an issuer of the authentication request after the prescribed number is reached.

8. The authentication method according to claim 1, wherein

the authenticating further includes setting a time limit for the authentication information to be transmitted to the terminal.

9. The authentication method according to claim 1, wherein

the authenticating further includes notifying a different terminal, to which the authentication information is already transmitted, of the transmission of the authentication information to the terminal after the transmission of the authentication information to the terminal.

10. The authentication method according to claim 1, wherein

the authentication method further executes storing attribute information for identification of the one or more devices belonging to the group, and

the storing includes receiving, from the terminal, an image of a space where a device belonging to the group is installed and storing information for identification of a device identified in the image as the attribute information.

11. The authentication method according to claim 1, wherein

the judging is performed through comparing a change in the power usage of each of the devices belonging to the group with information accumulated in advance as a change in power usage caused upon manipulation of the device as a manipulation target.