Tag Archives: IoT devices

New THaW Patent: Proximity Detection with Single-Antenna Device

Posted on by
Reply

The THaW team is proud to announce the issuing of a patent for new methods for single-antenna devices to determine proximity between themselves and another device. Previous work in this field provides a method for secure short-range information exchange between a multi-antenna device and a target device. However, a single-antenna device cannot use a multi-antenna-based method and, therefore, has no way to verify its proximity to the target device.

In this patented work, a single-antenna devices uses the phase and/or amplitude of a preamble received from a transmitting device, particularly a repeating portion of the preamble, to determine whether the receiving device is in close proximity to the transmitting device. If the transmitting device is close to the single-antenna device, the repeating portions of the preamble will differ in phase and amplitude, while a large distance between the two will cause the repeating portions to have a substantially consistent phase and amplitude. This can be helpful in preventing a distant adversary from tricking the single-antenna-device into believing that a malformed preamble is a legitimate signal from a nearby device.

Interested in learning more? Check out the patent here!

PIERSON, Timothy J., Ronald Peterson, and David F. KOTZ. System and method for proximity detection with single-antenna device. US 11,871,233 B2, issued January 9, 2024. https://patents.google.com/patent/US11871233B2/en.

New THaW Patent: Pairing Wireless Devices

Posted on by
Reply

The THaW team is proud to announce the issuing of a patent for new methods to pair wireless devices resulting from the THaW project.

Current Internet of Things (IoT) device authentication protocols are functional, but not scalable, which is increasingly pertinent as more and more homes and health-focused establishments have multiple ‘smart’ devices. For example, a manufacturer of an Internet-connected blood oxygen monitor will not know the name or Wi-Fi password of an end-user’s wireless network and cannot program the device to immediately pair with the user’s access point (AP). As a result, end-users may have to set up the monitor on their own… along with dozens of other home devices. Traditional pairing protocols also rely on a one-way authentication scheme, which does not prevent the user from pairing a new device with a spoofed AP.

This recently patented pairing process involves two devices sending signals between each other and leverages the movement of objects near both of these devices, which similarly impacts both devices’ signal strength. The devices can confirm trust in each other if the signal-strength-pattern they receive substantially matches the signal-strength-pattern the other device receives.

Interested in learning more? Check out the patent here or below!

Pierson, Timothy J., and Jonathan F. Alter. Methods and software for pairing wireless devices using dynamic multipath signal matching, and wireless devices implementing the same. US11856408B2, issued December 26, 2023. https://patents.google.com/patent/US11856408B2/en.

LightTouch – Connecting Wearables to Ambient Displays

Posted on by
Reply

Connectivity reached new extremes, when wearable technologies enabled smart device communications to appear where analogue watches, rings, and vision-enhancing glasses used to sit. Risks of sensitive data being wrongly transmitted, as a result of malicious or non-malicious intent, grow alongside these new technologies. To ensure that this continued interconnectivity of smart devices and wearables is safe and secure, the THaW team devised, published, and patented LightTouch. This technology, conceptually compatible with existing smart bracelet and display designs, uses optical sensors on the smart device and digital radio links to create a shared secret key that enables the secure and private connection between devices.

LightTouch makes it easy for a person to securely connect their wearable device to a computerized device they encounter, for the purpose of viewing information from their device and possibly sharing that information with nearby acquaintances. To learn more, check out this recent Spotlight in IEEE Computer, or click the links below to read the journal article, the patent specifics, or the conference presentation.

Xiaohui Liang, Ronald Peterson, and David Kotz. Securely Connecting Wearables to Ambient Displays with User Intent. IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing 17(4), pages 676–690, July 2020. IEEE. DOI: 10.1109/TDSC.2018.2840979

Xiaohui Liang, Tianlong Yun, Ron Peterson, and David Kotz. Secure System For Coupling Wearable Devices To Computerized Devices with Displays, March 2020. USPTO; U.S. Patent 10,581,606; USPTO. Download from https://patents.google.com/patent/US20170279612A1/en — Priority date 2014-08-18, Grant date 2020-03-03.

Xiaohui Liang, Tianlong Yun, Ronald Peterson, and David Kotz. LightTouch: Securely Connecting Wearables to Ambient Displays with User Intent. In IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM), May 2017. IEEE. DOI: 10.1109/INFOCOM.2017.8057210

#NSFStories

New THaW Patent

Posted on by
Reply

The THaW team is pleased to announce one new patent derived from THaW research. For the complete list of patents, visit our Tech Transfer page.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for providing a trusted computing environment that provides data security in commodity computing systems. Such systems and methods deploy a flexible architecture comprised of distributed trusted platform modules (TPMs) configured to establish a root-of-trust within a heterogeneous network environment comprised of non-TPM enabled IoT devices and legacy computing devices. A data traffic module is positioned between a local area network and one or more non-TPM enabled IoT devices and legacy computing devices, and is configured to control and monitor data communication among such IoT devices and legacy computing devices and from such IoT devices and legacy computing devices to external computers. The data traffic module supports attestation of the IoT devices and legacy computing devices, supports secure boot operations of the IoT devices and legacy computing devices, and provides tamper resistance to such IoT devices and legacy computing devices.

Kevin Kornegay and Willie Lee Thompson II. Decentralized Root-of-Trust Framework for Heterogeneous Networks, November 2020. Morgan State University; USPTO. Download from https://patents.google.com/patent/US20180196945A1/en