Tag Archives: signals

New THaW Patent: Proximity Detection with Single-Antenna Device

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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

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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.