Patent ID: 11968581
Assignee: SIGNIFY HOLDING B.V.
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. An end point subsystem for performing a secure handover from an access point currently associated with the end point subsystem to another access point out of a plurality of access points in an optical multi-cell wireless communication network, the end point subsystem comprising:
an optical transceiver configured to perform optical wireless communication;
a controller configured to secure an optical wireless communication link with the currently associated access point by using a pairwise transient key to encrypt or decrypt data communicated on the link;
a shared host processor, separate from the controller, configured to act as a first supplicant to carry out a first procedure for establishing an initial pairwise transient key with an authenticator for the end point subsystem in the optical multi-cell wireless communication network, when the end point subsystem does not have an established secure connection, wherein the first procedure is carried out via another communication technology rather than optical wireless communication;
wherein the shared host processor is shared by the end point subsystem and a device that the end point subsystem is connected to, communicatively coupled to, or partially or entirely integrated in; and
the controller is further configured to act as a second supplicant to prepare for a secure handover to a candidate access point out of the plurality of access points, by carrying out a second procedure for establishing a new pairwise transient key for the end point subsystem and the candidate access point with the authenticator; wherein the second procedure is carried out via optical wireless communication, and
the shared host processor is further configured to provide the initial pairwise transient key to the controller for use as the pairwise transient key, when the end point subsystem does not have a secure optical connection.