Patent Abstract:
Methods and systems for authentication of a device are disclosed. An exemplary method includes transmitting an energy towards the device including a material, monitoring a response of the device to the transmitted energy, generating a signature of the device based on the response of the device to the transmitted energy, comparing the device signature to an enrolled signature for the device, and indicating that authentication of the device is successful when the generated signature matches the enrolled signature. An exemplary system includes a transmitter configured to transmit an energy towards the device, a receiver configured to monitor a response of the device, and a processor configured to generate a signature of the device based on the response of the device, compare the device signature to an enrolled signature for the device, and indicate that authentication of the device is successful when the generated signature matches the enrolled signature.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/702,698, filed Sep. 18, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to authentication of a device. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Devices such as mobile phones, computers, laptops, tablets, personal digital assistants, etc., have become ubiquitous, particularly in the workplace. Such devices may be used to receive, transmit, store, and generate confidential information. Furthermore, such devices are highly portable and may be carried into and out of secure facilities or may be used to gain access to those facilities. An unauthorized person interested in accessing confidential information or in gaining access to secure facilities may do so by replacing an authentic device with a cloned counterfeit device or by inserting additional electronic equipment into the device. 
     Current authentication procedures focus primarily in validating a user of a device. Authentication of a device is typically limited to visual authentication. For example, verification of serial number, make, and/or model of the device. However, as discussed above, this authentication may not be sufficiently strong for certain applications. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES 
       Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears. 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of an environment for authenticating a device, according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of a method for authenticating a device, according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of a method for authenticating a device, according to another exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram of a method for authenticating a device, according to yet another exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following Detailed Description refers to accompanying drawings to illustrate various exemplary embodiments. References in the Detailed Description to “one exemplary embodiment,” “an exemplary embodiment,” “an example exemplary embodiment,” etc., indicate that the exemplary embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every exemplary embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same exemplary embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an exemplary embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the relevant art(s) to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other exemplary embodiments whether or not explicitly described. 
     The various exemplary embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying knowledge of those skilled in relevant art(s), readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such exemplary embodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and plurality of equivalents of the exemplary embodiments based upon the teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by those skilled in relevant art(s) in light of the teachings herein. 
     Users can access information using a wide variety of devices including mobile phones, computers, laptops, personal digital assistants, tablets, etc. These devices are made of a plurality of materials, and at least some of these materials emit a unique measurable reaction when being exposed to a particular energy. This unique measurable reaction is referred hereinafter as the device&#39;s hardware DNA. 
     A device&#39;s hardware DNA may be used as a factor to authenticate the device. For example, in a workplace environment, an exemplary embodiment can authenticate an organization-issued device by comparing the device&#39;s hardware DNA to a corresponding enrolled hardware DNA signature for the device. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of an environment  100  for authentication of device  120  using a hardware DNA signature, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Environment  100  includes an authenticating unit  110 , one or more devices  120 , a network  130 , and a database  140 . As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, embodiments of the disclosure may be used in any environment incorporating authentication of a device. 
     Device  120  includes at least one material that reacts to energy transmitted from authenticating unit  110 . As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, a device  120  may be a computer, laptop, tablet, personal digital assistant, or any device which may be subject to authentication. Device  120  may further include measuring unit  122 , communication interface  123 , motion sensor  124 , and energy unit  125 , which will be described in further detail below with respect to other exemplary embodiments. 
     Authenticating unit  110  is configured to illuminate device  120  with a laser, visible light, an electromagnetic field, or other form of energy, and to monitor hardware DNA signature of device  120 . Authenticating unit  110  includes an energy transmitting unit  111  to transmit the form of energy used to illuminate device  120  and a receiving unit  112  to monitor the response to the form of energy (i.e., the hardware DNA signature of device  120 ). 
     Authenticating unit  110  further includes a processor  113  to control circuits and/or elements of authenticating unit  110  to perform at least some of the operations of the present embodiment. Authenticating unit  110  also includes a user interface  114  to receive operating instructions and information from a user and to provide authentication status information to the user. For example, user interface  114  may be used to input unique identification information of a device being authenticated, initiate an authentication process, and indicate to the user the results of the authentication process. Authenticating unit  110  further includes a communication interface  115 , which will be described in further detail below with respect to other exemplary embodiments. 
     Database  140  includes computer data storage for storing data within supporting data structures. In the present embodiment, database  140  stores authentication information, including an enrolled hardware DNA for a plurality of devices. The authentication information may be stored in database  140  through an enrollment process initiated by the manufacturer of a corresponding device, an end user, or another entity. 
     In the present embodiment, a user seeking to authenticate device  120  obtains a unique identification of device  120 , for example, the device&#39;s serial number. In an embodiment, the unique identification is entered through user interface  114 . As would be appreciated by persons of ordinary skill in the art, other methods for entering the device ID may be used with the present invention. Authenticating unit  110  may use this identification to query database  140  for authentication information corresponding to device  120 . Authenticating unit may also use this information to determine the type of energy to transmit towards device  120  for authentication, the energy&#39;s intensity, or some other parameter related to the authentication of device  120 . 
     Note that in the environment illustrated in  FIG. 1 , authenticating unit  110  communicates with database  140  through communication network  130  to obtain authentication information for device  120 . A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that authenticating unit  110  may communicate with database  140  using a direct physical link or through multiple networks using wired or wireless means. Accordingly, in various exemplary embodiments a database for storing authentication information may be co-located with a corresponding authenticating unit or be located remotely. 
       FIG. 2  is a flow diagram  200  of a method for authenticating a device according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. The flowchart is described with continued reference to the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . However, the flowchart is not limited to that embodiment. 
     At block  210 , device  120  is enrolled in authentication database (DB)  140 . In particular, device  120  is illuminated with energy, for example a laser beam, at a predetermined intensity, and the device&#39;s response is measured, i.e., its baseline hardware (HW) DNA. The response may be converted into a different form (e.g., digital representation) for storage. The baseline hardware DNA is stored in a database, such as database  140 . 
     The enrollment step may be performed by the manufacturer  150  of the device. Alternatively, the enrollment step may be performed by an owner of a device (e.g., a corporate or government entity). This may allow the device&#39;s owner to enroll new devices or re-enroll a device (i.e., generate and store a new hardware DNA) whenever the device undergoes a hardware change affecting its hardware DNA. 
     At block  220 , the device ID is entered into authentication unit  110 . The device ID may be obtained, for example, from a user entering the device ID into the authenticating unit. 
     At block  230 , authenticating unit  110  illuminates device  120  with a corresponding energy using transmitting unit  111 . 
     At block  240 , authentication unit  110  measures a response from device  120  using receiving unit  112 . The response may include a visible change in the surface of device  120 , such as a change in color or displaying a particular pattern, in which case receiving unit  112  may include a lens and image processing circuitry for detecting, processing, and recording the visible change. Authentication unit  110  may convert the monitored response into a digital representation. 
     At block  250 , authenticating unit  110  queries authentication DB  140  for authentication information, including the device&#39;s enrolled hardware DNA, based on the unique device ID. 
     At block  260 , authentication unit  110  compares the measured response, i.e., the device&#39;s hardware DNA, to the baseline hardware (HW) DNA. 
     Device  120  is deemed authentic if the measured response matches the baseline hardware DNA of the authentication information (block  270 ). On the other hand, device  120  is deemed not authentic if the measured response does not match the baseline hardware DNA (block  280 ). 
     Although in the present embodiment the authentication unit queries the database for the baseline hardware DNA and performs the comparison locally, the comparison may be performed remotely. For example, authenticating unit  110  may provide the unique device ID and the measured response to a centralized server, and the centralized server may use the information to query database  140  and compare the measured response to the device&#39;s baseline hardware DNA. 
       FIG. 3  is a flow diagram  300  of a method for authenticating a device according to another exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. The flowchart is described with continued reference to the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . However, the flowchart is not limited to that embodiment. 
     In exemplary embodiments described above, during authentication, the hardware DNA of device  120  is measured by authenticating unit  110 , which is separate from device  120 . However, in various exemplary embodiments device  120  may measure its hardware DNA and may transmit its hardware DNA to a corresponding authenticating unit via short range wireless communication. Specifically, returning to  FIG. 1 , in the present exemplary embodiment, authenticating unit  110  includes a communication interface  115  to communicate via short range wireless communication with devices such as device  120 , and device  120  includes a measuring unit  122  for measuring a reaction to a corresponding energy and a communication interface  123  to communicate via short range wireless communication with devices such as authenticating unit  110 . Such a configuration allows device  120  to generate a hardware DNA by measuring a response to incident energy locally. This may facilitate measurement of a reaction to incident energy that is not visual, such as a measurement of a resistance of a material within device  120 . 
     At block  310 , device  120  is enrolled in authentication database (DB)  140 . In an embodiment, the device  120  is illuminated with energy, for example an electromagnetic signal, at a predetermined intensity. Measuring unit  122 , instead of an external measuring unit, measures the device&#39;s response to the incident energy and communication interface  123  transmits data including the measured response. For example, the incident energy may affect the resistance of at least one material within device  120 , and measuring unit  122  may perform a resistance test on the at least one material to determine the resistance of the at least one material in view of the incident energy. In such case, the measured resistance becomes the baseline hardware DNA. 
     Measuring unit  122  then provides the hardware DNA signature to communication interface  123  for transmission towards a corresponding communication interface (not shown in  FIG. 1 ) of the device manufacturer. The baseline hardware DNA signature is enrolled for the device in authentication database (DB)  140 . A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that resistance may be measured in multiple ways. For example, measuring unit  122  may apply a voltage across a portion of the material and measure the flow of current across. 
     At block  320 , the device ID is entered into authentication unit  110 . The device ID may be obtained, for example, from a user entering the device ID into the authenticating unit. 
     At block  330 , authenticating unit  110  illuminates device  120  using transmitting unit  11 . 
     At block  340 , measuring unit  122  within device  120  measures the resistance of the at least one material in view of the incident energy and provides the measurement to communication interface  123  for transmission towards authenticating unit  110 . Device  120  may be triggered to measure the response of the at least one material in multiple ways. For example, a measurement may be triggered by a direct instruction transmitted via short range communication towards device  120 , a manual switch, an electronic user interface, etc., operable by the user to request such measurement. 
     At block  350 , authenticating unit  110  receives data from device  120  including the measured response. 
     At block  360 , authenticating unit  110  queries authentication DB  140  for authentication information, including the device&#39;s baseline hardware DNA, based on the unique device ID. 
     At block  370 , authentication unit  110  compares the measured response, i.e., the device&#39;s hardware DNA, to the baseline hardware DNA. 
     Device  120  is deemed authentic if the measured response matches the baseline hardware DNA of the authentication information (block  380 ). On the other hand, device  120  is deemed not authentic if the measured response does not match the baseline hardware DNA (block  390 ). 
       FIG. 4  is a flow diagram  400  of a method for authenticating a device according to yet another exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. The flowchart is described with continued reference to the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . However, the flowchart is not limited to that embodiment. 
     In the various exemplary embodiments described above, a hardware DNA signature includes only one dimension for authentication. In alternative embodiments, a hardware DNA signature may include multiple elements/dimensions. For example, one or more dimensions can be characterized by the inclination of a device relative to a horizontal axis when the device is exposed to incident energy, the incidence angle of the energy relative to a surface of the device, the intensity of the incident energy, the type of emitted energy, or a combination thereof. Accordingly, during authentication, device measurements may need to match some, all or a combination of the corresponding measurements in its baseline hardware DNA to be deemed authentic. 
     At block  410 , device  120  is enrolled in authentication database (DB)  140 . In particular, a multi-dimensional device hardware DNA profile is generated by directing an energy, for example a laser beam, at a predetermined intensity towards device  120  when device  120  is positioned at multiple predetermined orientations relative to the laser beam, and measuring the device&#39;s response for each orientation. 
     At block  420 , the device ID is entered into authentication unit  110 . The device ID may be obtained, for example, from a user entering the device ID into the authenticating unit. 
     At block  430 , authenticating unit  110  illuminates device  120  using transmitting unit  111 . The user will then position device  120  in one of the multiple predetermined orientations relative to the laser beam to get a measurement for the particular dimension. The predetermined orientation may be previously known to the user or may be provided to the user through user interface of authentication unit  110 . 
     At block  440 , authenticating unit  110  measures the response corresponding to the particular orientation and records the response in association with the orientation. 
     At block  450 , authenticating unit  110  determines if there are additional dimensions, i.e., orientations, at which a response from device  120  needs to be measured. If there are more incidence angles at which a response needs to be measured, authenticating unit indicates that the device should be re-positioned for measuring a corresponding response and operation returns to step  440 . 
     If there are no more incidence angles at which a response needs to be measured, operation proceeds to step  460  where authenticating unit  110  queries authentication DB  140  for authentication information, including the device&#39;s baseline hardware DNA, based on the unique device ID. 
     At block  470 , authenticating unit  110  compares the measured responses to the multi-dimensional baseline hardware DNA. Device  120  is deemed authentic if the measured response matches the baseline hardware DNA of the authentication information (block  480 ). On the other hand, device  120  is deemed not authentic if the measured response does not match the baseline hardware DNA (block  490 ). 
     Although in the present embodiment the multiple dimensions are predetermined orientations relative to the laser beam, the present disclosure is not so limited. Other multi-dimensional schemes include multiple responses to energy incident to corresponding surfaces of the device, multiple responses corresponding to multiple intensities of incident energy into one or more surfaces of the device, multiple measurements of resistance corresponding to multiple materials of the device when the device is exposed to a form of energy, etc., without departing from the scope of the present teachings. 
     CONCLUSION 
     it is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and not the Summary and Abstract sections, is intended to be used to interpret the claims. The Summary and Abstract sections may set forth one or more but not all exemplary embodiments of the invention as contemplated by the inventor(s), and thus, are not intended to limit the invention and the appended claims in any way. 
     The invention has been described above with the aid of functional building blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus the invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6