Patent ID: 7502936

Claim:
A method of securely sending a multi-character password from an authorized access device to an authentication device, said method comprising: assigning a plurality of addresses to the authentication device; in the access device: dividing a multi-character password into a plurality of password data segments; placing each of said password data segments in a different one of a plurality of password packets, wherein each of the password packets is addressed to a different one of the plurality of addresses assigned to the authentication device; and sending the plurality of password packets from the access device to the plurality of addresses assigned to the authentication device, wherein the step of sending the plurality of password packets from the access device includes: transmitting a first password packet from the access device to a first address assigned to the authentication device; and individually transmitting each of the remaining password packets separated in time from a preceding password packet by a predefined time interval; in the authentication device: receiving the plurality of password packets from the access device; associating the plurality of password packets as related packets; extracting the password data segments from the plurality of related password packets; and assembling the multi-character password from the extracted password data segments.