PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10904751-B2
Application Number: US-201615220614-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: System and method for using credentials of a first client station to establish a connection between a network and a second client station

Abstract:
Described are methods that allow credentials of a first client station to authenticate a second client station. An exemplary method includes associating a first client station with a second client station, the first client station including credential information, the associating authorizing the second client station to use the credential information, transmitting, by the second client station, an association request to a network, the network utilizing the credential information to authorize a connection, the second client station configured to perform a proxy functionality for requests received from the network to be forwarded to the first client station and responses received from the first client station to be forwarded to the network, determining, by the network, whether the credential information received from the second client station is authenticated and establishing a connection between the second client station and the network using the credential information of the first client station.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method, comprising:
 at a client station:
 transmitting an identification request, received from a network to which the client station is attempting to connect, to a further client station, the further client station including credential information for the network; 
 receiving an identification response from the further client station including the credential information; 
 transmitting the identification response to the network; and 
 establishing a connection between the client station and the network using the credential information of the further client station. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the client station and the further client station are associated with an account that authorizes the client station to use the credential information of the further client station. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identification request was received in response to an open association request. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identification response includes an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) and a related key. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a challenge request from the network; 
 transmitting the challenge request to the further client station; 
 receiving a challenge response from the further client station; and 
 transmitting the challenge response to the network. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the challenge request includes an Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) challenge. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the challenge request includes a request/SIM/start. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the challenge response includes a request/SIM/start nonce. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 receiving a second challenge request from the network, wherein the second challenge request is a request/SIM/challenge; 
 transmitting the second challenge request to the further client station; 
 receiving a second challenge response from the further client station; and 
 transmitting the second challenge response to the network. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 notifying the further client station when the connection between the client station and the network is established. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identification request and the identification response is based on an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). 
     
     
       12. A method, comprising:
 at a client station:
 transmitting an association request to a network; 
 receiving an identification request from the network; 
 transmitting an identification response to the network, wherein the identification response includes credential information for a further client station and wherein the client station and the further client station are associated with a same account and the association with the same account authorizes the client station to use the credential information of the further client station; and 
 establishing a connection between the client station and the network using the credential information of the further client station. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 storing, in a memory of the client station, the credential information of the further client station. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 storing, in a memory of the client station, information indicating that the network is a known network for which the credential information is used to connect thereto. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the network is a wireless local area network (WLAN) and comprises one of a private WLAN requiring password information for connection thereto or a HotSpot requiring Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) information for connection thereto. 
     
     
       16. A method, comprising:
 at a client station:
 receiving, from a further client station, an identification request related to connecting to a network, wherein the client station and the further client station are associated with a same account and the association with the same account authorizes the further client station to use the credential information of the client station to connect to the network; 
 generating an identification response to the identification request, the identification response being a function of the credential information; and 
 transmitting the identification response to the further client station. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 transmitting an identifier of each network to which the client station has connected using the credential information. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 receiving, from the further client station, a further request that was generated by the network; 
 generating a response to the further request; 
 transmitting the response to the further request to the further client station. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the further request includes an Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) challenge and generating the response includes executing an AKA algorithm. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the further request includes a request/SIM/start and generating the response includes verifying the request/SIM/start.

Description:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE/PRIORITY CLAIM 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/937,194 entitled “System and Method for Using Credentials of a First Station to Authenticate a Second Station,” filed on Feb. 7, 2014 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/005,933 entitled “System and Method for Using Credentials of a First Station to Authenticate a Second Station,” filed on May 30, 2014, both of which are incorporated herein, in their entirety, by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     A client may be configured to connect to a variety of different networks based upon the hardware and software configurations thereof. For example, the client station may connect to a cellular network when the client station includes a transceiver configured to operate in frequency bands of the cellular network. In another example, the client station may connect to a WiFi network when the client station includes the same transceiver that is further configured to operate in the frequency bands of the WiFi network or a further transceiver configured to operate in the frequency bands of the WiFi network. The WiFi network may be a HotSpot often provided by a cellular service provider. The HotSpot may require an authentication procedure for the client station to connect thereto. For example, a user of the client station may transmit a pre-registered login and password as part of the authentication. A server of the HotSpot may also authenticate the client station using credentials thereof. Specifically, information corresponding to a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card of the client station may be used as this information is unique thereto. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one exemplary embodiment, a station performs a method. The method includes transmitting an association request to a network, receiving an identification request from the network, transmitting the identification request to a further client station, the further client station including credential information, the client station and the further client station being associated with one another such that the credential information is authorized to be used by the client station, receiving an identification response from the further client station, the identification response being generated as a function of the credential information of the further client station, transmitting the identification response to the network and establishing a connection between the client station and the network using the credential information of the further client station. 
     In another exemplary embodiment, a client station includes a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver and the processor are configured to establish a connection to a network by transmitting an association request to a network, receiving an identification request from the network, transmitting the identification request to a further client station, the further client station including credential information, the client station and the further client station being associated with one another such that the credential information is authorized to be used by the client station, receiving an identification response from the further client station, the identification response being generated as a function of the credential information of the further client station, transmitting the identification response to the network and establishing a connection between the client station and the network using the credential information of the further client station. 
     In a further exemplary embodiment, a client station performs a further method. The method includes receiving, from a further client station, an identification request to connect to a network, wherein the identification request is generated by the network, the client station and the further client station being associated with one another such that credential information that is unique to the client station is authorized to be used by the further client station to connect to the network, generating an identification response to the identification request, the identification response being a function of the credential information and transmitting the identification response to the further client station, wherein the identification response is forwarded by the further client station to the network. 
     In another exemplary embodiment, a method is performed by a first client station, a second client station and a network to which the client stations may connect. The method includes associating a first client station with a second client station, the first client station including credential information that is specific to the first client station, the associating authorizing the second client station to use the credential information, transmitting, by the second client station, an association request to a network, the network utilizing the credential information to authorize a connection thereto, the second client station configured to perform a proxy functionality for requests received from the network to be forwarded to the first client station and responses received from the first client station to be forwarded to the network, determining, by the network, whether the credential information received from the second client station is authenticated and establishing a connection between the second client station and the network using the credential information of the first client station. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an exemplary network arrangement. 
         FIG. 2  shows an exemplary network arrangement to use credentials of a first client station to authenticate a second client station for connecting to a network. 
         FIG. 3  shows an exemplary client station configured to connect to a network using credentials of a further client station. 
         FIG. 4  shows a first exemplary signaling diagram to use credentials of a first client station to authenticate a second client station for connecting to a network. 
         FIG. 5  shows a second exemplary signaling diagram to use credentials of a first client station to authenticate a second client station for connecting to a network. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and the related appended drawings, wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments are related to a system and method for using credentials of a first client station to establish a connection to a network by a second client station. Specifically, the first client station may have a SIM card that includes unique credential information that enables the first client station to connect to the network. The exemplary embodiments provide a mechanism for the second client station to act as a proxy device to forward requests and responses between the first client station and the network but ultimately establish the connection between the network and the second client station. 
       FIG. 1  shows an exemplary network arrangement  100 . The exemplary network arrangement  100  includes client stations  110 - 114 . In this example, it is assumed that the client stations  100 - 114  are associated with a single user. For example, the client station  110  may be the user&#39;s mobile phone, the client station  112  may be the user&#39;s tablet computer and the client station  114  may be the user&#39;s desktop computer. Those skilled in the art will understand that, in addition to the examples provided above, the client stations may be any type of electronic component that is configured to communicate via a network, e.g., smartphones, phablets, embedded devices, etc. It should also be understood that an actual network arrangement may include any number of client stations associated with any number of users and that the user may be associated with more or less client stations. The example of three (3) client stations associated with one (1) user is only provided for illustrative purposes. 
     Each of the client stations  110 - 114  may be configured to communicate directly with one or more networks. In this example, the networks with which the client stations  110 - 114  may communicate are a legacy radio access network (RAN)  120 , a Long Term Evolution radio access network (LTE-RAN) network  122  and a wireless local area network (WLAN)  124 . In this example, each of the networks  120 - 124  is a wireless network with which the client stations  110 - 114  may communicate wirelessly. However, it should be understood that the client stations  110 - 114  may also communicate with other types of networks using a wired connection. It should also be understood that not all of the client stations  110 - 114  may communicate directly with each of the networks  120 - 124 . For example, the client station  114  may not have an LTE chipset and therefore may not have the ability to communicate with the LTE-RAN  122 . Again, the use of three (3) networks is only exemplary and there may be any other number of networks with which the client stations  110 - 114  may communicate. 
     The legacy RAN  120  and the LTE-RAN  122  are portions of cellular networks that may be deployed by cellular providers (e.g., Verizon, AT&amp;T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks  120  and  122  may include, for example, base stations (Node Bs, eNodeBs, HeNBs, etc.) that are configured to send and receive traffic from client stations that are equipped with the appropriate cellular chip set. Examples of the legacy RAN may include those networks that are generally labeled as 2G and/or 3G networks and may include circuit switched voice calls and packet switched data operations. Those skilled in the art will understand that the cellular providers may also deploy other types of networks, including further evolutions of the cellular standards, within their cellular networks. The WLAN  124  may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, Hot Spot, IEEE 802.11x networks, etc.). Those skilled in the art will understand that there may be thousands, hundreds of thousands or more of different WLANs deployed in the United States alone. For example, the WLAN  124  may be the user&#39;s home network, the user&#39;s work network, a public network (e.g., at a city park, coffee shop, etc.). Generally, the WLAN  124  will include one or more access points that allow the client stations  110 - 114  to communicate with the WLAN  124 . 
     In addition to the networks  120 - 124 , the network arrangement also includes a cellular core network  130  and the Internet  140 . The cellular core network  130 , the legacy RAN  120  and the LTE-RAN  122  may be considered a cellular network that is associated with a particular cellular provider (e.g., Verizon, AT&amp;T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). The cellular core network  130  may be considered to be the interconnected set of components that manages the operation and traffic of the cellular network. The interconnected components of the cellular core network  130  may include any number of components such as servers, switches, routers, etc. The cellular core network  130  also manages the traffic that flows between the cellular network and the Internet  140 . 
     The network arrangement  100  also includes an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)  150 . The IMS  150  may be generally described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the client stations  110 - 114  using the IP protocol. The IMS  150  may include a variety of components to accomplish this task. For example, a typical IMS  150  includes an Home Subscriber (HS) server that stores subscription information for a user of the client stations  110 - 114 . This subscription information is used to provide the correct multimedia services to the user. Other exemplary components of the IMS  150  will be described below, as needed. The IMS  150  may communicate with the cellular core network  130  and the Internet  140  to provide the multimedia services to the client stations  110 - 114 . The IMS  150  is shown in close proximity to the cellular core network  130  because the cellular provider typically implements the functionality of the IMS  150 . However, it is not necessary for this to be the case. The IMS  150  may be provided by another party. 
     Thus, the network arrangement  100  allows the client stations  110 - 114  to perform functionalities generally associated with computer and cellular networks. For example, the client stations  110 - 114  may perform voice calls to other parties, may browse the Internet  140  for information, may stream multimedia data to the client devices  110 - 114 , etc. 
     However, as described above, not every client station  110 - 114  may have the same communication capabilities with the networks  120 ,  122 ,  124 ,  130 ,  140 . This lack of communication with one or more of the networks may be due to the capabilities of the client device  110 - 114 , e.g., the client device does not include a cellular chip, or may be due to a limitation of the network, e.g., a cellular network does not have a base station within range of the client station. This lack of communication with one or more networks may result in the client station being unable to avail itself of the functionalities that are available via one or more of the networks. 
     In addition to the elements already described, the network arrangement  100  also includes a network services backbone  160  that is in communication either directly or indirectly with the Internet  140  and the cellular core network  130 . The network services backbone  160  may be generally described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a suite of services that may be used to extend the functionalities of the client stations  110 - 114  in communication with the various networks. These extensions may include the functionalities to which the client device  110 - 114  does not have access because of limitations of the device and/or network, some examples of which were described above. The network services backbone  160  interacts with the client devices  110 - 114  and/or the networks  120 ,  122 ,  124 ,  130 ,  140  to provide these extended functionalities. 
     The network services backbone  160  may be provided by any entity or a set of entities. In one example, the network services backbone  160  is provided by the supplier of one or more of the client stations  110 - 114 . In another example, the network services backbone  160  is provided by the cellular network provider. In still a further example, the network services backbone  160  is provided by a third party unrelated to the cellular network provider or the supplier of the client stations  110 - 114 . 
     The exemplary embodiments described herein provide an example of different types of functionalities that may be extended to a client station  110 - 114  and also provide an example of components and services that may be included in the network services backbone  160 . In this example, the network services backbone  160  is used to provide credentials from a first of the client stations  110 - 114  for a second one of the client stations  110 - 114  to access a network. However, it should be understood that the network services backbone  160  may include many other components and services that may be used to enhance the operations of the client stations  110 - 114  and networks. 
     One of the services provided by the network services backbone  160  may be to store and update associations among the different client stations  110 - 114 . As described above, in this example, each of these client stations  110 - 114  are associated with the same user. Thus, the network services backbone  160  may store information that indicates this association of the user with each of the client stations  110 - 114  and may then also store (or link) the relationship of the client stations  110 - 114  with each other based on their association with the user. This association among client stations  110 - 114  may be used as one of the bases for the network services backbone  160  to provide the enhanced operations of the client stations  110 - 114 . 
     A client station (e.g., client stations  110 - 114 ) may include a transceiver that is configured to connect to a WiFi network (e.g., as defined by IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac). That is, the transceiver may operate in a frequency range of the WiFi network. As described above, a WiFi network may be a type of WLAN  124 . Thus, throughout this description, the term WiFi should be understood to include any type of WLAN. However, the client station may be required to perform an authentication procedure to establish a connection to the WiFi network. Thus, the client station may transmit credential information, user-specified authentication information (e.g., login name and/or password), a combination thereof, etc. for the server of the WiFi network to verify an association request. 
     In a first example, when the WiFi network is a private local area network (LAN), the authentication procedure may entail selecting the WiFi network (particularly if hidden) and optionally providing a password. When the credential information is transmitted and verified by a server of the private LAN, an association procedure may be performed for the client station to establish the connection to the private LAN. 
     In a second example and according to the exemplary embodiments, when the WiFi network is a HotSpot, the authentication procedure may also entail providing a login and/or password but may further include providing credentials unique to the client station. Specifically, the information corresponding to the SIM card of the client station may be used. The HotSpot may be provided by a cellular service provider. That is, the cellular service provider may provide various HotSpot locations for the users who have registered with the cellular service provider to have access to these WiFi networks. Accordingly, the client station may connect to the cellular network and WiFi networks that are provided by the cellular service provider. One manner of verifying that the user who is registered with the cellular service provider is also attempting to connect to the HotSpot provided by the cellular service provider is to use the information of the SIM card. However, it is also possible to use some other method of uniquely identifying the client station, e.g., it is not required that the unique identification is information of a SIM card. 
     In view of the manner in which a client station is authenticated to join the HotSpot, an issue that arises is when the user who is properly registered for use with a first client station attempts to join the HotSpot with a second client station, particularly when the second client station does not have a SIM card or other unique identifying component which may be used by the cellular service provider to verify the authentication. For example, a user may own a first client station that has a cellular capability and is registered with a cellular service provider via a SIM card corresponding to the first client station. The cellular service provider may also provide WiFi networks such as the HotSpot for the user. The user may further own a second client station that does not have a cellular capability but has a WiFi capability. Accordingly, the second client station may not be registered with any cellular service provider, particularly the cellular service provider for the first mobile client station. However, since the second client station has the WiFi capability, the second client station may potentially connect to the HotSpot that utilizes WiFi technology. 
     When such a scenario exists, the user may wish to use the second client station by connecting to the HotSpot. However, since the credential information corresponding to the SIM card is not available, the second client station may be incapable of connecting to the HotSpot despite the first client station having the proper credential information and both client stations belonging to the same user. Therefore, the user who owns both the first and second client stations is only allowed to connect to the HotSpot using the first client station. 
     The exemplary embodiments provide a mechanism to pair two or more client stations of a common user to automatically connect to a WiFi network provided by a cellular service provider in which SIM card credentials are used as a basis of authentication for the association request. Specifically, the first client station that has the SIM card may provide its SIM credentials in a secured manner to the second client station that does not have a SIM card (or any other component that includes the credential information of the SIM card of the first client station). The second client station may query the paired first client station to retrieve the SIM card credential information and may also further query the first client station (e.g., challenges) to complete an authentication procedure to connect to the WiFi network. 
     As will be described in further detail below, the pairing of the first and second client stations may include a proxy functionality for the second client station. Those skilled in the art will understand that in a network environment, a proxy may be an intermediary component configured to receive and forward data between further components. For example, data from a client station may be transmitted to a network server using a proxy server such that the data is first transmitted to the proxy server and forwarded to the network server. The second client station may also include this proxy functionality as well as utilize the data being exchanged therethrough to establish a connection to the WiFi network for itself. Specifically, credential information may be passed from the first client station to the network server along with other data that is used between the first client station and the network server for an association request. However, the second client station may ultimately connect to the WiFi network by using this credential information being passed. 
     It should be noted that the term “pair” used herein relates to any authorized association between the first and second client stations. For example, the first and second client stations may be owned by a common owner. One manner of indicating the common ownership is a connection to a cloud network using a common login name and password such that a cloud server “pairs” these devices together. As described above, this pairing functionality may be performed by the network services backbone  160 . Thus, the cloud server may be included in the network services backbone  160 . It should also be noted that the use of the first and second client stations is only exemplary in which the term “pair” corresponds to these to devices. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the exemplary embodiments may relate to more than two client stations having an authorized association. 
       FIG. 2  shows an exemplary network arrangement  200  in more detail than the network arrangement  100  of  FIG. 1 . The network arrangement  200  will be used to describe the use of credentials of a SIM client station  230  to authenticate a proxy client station  235  for connecting to a WiFi network  205 . Referring to  FIG. 1 , the SIM client station  230  and the proxy client station  235  may be any of the client stations  110 - 114 . The WiFi network  205  may be the WLAN  124 . The exemplary embodiments relate to an authentication procedure to connect to the WiFi network  205 . Thus, the network arrangement  200  may include a variety of different authentication network components associated with a cellular core network  212  such as an Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) server  215 , a Home Subscriber (HS) server  220 , and a Home Location Register (HLR)/Authentication Center (AuC)  225 . 
     As described above, the WiFi network  205  in the network arrangement  200  may represent a HotSpot that utilizes client station-specific credentials to authenticate an association request. However, it should be noted that the use of a HotSpot herein is only exemplary and that the WiFi network  205  utilizing WiFi technology is only exemplary. Those skilled in the art will understand that any network type that utilizes any network technology may include a manner of authentication that utilizes client station-specific information. Also as described above, the client station-specific credentials may be information corresponding to a SIM card of the client station. However, it should be noted that the use of the SIM card is only exemplary and represents any component that includes information that is unique to a client station and/or a user of the client station. 
     The WiFi network  205  may utilize a variety of different authentication frameworks to authenticate a client station providing an association request for connecting thereto. For example, the WiFi network  205  may utilize an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). The EAP may be an authentication framework used in wireless networks and Point-to-Point connections. The EAP provides an authentication framework that may be used to define message formats for the type of communication protocol being used. In this manner, the device may use EAP to define encapsulation methods for EAP messages in communications using the desired type of protocol. The EAP may be used, for example, in IEEE 802.11 which defines the WiFi network  205 . In a specific example, the WiFi Protected Access (WPA) and the WiFi Protected Access II (WPA2) standards have adopted IEEE 802.1X with five EAP types as the official authentication mechanisms. 
     The AAA server  215  may be a network component used for computer security and performs a AAA functionality. The AAA functionality may be used to control users&#39; access to services such as connecting to the WiFi network  205 . The AAA server  215  may also record which resources a user has accessed. The AAA server  215  may provide an authentication functionality to authenticate an identity of the client station. For example, the client station may provide information corresponding to a specific digital identity such as an identifier and the corresponding credentials (e.g., passwords, one-time tokens, digital certificates, digital signatures, phone numbers (calling/called), etc.). The AAA server  215  may also provide an authorization functionality to authorize the client station to perform a given activity. The authorization may be, for example, inherited from the authentication functionality when logging on to an application or service. Other examples of the authorization functionality may be based on different restrictions (e.g., time-of-day restrictions, physical location restrictions, restrictions against multiple access by the same entity or user, etc.). The AAA server  215  may also provide an accounting functionality to track network use for the purpose of capacity and trend analysis, cost allocation, billing, etc. In addition, the accounting functionality may record authentication and authorization attempts/failures, and verify that procedures have been correctly followed based on accounting data. 
     The HS server  220  may store subscription-related information (e.g., subscriber profiles) used by the IMS  150 . The HS server  220  may also authenticate and authorize a user/client station, and may provide location and IP information about the user (i.e., user of the proxy client station  235 ). The HS server  220  may be substantially similar to the HLR/AuC  225  of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network. Further operations of the HS server  220  with respect to the authentication and authorization functionalities will be described below. 
     The HLR/AuC  225  may include the HLR portion and the AuC portion. The AuC may be considered a component of the HLR. Specifically, the AuC is the component that validates a SIM card attempting to connect to the WiFi network  205 . The security provided by the AuC may prevent third parties from accessing network subscriber services such as HotSpot access provided to network subscribers. The HLR includes information associated with each subscriber that is authorized to use the GSM network. The information may include the unique identifier of each SIM card issued by the cellular service provider. Once an authentication is determined to be successful by the AuC, the HLR manages the SIM and services provided thereto. The HLR may also generate an encryption key that is subsequently used to encrypt all wireless communications (e.g., voice, SMS, etc.) between the client station and the GSM network. If the authentication fails, then no services are possible for the client station. 
     It should be noted that the AuC may not engage directly in the authentication process, but instead generates data defined as triplets for a mobile switching center (MSC) to use during the procedure. The AuC and SIM have a shared secret key called a K i  which is securely burned into the SIM during manufacture and is also securely replicated onto the AuC. This K i  is combined with the IMSI to produce a challenge/response for identification purposes and an encryption key called a K c  for use in communications. This particular embodiment will be described in further detail below. Those skilled in the art will understand that the substantially similar functionality provided by the HS server  120  may utilize different signaling components. Specifically, the HS server  220  may utilize quintuplets. 
     As discussed above, the exemplary embodiments relate to a user who registers a first client station with a cellular service provider who also provides the WiFi network  205  and wishes to connect a second client station to the WiFi network  205 . Thus, the SIM client station  230  and the proxy client station  235  may both be associated with a common user. Although not specifically shown as to the mechanism of communication, the SIM client station  230  and the proxy client station  235  may be configured to communicate with each other for data to be passed therebetween. As will be described in further detail below, the proxy client station  235  may initiate an association request with the WiFi network  205 . The proxy client station  235  may serve as the receiving point for signaling from the WiFi network  205 . The proxy client station  235  may also forward this signaling to the SIM client station  230  and receive data therefrom to be forwarded to the WiFi network  205 . 
       FIG. 3  shows the proxy client station  235  configured to connect to the WiFi network  205  using credentials of the SIM client station  230 . Although  FIG. 2  relates to the proxy client station  235 , the SIM client station  230  may also include substantially similar components described herein. Specifically, the SIM client station  230  may include a substantially similar application that is executed to enable the proxy functionality to be performed by the proxy client station  235 . The proxy client station  235  may be any electronic device configured to connect to the WiFi network  205  such as a portable device (e.g., a cellular phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a phablet, a laptop, etc.) or a stationary device (e.g., a desktop terminal, a VoIP phone, etc.). The client station  235  may include a processor  305 , a memory arrangement  310 , a display device  315 , an input/output (I/O) device  320 , a transceiver  325 , and other components  330 . 
     The processor  305  may be configured to execute a plurality of applications of the client station  235 . For example, the applications may include a web browser application to exchange data with a public network such as the Internet when connected to the WiFi network  205 . In another example, the applications may include a proxy authentication application  335  that performs the proxy authentication functionality in which credential information of the SIM client station  230  is used for authenticating the proxy client station  235  to connect to the WiFi network  205  as will be described in further detail below. It should be noted that the applications being a program executed by the processor  305  is only exemplary. The applications may also be represented as a separate incorporated component of the proxy client station  235  or may be a modular component coupled to the proxy client station  235 . 
     The proxy authentication application  335  may also be included in the SIM client station  230 . Specifically, when executed on the SIM client station  230 , the proxy authentication application  335  may package the responses of forwarded requests to be securely transmitted to the proxy client station  235 . Thus, the proxy client station  235  may forward the requests to the SIM client station  230  but may be aware that the requests are for the authentication procedure according to the exemplary embodiments rather than for an authentication procedure for the SIM client station  230  to connect to the WiFi network  205 . 
     The memory arrangement  310  may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the client station  235 . For example, the memory arrangement  310  may store cloud data corresponding to a cloud network that the SIM client station  230  and the proxy client station  235  are both associated. In another example, the memory arrangement  310  may also store (temporarily) the data received from the WiFi network  205  and the SIM client station  230  to perform the forwarding functionality in its proxy role. The display device  315  may be a hardware component configured to show data to a user while I/O device  320  may be a hardware component configured to receive inputs from the user and output corresponding data. The other components  330  may include a portable power supply (e.g., battery), a data acquisition device, ports to electrically connect the client station  235  to other electronic devices, an audio I/O device, etc. Specifically, the other components  330  may include the SIM card. 
     The SIM may be an integrated circuit that securely stores the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) and the related key used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices. A SIM circuit is embedded into a removable plastic card to create a “SIM card” and may be transferred between different mobile devices. The SIM card contains its unique serial number (ICCID), IMSI, security authentication, and ciphering information, temporary information related to the local network, a list of the services the user has access to and passwords such as a personal identification number (PIN) for ordinary use and a personal unblocking code (PUK) for PIN unlocking. In this manner, the SIM card may include a variety of user and/or client station specific credential information that may be utilized by the WiFi network  205  for authentication purposes in an association request. 
     The transceiver  325  may be a hardware component configured to transmit and/or receive data with the WiFi network  205 . The transceiver  325  may also enable a communication with the SIM client station  230 . The communication between the proxy client station  235  and the SIM client station  230  may be performed using communication technology. For example, a cloud network may be used in which the cloud network acts as an intermediary storage component for data that is shared between the proxy client station  235  and the SIM client station  230 . Accordingly, the transceiver  325  may be utilized for communicating with the cloud network in the operating frequency thereof. In another example, the proxy client station  235  and the SIM client station  230  may establish a direct connection between each other using wired (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable) or wireless manners (e.g., BlueTooth, Infrared (IR), etc.). Accordingly, the transceiver  325  may represent a transceiver arrangement that includes the hardware components that enable the communication using the respective manner. 
     According to the exemplary embodiments, the proxy client station  235  may initiate an association procedure to connect to the WiFi network  205  upon a detection thereof. Again, the proxy client station  235  may not include the credential information that is used to connect the SIM client station  230  to the WiFi network  205 . Specifically, the proxy client station  235  may not include the same SIM card used with the SIM client station  230 . Therefore, when the user of the proxy client station  235  (and the SIM client station  230 ) wishes to connect the proxy client station  235  to the WiFi network  205 , the exemplary embodiments provide a mechanism for the credential information (e.g., SIM card) of the SIM client station  230  to be used by the proxy client station  235  to authenticate the proxy client station  235 . Specifically, after the association procedure is initiated, the proxy client station  235  provides a proxy functionality of signal forwarding until the proxy client station  235  is authenticated and connected to the WiFi network  205 . According to the exemplary embodiments, the proxy client station  235  may receive a first request from the WiFi network  205  for identification information and forward this request to the SIM client station  230  to receive the identity response which is transmitted to the WiFi network  105 . The proxy client station  235  may also receive a second request from the WiFi network  205  that may be a challenge that only the SIM client station  230  may be configured to correctly respond and forward this request to the SIM client station  230  to receive the challenge answer response which is transmitted to the WiFi network  205 . Subsequent acknowledgement signals indicating a success of the connection may also be exchanged. 
       FIG. 4  shows a first exemplary signaling diagram  400  to use credentials of the SIM client station  230  to authenticate the proxy client station  235  for connecting to the WiFi network  205 . Specifically, the signaling diagram  400  relates to when the WiFi network  205  utilizes the AAA server  215  and the HS server  220  to perform the authentication procedure. As discussed above, this may entail the use of quintuplets. As will be described below, this may also entail the use of an Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) challenge. 
     The signaling diagram  400  illustrates a variety of different components involved in the authentication procedure according to the exemplary embodiments. As shown, the authentication procedure may involve the SIM client station  230 , the proxy client station  235 , the WiFi base station  210 , the AAA server  215 , and the HS server  220 . As one skilled in the art will understand, the SIM client station  230  and the proxy client station  235  may include operations performed by a different entity than the operations performed by the WiFi base station  210 , the AAA server  215 , and the HS server  220 . For example, it may be considered that the SIM client station  230  is an iPhone and the proxy client station  235  is an iPod that are supplied by Apple Inc. In such an example, the entity performing various operations therebetween may be network services backbone  160  components managed by Apple Inc. Furthermore, when the WiFi base station  210 , the AAA server  215 , and the HS server  220  may be network components managed by a cellular service provider such as T-Mobile, AT&amp;T, Verizon, etc. 
     Initially, the user of the SIM client station  230  and the proxy client station  235  may login  405  into a common account. For example, while running a platform provided by Apple Inc. on both the SIM client station  230  and the proxy client station  235 , a cloud network may be accessed such as iCloud or iTunes. Upon connecting to the cloud network, a synchronization functionality  410  may be performed. Specifically, when the SIM client station  230  and/or the proxy client station  235  connect to the cloud network for the first time, the client stations may be paired and associated with the same user. It should be noted that these steps of the signaling diagram may be performed at any time prior to an association request being transmitted from the proxy client station  235 . Again, this synchronization functionality may be performed at the network services backbone  160 . 
     The synchronization functionality may also include sharing data related to Service Set Identifications (SSIDs). For example, the SIM client station  230  may have connected to various WiFi networks including the WiFi network  205  in which the SIM credential information is used for authentication. The SIM client station  230  may uplink the SSID information to the cloud network. This SSID information may then be forwarded to the proxy client station  235  to store in the memory arrangement  310 . Accordingly, the proxy client station  235  may be aware of WiFi networks in which the SIM credential information is used. Thus, when the proxy client station  235  detects a WiFi network and the SSID matches one of the SSIDs indicative of the SIM credential information use, the proxy client station  235  may be aware that the authentication procedure according to the exemplary embodiments may be used. 
     The proxy client station  235  may perform a detection procedure to determine available networks. Specifically, the proxy client station  235  may perform a scan in frequency ranges for beacons of the available networks. The frequency ranges may include those in which the transceiver  325  may be configured to operate. The proxy client station  235  may determine, in operation  415 , that an SSID of one of the detected networks matches an SSID of a network to which the SIM client station  230  previously connected (e.g., WiFi network  205 ) based on the list that was synchronized via the cloud network. 
     Upon detecting the WiFi network  105 , the proxy client station  135  may generate an open association request  420  to the WiFi base station  210 . The WiFi base station  210  may respond with a request  425  for an identity of the client station that sent the open association request  420 . For example, the identity request may be defined using EAP. Since the proxy client station  235  is aware that the SIM credential information has been used for the authentication in the WiFi network  205 , the proxy authentication application  335  of the proxy client station  235  may forward the identity request  430  to the SIM client station  230 . Throughout this description, the term forward has been used to describe the operation of the proxy client station  235 . This term should be understood to mean that the proxy client station  235  transmits the described communication (e.g., identity request  430 ) in substantially the form the communication was received by the proxy client station  235 . However, it should be understood that the proxy client station  235  may format the communication for proper transmission to the receiving device/entity (e.g., if the communication is being sent via the TCP/IP protocol, the proxy client station may add headers and routing information as needed). The forwarding of the identify request from the proxy client station  235  to the SIM client station may be accomplished, as described above, via any known manner of communicating between the client stations. 
     The SIM client station  230  may receive the identity request  430  and generate the identity response. Specifically, the identity response may correspond to the information included in the SIM card. For example, the identity response may be defined by EAP and include the IMSI. The identity response  435  may be transmitted to the proxy client station  235  which forwards the identity response  440  to the AAA server  215  of the cellular core network  212  via the WiFi network base station  110  and WiFi network  105 . 
     When the AAA server  215  receives the identity response  440  based upon TAP and including the IMSI, the AAA server  215  may request authentication vectors  445  corresponding to the IMSI from the HS server  220 . The HS server  220  may generate the authentication vectors  450 . As discussed above, the AAA server  215  may also receive the quintuplets corresponding to the authentication vectors to be used subsequently. For example, the quintuplets may include AT_RAND, AT_AUTN, AT_MAC, S-RES, and K c . 
     Upon receiving the quintuplets  455 , the AAA server  215  may generate a request  460  including an AKA challenge based upon the quintuplets. For example, the request/AKA challenge  460  may be defined under EAP. Because the request/AKA challenge  460  is generated based upon quintuplets formed from the IMSI of the SIM card of the SIM client station  230 , the correct response may only be generated by the SIM client station  230 . Upon generating the request/AKA challenge  460 , the AAA server  215  may transmit it to the proxy client station  235 . The proxy client station  235  may forward this request/AKA challenge  465  to the SIM client station  230 . 
     The SIM client station  230  may execute an AKA algorithm  470  to generate the response thereto. For example, the AKA algorithm  470  may verify the AUTN and MAC to derive RES and K s . This may be included in a response/AKA challenge  475  which includes AT_RES and AT_MAC. The response may also be defined under EAP. The response/AKA challenge  475  may be transmitted to the proxy client station  235  which forwards the response/AKA challenge  480  to the AAA server  215 . The AAA server  215  may verify  485  the response to complete the authentication procedure. Specifically, the AAA server  215  may transmit an acknowledgement  490  that the authentication procedure was successful. At this point, the proxy client station  235  may be connected to the WiFi network  205  and communications  495  may be conducted between the proxy client station  235  and the WiFi network  205 . For completion and to notify the SIM client station  230 , the proxy client station  235  may forward the success acknowledgement  497  to the SIM client station  230 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a second exemplary signaling diagram  500  to use credentials of the SIM client station  230  to authenticate the proxy client station  235  for connecting to the WiFi network  205 . Specifically, the signaling diagram  500  relates to when the WiFi network  205  utilizes the AAA server  215  and the HLR/AuC  225  to perform the authentication procedure. As discussed above, this may entail the use of triplets. As will be described below, this may also entail the use of a nonce. 
     Initially, it is noted that the signaling diagram  500  may include an initial set of steps that are substantially similar to the initial set of steps of the signaling diagram  400 , e.g., signaling steps  405 - 435 . Thus, the description relating to the signaling diagram  500  begins from the identity response  505  including the IMSI as defined under EAP is forwarded from the proxy client station  135  to the AAA server  115 , e.g., a signaling step that corresponds to signaling step  440  of  FIG. 4 . 
     As discussed above, when the HLR/AuC  225  is used for authentication, triplets may be used instead of the quintuplets discussed above with regard to the signaling diagram  400  using the HS server  220 . Thus, upon the AAA server  215  receiving the response identity  505 , the AAA server  215  may request  510  the triplets corresponding to the IMSI of the SIM client station  230  from the HLR/AuC  225 . The HLR/AuC  225  may generate  515  the authentication vectors including the triplets and forward  520  the triplets to the AAA server  215 . 
     When the AAA server  215  receives the triplets, the AAA server  215  may generate a request/SIM/Start  525  for transmission to the proxy client station  235 . For example, the request/SIM/Start  525  may be defined under EAP. Again, because the proxy client station  235  is aware that the SIM client station  230  has previously connected to the WiFi network  205  utilizing the SIM credential information for authentication, the request/SIM/Start  530  may be forwarded to the SIM client station  230 . 
     When the SIM client station  230  receives the request/SIM/Start  530 , the SIM client station  230  may generate a nonce  535 . Thus, the SIM client station  230  may generate a response  540  to the request SIM/Start to include the nonce. Specifically, the SIM client station  230  generates the response/SIM/Start  540  (including the nonce [N]) and transmits it to the proxy client station  235  that forwards the response/SIM/Start [N]  545  to the AAA server  215 . The AAA server  215  may receive the response/SIM/Start [N]  545  and calculate  550  a MAC using the K c  and nonce. The AAA server  215  may generate a request/SIM/Challenge  555  including the MAC and a RAND (based upon the nonce). This request may also be defined under EAP. The AAA server  215  may generate this request/SIM/Challenge  555  to the proxy client station  235  which forwards the request/SIM/Challenge  560  to the SIM client station  230 . 
     The SIM client station  230  may verify  565  the MAC and execute a GSM algorithm for the RAND to generate a SRES and MAC2. Again, the HLR/AuC may be associated with a GSM network. Upon verifying, the SIM client station  230  may generate a response  570  to the request/SIM/Challenge that includes the MAC2. That is, the SIM client station  230  may generate the response/SIM/Challenge  570  including the MAC2 and defined under EAP. The SIM client station  230  may transmit the response/SIM/Challenge  570  to the proxy client station  235  which forwards  575  the response/SIM/Challenge to the AAA server  215 . 
     When the AAA server  215  receives the response/SIM/Challenge  575  with the MAC2, the AAA server  215  verifies  580  the MAC2 to complete the authentication procedure. Specifically, the AAA server  215  may transmit an acknowledgement  585  that the authentication procedure was successful. At this point, the proxy client station  235  may be connected to the WiFi network  205  and communications  590  may be conducted between the proxy client station  235  and the WiFi network  205 . For completion and to notify the SIM client station  230 , the proxy client station  135  may forward  595  the success acknowledgement to the SIM client stations  230 . 
     It should be noted that the above signaling diagrams  400 ,  500  including the various steps is only exemplary. Those skilled in the art will understand that the authentication procedure may include any number of steps. For example, the authentication may only require that the SIM credential information be provided for a connection to the WiFI network  205  without a subsequent challenge. In such an embodiment, the proxy client station  235  may pre-store the SIM credential information of the SIM client station  230  in the memory arrangement  310 . Thus, the proxy client station  235  may transmit an association request and receive the identity request from the WiFi network  205  in which the SIM credential information may be forwarded without requiring the SIM client station  230  to be queried. 
     The exemplary embodiments provide a system and method for using credential information of a first client station to authenticate a second client station such that the second client station may connect to a network that the first client station is allowed to connect to using the credential information. The first and second client stations may be paired such that the second client station is an authorized device that is allowed to utilize the credential information. The first client station may include client station-specific identification information that generates the credential information. The second client station may not have this credential information. Furthermore, the first client station may be the only device configured to correctly respond to a challenge request. That is, the second client station may not respond correctly. 
     Therefore, the second client station may initiate an association request with the network. After performing this step, the second client station may act as a proxy device that exchanges data between the first client station and the network for the authentication procedure to be performed. When the authentication procedure is completed, the second client station may successfully connect to the network using the credentials of the first client station. 
     Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-described exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any suitable software or hardware configuration or combination thereof. An exemplary hardware platform for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, an Intel x86 based platform with compatible operating system, a Mac platform, MAC OS, iOS, Android OS, etc. In a further example, the exemplary embodiments of the above described method may be embodied as a program containing lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the present invention, without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalent.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20160727
Publication Date: 20210126
Grant Date: 20210126
Priority Date: 20140207
Inventors: ABDULRAHIMAN, NAJEEB M.
PAULY, THOMAS F.
YERRABOMMANAHALLI, Vikram B.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04L63/0884", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W12/50", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W84/12", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W12/50", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W12/06", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L63/0892", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L63/0884", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W76/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L63/0853", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W12/06", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W76/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W12/06", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L63/0884", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L63/0892", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L63/0892", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W84/12", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L63/0892", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W12/06", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L63/0884", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W12/003", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L63/0853", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W76/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 53775993