Patent Application
20190318559
The instant application claims priority to Malaysian Patent Application Serial No. PI 2018701480 filed Apr. 13, 2018, the entire specification of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to an entrance access system. More particularly, the invention relates to wireless entrance access systems using mobile devices and methods thereof.
Over the years, traditional lock systems or digital lock system have been applied for high security areas or in locker rooms for buildings. Drawbacks were found within these systems whereby the buildings are not perfectly secured. With the advancements of technology, RFID cards were introduced to replace traditional keys. This system requires the users to wear or carry identification badges for building access, which are either inspected by security guards or are read by machines installed at the access doors. Nevertheless, these cards were not effective enough due to the possibility of getting lost, stolen or forgotten.
There are a few patented technologies regarding the aforementioned door access systems. A wireless access control system is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0237193, and provides guidance on a wireless access control system and includes a remote access device. A plugin device communicates with the remote access device. A lock controls the ability to lock and unlock a door in which the lock is disposed. The lock is in communication with the plug in device. The plug in device determines a distance between the remote access device and the lock and causes the lock to communicate with the remote access device when the remote access device is at a distance less than or equal to a predetermined distance from the lock to enable the lock to be unlocked. Nonetheless, the disclosed invention does not include security features such as password during the unlock operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,353,551 discloses a wireless door locking system including a door lock having a locking device, a sensor and a microcontroller. The system also includes a mobile computing device having a display and a mobile application, wherein the mobile computing device is placed proximate to the door lock. The system includes a server in communication with the mobile computing device. The mobile application may generate a code such as a light pattern in response to communication with the server and transmits the light pattern from the display. The controller of the door lock disengages the locking device in response to the sensor receiving the generated code communicated from the mobile computing device and determining that the generated code includes correct data to disengage the locking device of the door lock. However, the drawback of this system is that the accessibility of user is not updateable in real time such that certain users can only grant access at a predetermined time.
Accordingly, there exists a need for new and improved entrance access control systems, and methods for using same, that can overcome the aforementioned deficiencies.
One objective of the invention is to provide users with an access system comprising a server, a controller for regulating the accessibility of an entrance and a mobile device having an application for user to trigger an access authentication process, means for collecting biometric information of the user and a BLUETOOTH module to establish a BLUETOOTH communication link between the mobile device and the controller.
By BLUETOOTH, as that term is used herein, it is meant to include, without limitation, any wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 14 to 2.485 GHz) from and mobile telecommunication devices, and building personal area networks (PANs).
By “mobile device,” as that term is used herein, it is meant to include, without limitation, cellular telephones, satellite telephones, mobile computers, mobile Internet devices, tablets, smartphones, laptops, wearable computers, calculator watches, smartwatches, head-mounted displays, personal digital assistants, enterprise digital assistants, graphing calculators, handheld game consoles, portable media players, calculators, ultra-mobile PCs, digital media players, digital still cameras (DSC), digital video cameras (DVC), digital camcorders, feature phones, pagers, personal navigation devices (PND), smart cards and/or the like.
Preferably, the controller has a communication module for connecting the controller to the server and mobile device for receiving updates on user access credentials, an access module for activating/deactivating a barrier of entrance and a microprocessor for verifying the received user access credentials, generating an door execution command, and uploading the entrance status to the server.
Preferably, upon the controller receiving a BLUETOOTH signal from the mobile device after a successful biometric verification, the controller then performs a second authentication via the microprocessor to verify the user's accessibility based on the updated user access credentials, and followed by triggering the access module to provides access permission for the user based on the outcomes of the authentications, and further uploads the entrance status to the server.
Preferably, the controller further includes a buzzer for indicating the status of the entrance to the user.
Preferably, the communication module is capable of establishing BLUETOOTH, WiFi, IR wireless communication, satellite communication, broadcast radio, microwave radio, ZIGBEE or any combination thereof.
Preferably, the user access credentials includes secret password, date, time, unlock command, user ID, controller pairing code or any combination thereof.
Preferably, the controller further includes an antenna for receiving wireless signal from the server and the mobile device.
One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. The embodiments described herein are not intended as limitations on the scope of the invention.
For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the invention, there is illustrated in the accompanying drawing the preferred embodiments from an inspection of which when considered in connection with the following description, the invention, its construction and operation and many of its advantages would be readily understood and appreciated.
The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings.
Preferably, the mobile device 160 includes a display unit, biometric sensors and a transceiver. The mobile application downloads the user's access credential data from cloud-based server 110, wherein the user's access credential data includes the user's authentication data, user's door entrance accessibility, and accessible date and time. The application further processes the data and reflects the entrances allowed to access on the handheld device's display unit to alert the user. The application installed on the handheld device 160 allows the user to send user ID, date, time and controller 140 pairing code to the controller 140 via BLUETOOTH connection 150. The controller 140 validates the data by internal memory (current date, time and user ID) as second security layer. The controller 140 then sends a signal to unlock the entrance when data is validated. All the entry-exit records will be sent to the cloud-based server 110 by the controller 140 via an Internet connection. Preferably, the controller 140 is connected to a network router or modem 130 for Internet accessibility with the cloud-based server 110.
The system 100 may operate in different operational embodiments. One of the embodiments discloses the administrator operation as shown in
Another embodiment of the system 100 is illustrated in
On the other hand, the BLUETOOTH access controller 140 broadcasts its device ID via BLUETOOTH link 150 to the mobile device 160 such that the users are no longer required to activate the application in the mobile device before approaching the BLUETOOTH access controller 140. When a user with the mobile device 160 comes into the broadcasting range, the application captures the device ID and starts to compute the accessibility. The computing process can be referred in step 303 of
Furthermore, the BLUETOOTH access controller also includes security features as shown in
On the other hand, the use of second layer of authentication in the controller 140, where the controller 140 performs checks on the user ID, date and time before the entrance access could be granted, minimizes the possibility of hijacking. In case a system administrator restricts the user to access any door, but the user does not update the data in his mobile device 160. However, the changes already applied to all controllers 140, by removing the selected user ID to block access. This stops the user to access even if his application in mobile device grants him access. When it comes to access time control, the user can change the date and time on the mobile device 160. Thus, the controller 140 validates the date and time sent by the application in mobile device 160, to ensure time is synced.
The present disclosure includes as contained in the appended claims, as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangements of parts may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PI 2018701480 | Apr 2018 | MY | national |
