This invention relates generally to security and asset management systems. In particular, this invention relates to using consumer devices such as mobile telephones to identify and authenticate, as well as to locate and contact, users of security and asset management systems.
Security and asset management systems are used to monitor homes and businesses to prevent unwanted intrusions as well as to guard against natural disasters. Such systems control entry and egress to structures as well as areas within the structures. In early security systems, keys were required for entry into protected buildings. In more recent systems, however, access is attained using identity devices which interact with an access control device, such as a reader, operating in conjunction with a control panel which permits or denies access to users based on identification or authorization. These systems generally employ either a passive device, like a proximity card, or an active device, like an RFID tag, to identify and/or authenticate users of the system. A user can present his or her device to an access control device, and the user's device can initiate the authentication procedure. In the alternative, an access control device can initiate authorization or entry verification by searching for a valid user device.
An access control device which searches for a valid user device is disclosed in UK
Patent Application 2,417,858, Access Control Device Using Mobile Phones for Automatic Wireless Access with Secure Codes and Biometrics Data. This application discloses an access control device that uses an automatic process of authentication based on secret encrypted codes determined with a rolling time-based encryption algorithm. In at least one embodiment, automatic search and detection of credentials from an authorized user carrying a mobile telephone having a valid access code is performed by a dedicated Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) in the entry access controller. In another embodiment, user credentials are passed from a user's mobile telephone as short message service (SMS) to the SIM of the entry access controller via standard communication channels such as Bluetooth® telecommunication services. This system requires usage of a dedicated SIM card at the controller to implement the encryption algorithm and store encrypted codes.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0143051, Mobile Authentication/Financial Transaction System Using a Unique Mobile Identification Code and Method Thereof discloses a mobile authentication and financial transaction system using a unique mobile identification code wherein admission control and/or a variety of financial transactions are performed on the basis of call information transmitted by a mobile communication terminal. The unique identification code can be a “peculiar mobile identity code” or a combination of the registered telephone number and an electronic serial number. All embodiments disclosed in this application use mobile frequency and the telecommunication system for communication.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,436, Vehicle Tracking System Using Cellular Network, discloses a vehicle tracking system that uses existing cellular network infrastructure. A locating cellular transceiver is placed in a vehicle and the transceiver's Electronic Serial Number (ESN) is registered. If the vehicle is stolen, the ESN is used to determine the general location of the vehicle; its precise location is established using a radio direction finder which is tuned to the voice channel of the cellular transceiver. Thus, a cellular network of a telecommunication system or paging system is necessary to identify and to track vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,624,739, Access Control System, discloses a mobile transponder with an authorization code for providing access to the user. The system provides access based on a comparison of a person's biometric characteristics with biometric data stored in memory. However, it does not overcome the problem of requiring a special device, the mobile transponder, for identification and/or authorization. Further, the transponder does not allow identification and/or authentication of the user for emergency situations.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,411, Anti-Theft Method for a Vehicle Using a Portable Telephone, discloses using the International Mobile Equipment Identification (IMEI) of a mobile telephone as an element of a vehicle anti-theft method. To start a vehicle, a user puts his portable telephone into a fastener element. The telephone then compares its ESN or IMEI number with the one that is stored at a location in the fastener element. If the numbers match, the vehicle can be started. However, all processing or matching or authentication is performed in the telephone using the fastener element only as a conduit. Further, the mobile telephone must initiate identification or authorization of a user; the fastener element cannot search for an identification device.
Among the problems of the aforementioned systems are the necessity for telecommunication systems for communication, and specific devices, such as SIM cards built into the control apparatus. If devices other than mobile telephones are used as user identifiers, the devices, such as RFID tags, have range and battery life limitations, and also have extra costs for maintenance. Further, a user of the security system must produce his or her specific identity device, such as an apparatus containing an RFID tag, to be identified or authenticated, necessitating that the user carry the identity device with him or her. In addition, these devices generally are not operable in case of an emergency, either for the system to identify and communicate with the user, or for the user to communicate with the system.
The present invention advantageously provides a security and asset management system accessible using consumer devices, such as mobile telephones, to identify, authenticate, locate and contact security system users. Such consumer devices can be used not only with the security system but also for other uses. A device is initially registered with the security system not merely one specific access point. As needed, the device is presented to the system for authentication, enabling a person access to a secure area. In addition, the system can determine and store the person's location in the secure area and can notify the person in case of emergency.
The security and asset management system includes a device operable for mobile communication, said device having an id code and a device communication interface operable to initiate transmission of the id code and to respond to a request for transmission of the id code. The system further comprises at least one reader having a reader communication interface operable to obtain the id code from the device; a control panel operable to communicate with said at least one reader; and a memory, accessible via the control panel, for storing location data and ID data comprising at least one or more id codes, wherein the control panel validates the id code received from said reader, and the control panel stores a device location determined using the location data and a signal received from the device.
In one embodiment, the reader requests the id code from the device, while in another embodiment, the device transmits its id code without receiving a request from the reader. In another embodiment, the device has a security module for encrypting the id code and the reader has a security module for decrypting the id code.
The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and from the claims.
The invention is further described in the detailed description that follows, by reference to the noted drawings by way of non-limiting illustrative embodiments of the invention, in which like reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the drawings As should be understood, however, the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:
An inventive solution is presented to the need for a security and asset management system (“security system”) operable with a device which can be used to identify, authenticate, locate and contact its user, such that the device can be used not only with the security system but also has functionality separate from the security system, that is, a device such as a mobile telephone.
The reader 140 can include a security module 142, and a communication interface 144 enabling communication between the reader and the device 110 as well as between the reader and the control panel 170 of the security system. The communication interface of the reader 140 and the device 116 may include, but is not limited to, Infrared (IR), Bluetooth® telecommunication services, 2.4 GHz Frequency (Unlicensed Frequency Band), GSM/GPRS/CDMA Frequencies, and RDID/Smart Cart/Proximity Card Frequencies. To avoid overloading and dependencies, mobile frequencies or cellular networks are generally not used for secure communication. The security module 142, like the device's security module 114, enables secure communication. The reader 140 may have the electronic circuitry which can query the mobile telephone 110 for its id code 112. The mobile telephone will have a communication interface 116 to transmit the id code 112 to the reader 140.
The reader 140 communicates with the control panel 170 which provides access to the security system's memory 180 which contains information including ID data 182, including id codes from multiple devices, and location data 184. As shown in
In a preferred embodiment shown in
The system can be either active or passive. In the passive system, identification, authentication and/or location of the user's mobile telephone can be performed non-intrusively by the security system readers 140. Each reader 140 scans the area to obtain the id code 112, for example, the IMEI, from the mobile telephone. The passive system can employ the communication interfaces of Bluetooth® telecommunication services, 2.4 GHz Frequency, and GSM/GPRS/CDMA Frequencies. IR and Proximity Card Frequency communication interfaces, which each require line of sight, generally would not be used in the passive system. The protocol of communication between the reader and the mobile telephone will involve a method for scanning by the reader for any valid source (e.g., mobile telephone) containing an IMEI within a particular distance range. As discussed above, the reader shall scan and automatically identify and authenticate the user in conjunction with the control panel.
In the active system, the user must interact or initiate authorization. The user communicates the IMEI to the reader either by pressing a button (for example, the star (*) button) on his mobile telephone, or by presenting the mobile telephone near the reader. The protocol of communication between the mobile telephone and the reader shall involve getting the IMEI, validating or authenticating it in conjunction with the control panel, and talking the appropriate action. The active system supports all the communication interfaces mentioned above, including IR and Proximity Card Frequency.
In addition, the readers 140 can determine the direction and distance of the received signal 118 of the user's mobile telephone 110, and forward this signal 118 along with the IMEI to the control panel 170. Either the readers 140 can query the user's mobile telephone 110 to obtain its signal 118, or a user can supply the signal without being asked. The user's location 119 within the secure area or structure 240, for example, the floor or room occupied by the user, can be established by coordinating the signal 118 with the location data 184 of the security system available to the control panel 170. The reader could transmit a message through the user's device. The message could be sent by the reader whether or not the user is authenticated by the control panel for the particular reader. This could be used, for example, to inform a user that he is only permitted on the main floor of the building, and could also be used in emergency situations like “locate a doctor” or “find a person in case of a fire”, etc.
Moreover, as described above, the person can provide his position or device location 119 to the nearest reader 140. Thus, the user can alert the reader to an emergency situation by sending a signal with a request for assistance, for example, emergency paging, along with his IMEI number. The security system 100 will identify the user emergency and initiate appropriate actions.
Operation of both the active and passive security systems are now described with reference to
In the active system shown in
The embodiments described above are illustrative examples and it should not be construed that the present invention is limited to these particular embodiments. Thus, various changes and modifications may be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
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