Wireless Address Rotation via Stable Identifier Mapping
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Legacy wireless network infrastructure is not designed to accommodate rotating device addresses, which hinders the improvement of mobile device user privacy as it relies on static device addresses for processing and identification.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where a wireless client device rotates its device address while maintaining a stable identifier, allowing the infrastructure to map both addresses to a common stable identifier, enabling secure communication through secure tunnels that encapsulate packets with the stable identifier, ensuring seamless network connectivity and privacy enhancement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If device address rotation is implemented to improve privacy, then user privacy is enhanced, but legacy wireless network infrastructure cannot accommodate the address changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces secure tunnels as an intermediary mechanism between the rotating device address and the legacy network infrastructure. These tunnels encapsulate packets containing the stable identifier, allowing the infrastructure to maintain consistent identification while the device address rotates. The tunnel acts as a mediator that translates between the changing external address and the stable internal identifier.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension to address management by introducing stable identifiers that exist alongside rotating device addresses. This creates a two-layer addressing system where the outer layer (device address) can change for privacy while the inner layer (stable identifier) remains constant for infrastructure recognition, effectively solving the contradiction by operating in multiple address dimensions simultaneously.
2Reliability
If stable identifiers are maintained for infrastructure recognition, then network connectivity is preserved, but device address rotation capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two previously separate concepts into a unified system: rotating device addresses for privacy and stable identifiers for connectivity. By combining these functions within the same communication framework through secure tunnels, the system achieves both address rotation capability and continuous network connectivity without requiring separate systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the address identification function into two distinct parts: the rotating device address that provides privacy by changing externally, and the stable identifier that provides connectivity by remaining constant internally. This segmentation allows each part to fulfill its specific function independently while working together through the secure tunnel mechanism.
3Adaptability or versatility
If secure tunnels encapsulating stable identifiers are implemented, then address rotation is enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses copying by creating encapsulated copies of packets within secure tunnels. Instead of fundamentally changing the underlying communication protocol, the system creates wrapped versions of standard packets that include the stable identifier, allowing address rotation functionality to be added through a layer of copied/encapsulated communication rather than protocol restructuring.
Data Source
AI summary
A wireless client device communicates, to an access point over a secure channel, a mapping of a dynamic device address to a stable device address. By communicating the mapping, the access point is able to determine that packets received from two different device addresses originate from a common device. The access point is then able to maintain an association between the originating device and other network resources assigned or allocated to the originating device, such as IP addresses or infrastructure station address, which is used to identify the originating device to other devices outside the network in some embodiments.