Cross-Device Authentication via Push Message Intermediary
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing authentication methods for electronic devices often require inconvenient or unavailable input methods on the device itself, limiting the use of new authentication technologies and complicating authentication processes across different devices.
Innovation Solution
An authenticating electronic device pushes an authentication request to a second electronic device, allowing for authentication information to be determined and transmitted back to the first device, enabling streamlined authentication across devices without requiring adaptation of the first device's protocols or trust domains.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If authentication is performed directly on the first device, then authentication can be completed using device-native methods, but the first device must have specific input devices or protocols which may not be available or convenient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a second device as an intermediary that possesses the required authentication input capabilities (keyboard, touchscreen, biometric sensor). The second device receives authentication requests from the first device, collects authentication information through its available input methods, and transmits the authenticated credentials back to the first device. This mediator approach allows the first device to authenticate users without requiring it to have specific input devices or protocols.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the first device is adapted to support new authentication technologies, then new authentication methods can be used, but this requires modifying the first device's protocols or trust domains
Solution Approach 1:
The second device serves as an intermediary that already supports the new authentication technology (e.g., biometric sensor, advanced keyboard). Instead of adapting the first device to support these new technologies, the second device handles the authentication using its native capabilities and communicates with the first device using existing protocols. This avoids modifying the first device's protocols or trust domains while still enabling new authentication methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication system is segmented into two functional parts: the first device that initiates authentication and the second device that performs the actual authentication. This segmentation allows the authentication capabilities to be separated from the device that needs authentication, enabling new authentication technologies to be implemented on the second device without affecting the first device's protocol structure or trust domain configuration.
3Productivity
If authentication information is collected on the first device, then the authentication process is self-contained, but the first device must provide all necessary input methods which may not be available
Solution Approach 1:
The second device acts as an intermediary that provides the necessary input methods for authentication. Users can interact with the second device using familiar and convenient input methods (physical keyboard, touchscreen, biometric sensor), and the second device collects the authentication information efficiently. This approach maintains authentication efficiency while improving ease of operation by leveraging the second device's available input methods rather than requiring the first device to provide them.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples disclosed herein describe authenticating a first electronic device based on a push message to a second electronic device. In one implementation, a processor receives a user identifier from a first electronic device. The processor may select a message communication type based on the user identifier and transmit an authentication information request to a second electronic device using a push message communication of the selected message communication type. The processor may authenticate the user based on the received response to the request and transmit information related to the user authentication to the first electronic device.