Dual Notification System for Reliable Mobile Authentication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile networks are unreliable, leading to inconsistent delivery of push notifications to mobile devices, which can result in authentication failures and increased security risks due to fallback authentication methods being less secure.
Innovation Solution
A dual notification system that uses both data push notifications and SMS channels in parallel to ensure reliable delivery of notifications, with a token for validation and separate channels for responses, reducing the likelihood of notifications being lost or delayed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If only data push notifications are used, then the system is simpler to implement, but the reliability of notification delivery deteriorates due to mobile network unreliability
Solution Approach 1:
The notification delivery system is segmented into two independent parallel channels: data push notifications and SMS notifications. Each channel operates independently with its own delivery mechanism, so if one channel fails, the other can still deliver the notification. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by improving reliability through redundancy while keeping each individual channel relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of communication protocol by using two different types (data push and SMS) instead of relying on a single protocol. This parameter change allows the system to leverage the strengths of both protocols—data push for normal conditions and SMS for fallback when data networks are unreliable—thereby improving overall delivery reliability without requiring complex decision-making logic.
2Reliability
If dual notification channels are implemented, then the reliability of notification delivery improves, but the device complexity increases due to multiple channels and validation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
A unique token is generated and embedded in the notification payload before the notification is sent out through both channels. This preliminary action ensures that when notifications arrive at the device, they can be automatically validated against the expected token without requiring complex real-time verification processes, thus reducing processing complexity while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The same notification content with the same unique token is copied and sent through both data push and SMS channels. This copying approach ensures consistency across channels and allows the receiving application to process both notifications identically by validating the token, simplifying the processing logic despite having multiple channels.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If tokens are incorporated in notifications, then the security and validation capability improves, but the loss of information increases due to encryption overhead
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of encrypting the entire notification payload, only a compact unique token is generated and embedded in the notification. This partial action approach provides sufficient security for validation purposes while minimizing the information overhead. The token is designed to be as short as possible while still providing unique identification and validation capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method using both SMS and push notifications in parallel to ensure that a notification to a mobile device arrives quickly and reliably at the correct application on the device and to ensure that the application can respond on any channel, thereby, providing the highest probability that the notification will be received by the application and that the response is sent and received by the origin server in timely manner.