Portable Device Authentication via Host-Generated Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing authentication methods for low-end microprocessors in portable electronic devices require significant computation time and memory, and additional hardware, making them costly and inefficient for secure communication with host computers.
Innovation Solution
An authentication method involving a portable electronic device, a host computer, and a machine-readable medium, where the device generates and derives reference data, and the host computer generates and transmits authentication data, allowing the device to determine access permissions, utilizing software or firmware circuits to manage data exchange and security functions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing authentication standards (IEEE 1667, U3 technology) are used, then security authentication between host and storage device is improved, but computation time and memory space requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication process is divided into two distinct phases: a key generation phase where the host computer generates and transmits authentication data to the portable device, and an authentication phase where the portable device uses received data to determine access permission. This segmentation allows the computationally intensive key generation to occur at the host level rather than requiring continuous complex computation at the low-end portable device during authentication.
Solution Approach 2:
Authentication data serves as an intermediary element that is generated by the host computer and transmitted to the portable device. This intermediary enables the portable device to perform authentication without needing to generate complex authentication keys itself, thereby reducing its computational burden while maintaining security.
2Reliability
If existing authentication standards are used, then security authentication is improved, but hardware requirements and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a simplified authentication approach where the portable device receives authentication data from the host and creates a local copy (reference data) for comparison. This copying mechanism allows the low-end portable device to verify authentication without needing complex hardware, as it only needs to store and compare the received authentication data rather than generate complex cryptographic keys.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication data transmitted from the host to the portable device can be considered a disposable credential that is used once and then discarded. This approach eliminates the need for the portable device to maintain complex hardware security mechanisms, as the authentication data is temporarily stored, used for comparison, and then discarded, reducing overall hardware requirements.
3Reliability
If existing authentication standards are used, then security authentication is improved, but processor requirements increase (needing faster and more powerful processor)
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring the portable device to generate complex authentication keys and perform intensive cryptographic operations, the patent inverts the approach: the host computer generates and transmits authentication data to the portable device, which then simply uses this received data for authentication comparison. This inversion shifts the computational burden from the portable device to the host computer, enabling low-end processors in portable devices to maintain security authentication.
Data Source
AI summary
An authentication method employed by a portable electronic device includes: generating first data; deriving reference data according to the first data; receiving a second data from a host computer; and determining whether the host computer is permitted to access the portable electronic device according to the reference data and the second data.