Product Authentication via Scannable Encrypted Label
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing counterfeiting countermeasures for products, such as industrial process monitoring and control devices, lack effective methods for authenticating unique products while ensuring low cost, ease of use, and difficulty in compromise, particularly in ensuring product safety and quality.
Innovation Solution
A system for product authentication using a unique encrypted authentication code generated by an authentication code generator, which is applied to the product as a label and stored in its memory, allowing verification through a server and scanning devices like smartphones, ensuring device-specific data is returned upon authentication, and detecting clones by tracking multiple inquiries for the same code.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a unique encrypted authentication code is generated and stored in product memory, then authentication reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication code is extracted from the product memory and displayed on a label that can be scanned externally. This allows authentication without requiring the scanning device to access or interpret the encrypted code stored in the product, simplifying the overall system while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
A label serving as an intermediary carrier is introduced between the authentication code stored in product memory and the scanning device. The label contains the encrypted authentication code in a scannable format, enabling authentication without direct access to the product's memory storage.
2Measurement precision
If device specific information is returned to the authenticator, then authentication accuracy is improved, but information security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
Different levels of information are provided to different users. The encrypted authentication code is made publicly scannable for verification, while the decryption key and full device specific information remain private and accessible only to authorized users with proper credentials.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication code is encrypted in advance using a private key before being placed on the label. This preliminary encryption ensures that even if the code is scanned and read, the sensitive device specific information remains protected until proper authentication occurs.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If multiple inquiries for the same code are tracked to detect clones, then counterfeit detection capability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system tracks multiple scanning inquiries for the same authentication code and provides feedback by indicating when a code has been scanned multiple times. This simple feedback mechanism enables counterfeit detection without requiring complex analysis or additional hardware.
Data Source
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AI summary
During manufacturing a unique encrypted authentication code is created for each product 12 based upon device specific information relating to that product 12. The unique encrypted authentication code together with the device specific information is stored in a database 23, and a representation 14 of the unique encrypted authentication code is stored on the product. To determine whether a product in question is authentic, the readable representation 14 of the unique encrypted authentication code is read and sent to a server 22 along with a request for product authentication. The server 22 provides an indication of authenticity of the product 14 in question based upon the unique encrypted authentication code received and the device specific information associated with that unique encrypted authentication code in the database 23.