Peer discovery, connection, and data transfer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10298398-B2
Application number	US-201615393185-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2016
Priority date	Dec 28, 2016
Publication date	May 21, 2019
Grant date	May 21, 2019

Abstract

Implementations relate to peer-to-peer discovery, connection, and data transfer providing privacy protection and increased security features.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
obtaining, at a sender device, a public key of a receiver device;
receiving, at the sender device, a beacon signal transmitted by the receiver device, wherein the beacon signal includes an encoded value that is based on a salt value and the public key of the receiver device;
determining, by the sender device, that the encoded value of the beacon signal is decodable with the public key of the receiver device based on successfully obtaining the salt value by decoding the encoded value; and
when it is determined that the encoded value of the beacon signal is decodable with the public key of the receiver device, transmitting, by the sender device, a connection provisioning message, wherein the connection provisioning message includes an encrypted portion that is encrypted using the public key of the receiver device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to decoding the encoded value of the beacon signal, determining a match between the public key and a contacts database associated with the sender device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a time at which the salt value was generated, and wherein transmitting the connection provisioning message is performed in response to determining that the time at which the salt value was generated is within a threshold time from a current time at the sender device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
when it is determined that the encoded value of the beacon signal is decodable with the public key of the receiver device:
transmitting from the sender device to the receiver device a request for personal identification number (PIN) verification including a PIN;
determining, based on input received from a user interface of the sender device, that the PIN transmitted to the receiver device is verified by the sender device; and
when the PIN is verified, transmitting the connection provisioning message from the sender device to the receiver device, wherein the encrypted portion of the connection provisioning message includes credentials to access a network associated with a transfer communication channel.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein a phone number is used as a private key and a part of the phone number is used as the public key.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the encrypted portion of the connection provisioning message includes an identifier for a wireless network and a password for the wireless network.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the wireless network includes a Wi-Fi hotspot.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the beacon signal is received via a first communication channel, wherein the connection provisioning message is transmitted via the first communication channel, wherein the encrypted portion of the connection provisioning message includes access credentials for a second communication channel that is different from the first communication channel, wherein the beacon signal includes device capability information corresponding to device capabilities of the receiving device and wherein connection provisioning is performed based on the device capability information.

9. A computer-implemented method comprising:
generating, at a receiver device, a key pair that includes a public key and a private key;
transmitting, from the receiver device to a sender device, a beacon signal that includes a salt value and an encoded value based on the salt value and the public key, wherein the beacon signal is transmitted via a beacon signal communication channel, wherein the sender device is configured to decode the encoded value with the public key of the receiver device to determine the salt value;
receiving, at the receiver device, a connection provisioning message from a sender device, the connection provisioning message having an encrypted portion that includes credentials to access a network associated with a transfer communication channel;
determining if the encrypted portion of the connection provisioning message can be decrypted using the private key; and
when it is determined that the encrypted portion of the connection provisioning message can be decrypted with the private key:
establishing, at the receiver device, a secure connection to the network using the credentials in the encrypted portion of the connection provisioning message;
transmitting, from the receiver device, a content request message to the sender device via the secure connection;
receiving, at the receiver device, a content description message from the sender device in response to the content request message via the secure connection;
transmitting, from the receiver device, a download start message to the sender device via the secure connection; and
receiving, at the receiver device, one or more content download messages from the sender device via the secure connection.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the connection provisioning message is included within the beacon signal.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the beacon signal communication channel includes Bluetooth and the transfer communication channel includes one of Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the salt value includes a time-based component configured to permit determination of a time that the salt value was generated at the receiver device.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein transmitting the beacon signal includes transmitting the beacon signal via Bluetooth Low Energy (LE).

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the public key includes a phone number associated with the receiver device.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 , wherein determining if the encrypted portion of the connection provisioning message can be decrypted using the private key of the receiver device further includes:
determining that the connection provisioning message cannot be decrypted using the private key of the receiver device; and
when the connection provisioning message cannot be decrypted using the private key of the receiver, sending, from the receiver device to the sender device, an indication that a key used to encrypt the encrypted portion of the connection provisioning message is invalid.

16. A system comprising:
one or more processors coupled to a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored there on software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including:
obtaining, at a sender device, a public key of a receiver device;
receiving, at the sender device, a beacon signal transmitted by the receiver device, wherein the beacon signal includes an encoded value that is based on a salt value and the public key of the receiver device;
decoding if the encoded value of the beacon signal with the public key of the receiver device to determine the salt value; and
when it is determined that the encoded value of the beacon signal is decodable with the public key of the receiver device:
establishing a PIN according to a key exchange protocol; and
when the PIN is established, transmitting a connection provisioning message from the sender device to the receiver device, wherein the connection provisioning message includes an encrypted portion encrypted based on a key derived from the PIN established during the key exchange protocol, wherein th

Assignees

• Google Inc
• Google Llc

Inventors

• Deshpande Vinit
• Joshi Amit
• Radhakrishnan Sanjeev

Classifications

• H04W12/02

  Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII] · CPC title

• H04L63/083

  using passwords (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226) · CPC title

• H04W4/21

  for social networking applications · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04L2209/80

  Wireless · CPC title