System and method for configuring a wireless device for wireless network access

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10812969-B2
Application number	US-201916403110-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 3, 2019
Priority date	Nov 4, 2016
Publication date	Oct 20, 2020
Grant date	Oct 20, 2020

Abstract

This document describes a system and method for configuring a second wireless device to access a wireless network using a first wireless device whereby one-round key exchange protocol is adopted to share the wireless network's configuration data with the second wireless device in an efficient and secure manner.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for accessing a wireless network, the method comprising:
generating, by a first device, a first message of a one-round key exchange protocol;
embedding, by the first device, the first message into a beacon packet and broadcasting the beacon packet such that a second wireless device receives the first message and responds by generating a response message based on the first message;
receiving, by the first device, the response message from the second wireless device, wherein the response message comprises encrypted configuration data and a second message of the one-round key exchange protocol;
computing, by the first device, a shared key K S using the first message and the second message;
decrypting, by the first device, the encrypted configuration data using the shared key K S ; and
accessing, by the first device, the wireless network using the configuration data
wherein the one-round key exchange protocol comprises a Two-Basis Password Exponential Key Exchange (TBPEKE) protocol,
wherein the first message comprises a first token computed using a shared token G S and a random value x, the second message comprises a second token computed using the shared token G S and a random value y, and the shared key K S is computed using the shared token G S and the random values x and y, and
whereby the shared token is derived using two fixed points (U, V) on an Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and a random value w that were pre-loaded in the first and second wireless devices.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the response message further comprises a message authentication code (MAC) generated by the second wireless device,
wherein before the step of decrypting the encrypted configuration data using the shared key K S , the method further comprises:
verifying the MAC using the computed shared key K S ; and

wherein the step of decrypting the encrypted configuration data using the shared key K S comprises:
decrypting the encrypted configuration data using the shared key K S in response to verifying the MAC.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first token is computed by multiplying the shared token G S with the random value x, the second token is computed by multiplying the shared token G S with the random value y, the shared key K S is computed by multiplying the shared token G S with the random values x and y, and the shared token G S is derived by:
G S =U+w·V.

4. The method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the one-round key exchange protocol comprises an Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) protocol,
wherein the first message comprises a first public key computed using a first private key and a finite cyclic group G, the second key comprises a second public key computed using a second private key and the finite cyclic group G, and the shared key K S is computed using the first private key, the second private key and the finite cyclic group G, and
whereby the finite cyclic group G is pre-loaded in the first and second wireless devices.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the first public key is computed by multiplying the first private key with the finite cyclic group G, the second public key is computed by multiplying the second private key with the finite cyclic group G, and the shared key K S is computed by multiplying the first private key with the second private key and the finite cyclic group G.

6. A first wireless device, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory readable by the processor, the memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
generate a first message of a one-round key exchange protocol;
embed the first message into a beacon packet and broadcast the beacon packet such that a second wireless device receives the first message and responds by generating a response message based on the first message;
receive the response message from the second wireless device, wherein the response message comprises encrypted configuration data and a second message of the one-round key exchange protocol;
compute a shared key K S using the first message and the second message;
decrypt the encrypted configuration data using the shared key K S ; and
access the wireless network using the configuration data

wherein the one-round key exchange protocol comprises a Two-Basis Password Exponential Key Exchange (TBPEKE) protocol,
wherein the first message comprises a first token computed using a shared token G S and a random value x, the second message comprises a second token computed using the shared token G S and a random value y, and the shared key K S is computed using the shared token G S and the random values x and y, and
whereby the shared token is derived using two fixed points (U, V) on an Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and a random value w that were pre-loaded in the first and second wireless devices.

7. The first wireless device according to claim 6 , wherein the response message further comprises a message authentication code (MAC) generated by the second wireless device,
wherein before the instructions direct the processor to decrypt the encrypted configuration data using the shared key K S , the instructions direct the processor to:
verify the MAC using the computed shared key K S ; and

wherein decrypting the encrypted configuration data using the shared key K S comprises:
decrypting the encrypted configuration data using the shared key K S in response to verifying the MAC.

8. The first wireless device according to claim 6 , wherein the first token is computed by multiplying the shared token G S with the random value x, the second token is computed by multiplying the shared token G S with the random value y, the shared key K S is computed by multiplying the shared token G S with the random values x and y, and the shared token G S is derived by:
G S =U+w·V.

9. The first wireless device according to claim 6 ,
wherein the one-round key exchange protocol comprises an Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) protocol,
wherein the first message comprises a first public key computed using a first private key and a finite cyclic group G, the second key comprises a second public key computed using a second private key and the finite cyclic group G, and the shared key K S is computed using the first private key, the second private key and the finite cyclic group G, and
whereby the finite cyclic group G is pre-loaded in the first and second wireless devices.

10. The first wireless device according to claim 9 , wherein the first public key is computed by multiplying the first private key with the finite cyclic group G, the second public key is computed by multiplying the second private key with the finite cyclic group G, and the shared key KS is computed by multiplying the first private key with the second private key and the finite cyclic group G.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor in first wireless device, cause the processor to:
generate a first message of a one-round key exchange protocol;
embed the first message into a beacon packet and broadcast the beacon packet such that a second wireless device receives the first message and responds by generating a response message based on the first message;
receive the response message from the second wireless device, wherein the response message comprises encrypted configuration data and a second message of the one-round key exchange protocol;
compute a shared key K S using the first message and the second message;
decrypt the encrypted configuration data using the shared key K S ; and
access the wi

Assignees

• Huawei Int Pte Ltd

Inventors

• Shi Jie
• Fang Chengfang
• Wang Guilin

Classifications

• H04W12/0471

  Key exchange · CPC title

• H04W12/033 Primary

  of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic · CPC title

• H04W12/35

  Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning · CPC title

• H04W12/041

  Key generation or derivation · CPC title

• H04L63/0435 Primary

  wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply symmetric encryption, i.e. same key used for encryption and decryption (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for symmetric key encryption H04L9/06) · CPC title