Radio frequency (RF) emitter detector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11115815-B2
Application number	US-201916409791-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 11, 2019
Priority date	May 14, 2018
Publication date	Sep 7, 2021
Grant date	Sep 7, 2021

Abstract

In accordance with some embodiments, an apparatus for privacy protection includes a peripheral interface connectable to a second device. In some embodiments, the second device is operably connectable to a personal communication device and the peripheral interface provides characteristics of communication signals associated with the personal communication device to the second device. The apparatus also includes a radio frequency (RF) detection device operable to detect energy carrying a communication signal to or from the personal communication device. The apparatus further includes a controller, coupled to the peripheral interface and the RF detection device, operable to scan an RF spectrum of the communication signal, received by the RF detection device, in order to identify communications associated with the personal communication device, and generate a notification upon determining that abnormal activities exist in the communications, wherein the notification triggers interruption of the communication signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a peripheral interface connectable to a second device, wherein the second device is operably connectable to a personal communication device and includes a housing arranged to hold the personal communication device, wherein the apparatus, the second device, and the personal communication device are distinct devices;
a radio frequency (RF) detection device operable to detect energy carrying a communication signal to or from the personal communication device; and
a controller coupled to the peripheral interface and the RF detection device, wherein the controller is operable to:
obtain SIM information, via the peripheral interface and the second device upon the apparatus being attached to the housing of the second device, from the personal communication device,
scan an RF spectrum of the communication signal, received by the RF detection device, in order to identify physical layer communication signal characteristics of communications associated with the personal communication device,
decode the communications associated with the personal communication device in accordance with the physical layer communication signal characteristics and the SIM information, and
generate a notification in accordance with a determination that abnormal activities exist in the identified physical layer communication signal characteristics of the communications, wherein the notification triggers interruption of the communication signal to or from the personal communication device upon identifying an RF energy burst through a comparison of energy detected by the RF detection device to a threshold.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the SIM information includes:
requesting the SIM information through the peripheral interface; and
receiving the SIM information through the peripheral interface from the second device, wherein the second device, in response to receiving the request, selectively couples to a SIM slot of the personal communication device in order to obtain the SIM information.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes a first circuitry coupled to the RF detection device, wherein the first circuitry is operable to compare the energy detected by the RF detection device with a threshold to identify at least one energy burst and evaluate whether the at least one energy burst matches a signal protocol signature of a communication protocol.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the controller includes a second circuitry coupled to the first circuitry, wherein the second circuitry is operable to partition the RF spectrum into channels, instruct the first circuitry to scan each of the channels, and construct a record including RF characteristics of the communication signal in each of the channels.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the RF characteristics of the communication signal include one or more of a communication protocol, a frequency, a bandwidth, a peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR), or a power level associated with the communication signal.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising a remote communication device, operable to transmit the record to a remote secure server, wherein the remote secure server is operable to calculate a location of an RF emitter that has emitted an RF signal in a frequency band assigned by the remote secure sever.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the remote server is operable to aggregate locations and characteristics of RF emitters, generate a map including a blacklist of RF emitters that are associated with malicious activities.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes a downlink signal analyzer operable to obtain system information from a control channel and derive characteristics, including an emitter identifier, associated with an RF emitter transmitting the communication signal.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes an uplink physical layer analyzer operable to apply one or more of a timing offset, a frequency offset, or a phase offset to synchronize the communication signal via demodulation reference signal (DMRS).

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes an uplink physical layer analyzer coupled to a remote communication device, wherein the uplink physical layer analyzer is operable to:
instruct the remote communication device to upload packets associated with demodulation reference signal (DMRS) to a remote secure server, and
obtain from the remote secure server, via the remote communication device, uplink communication signal parameters of an RF emitter exchanging the communication signal with the personal communication device extracted from the packets.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is connectable to a cipher key application circuitry and operable to apply a cipher key to a link layer of packets carried by the communication signal in order to extract a TCP/IP header from the packets.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the cipher key is derived based on at least the SIM information obtained from a SIM slot of the personal communication device via the peripheral interface and the second device, a physical cell identifier detected in the communication signal, or a C-Radio Network Temporary Indicator (C-RNTI) carried by the communication signal.

13. A method comprising:
at an apparatus including a radio frequency (RF) detection device operable to detect energy carrying a communication signal to or from a personal communication device, the apparatus also including a peripheral interface connectable to a second device, wherein the second device is operably connectable to a personal communication device and includes a housing arranged to hold the personal communication device, and the apparatus, the second device, and the personal communication device are distinct devices:
obtaining SIM information, via the peripheral interface and the second device upon the apparatus being attached to the housing of the second device, from the personal communication device;
scanning an RF spectrum of the communication signal, received by the RF detection device in order to identify physical layer communication signal characteristics of communications associated with the personal communication device;
decoding the communications associated with the personal communication device in accordance with the physical layer communication signal characteristics and the SIM information;
determining whether or not abnormal activities exist in the communications; and
generating a notification in accordance with a determination that abnormal activities exist in the identified physical layer communication signal characteristics of the communications, wherein the notification triggers interruption of the communication signal to or from the personal communication device upon identifying an RF energy burst through a comparison of energy detected by the RF detection device to a threshold.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining whether or not abnormal activities exist in the communications includes:
comparing the energy carrying the communication signal with a signal signature of a communication protocol; and
obtaining characteristics of the communication protocol, including RF characteristics of channels associated with the RF spectrum; and
determining whether or not the characteristics of the communication protocol match pre-determined communication protocol characteristics.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
demodulating and decoding downlink broadcast control channel (BCCH) associated with the communication

Assignees

• Ppip Llc

Inventors

• Fong Michael
• Fong Neric Hsin-Wu
• Idukuda Sowjitha
• Singh Shoor Veer

Classifications

• H04W72/20

  Control channels or signalling for resource management · CPC title

• H04L27/0006 Primary

  Assessment of spectral gaps suitable for allocating digitally modulated signals, e.g. for carrier allocation in cognitive radio (for spectrum sharing between different networks H04W16/14) · CPC title

• H04L5/0048

  Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver (allocation of control signalling H04L5/0053; use of control signalling H04L5/0091) · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W24/08

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title