Method for authenticating user and electronic device assisting same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12019723-B2
Application number	US-202117516309-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2021
Priority date	Apr 30, 2019
Publication date	Jun 25, 2024
Grant date	Jun 25, 2024

Abstract

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure includes: at least one sensor; a communication circuit; at least one processor operably coupled with the at least one sensor and the communication circuit; and at least one memory operably coupled with the at least one processor, wherein the memory may store instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to: receive a request for authenticating a user of the electronic device using a designated authentication method; identify whether a device selected as a reference device is a first device among the first device and a second device which are included in the at least one sensor and the communication circuit, and are capable of generating authentication data required for using the designated authentication method to authenticate the user; generate data, when first authentication data for authenticating the user is acquired from the first device, indicating a first time point at which the processor acquired the first authentication data; generate data, when second authentication data for authenticating the user is acquired from the second device, indicating a second time point at which the processor acquired the second authentication data; confirm, based on the first data indicating the first time point and the second data indicating the second time point, whether the second time point is within a threshold time range based on the first time point; and authenticate the user using the first authentication data and the second authentication data based on whether the second time point is within the threshold time range based on the first time point.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
at least one sensor;
a communication circuit;
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually and/or collectively, are configured to cause the electronic device to:
receive a request for authenticating a user of the electronic device using a specified authentication method;
identify a first device as a reference device among the first device and a second device included in the at least one sensor and the communication circuit, wherein the first device and the second device are to provide authentication data required for authenticating the user using the specified authentication method;
based on first authentication data for authenticating the user acquired from the first device, generate first data indicating a first time point at which the one or more processor acquires the first authentication data;
based on second authentication data for authenticating the user acquired from the second device, generate second data indicating a second time point at which the one or more processor acquires the second authentication data;
identify whether the second time point is within a threshold time range from the first time point, based on the first data indicating the first time point and the second data indicating the second time point;
authenticate the user by using the first authentication data and the second authentication data, based on the second time point being within the threshold time range from the first time point, and
identify the first device as the reference device, based on a falsification difficulty of the first authentication data and/or a security degree of the first authentication data, wherein the first authentication data includes unique information of the user.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions upon being executable by the one or more processors individually and/or collectively, further cause the electronic device to:
in response to acquiring at least one authentication data among the first authentication data or the second authentication data in a rich execution environment (REE), generate at least one data among the first data indicating the first time point or the second data indicating the second time point in the REE; and
identify whether the second time point is within the threshold time range of the first time point, based on the at least one data among the first data indicating the first time point or the second data indicating the second time point in a trusted execution environment (TEE).

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions upon being executable by the one or more processors individually and/or collectively, further cause the electronic device to, in response to identifying that the second time point being within the threshold time range of the first time point, authenticate the user using the first authentication data and the second authentication data.

4. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the instructions upon being executable by the one or more processors individually and/or collectively, further cause the electronic device to:
identify whether at least one authentication data among the first authentication data or the second authentication data is authentication data not including unique information of the user and is required for authenticating the user; and
in response to identifying that the at least one authentication data is the authentication data not including the unique information of the user and required for authenticating the user, adjust a threshold similarity rate to be compared with a similarity rate between the at least one authentication data and registered authentication data, based on a time difference between the first time point and the second time point.

5. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the instructions upon being executable by the one or more processors individually and/or collectively, further cause the electronic device to:
in response to identifying that the second time point is not within the threshold time range of the first time point,
acquire third authentication data provided by the first device after the acquiring the first authentication data and generate third data indicating a third time point at which the one or more processor acquires the first authentication data;
acquire fourth authentication data provided by the second device after the acquiring the second authentication data and generate fourth data indicating a fourth time point at which the one or more processor acquires the fourth authentication data;
identify whether the fourth time point is within a threshold time range of the third time point, based on the third data indicating the third time point and the fourth data indicating the fourth time point; and
authenticate the user using the third authentication data and the fourth authentication data, based on whether the fourth time point is within the threshold time range of the third time point.

6. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the instructions upon being executable by the one or more processors individually and/or collectively, further cause the electronic device to:
in response to identifying that the second time point is within the threshold time range of the first time point,
identify a first quality of the first authentication data and a second quality of the second authentication data;
identify whether at least one of the first quality or the second quality is equal to or is less than a specified quality; and
in response to identifying that the at least one of the first quality or the second quality is equal to or is less than the specified quality, generate data indicating that the at least one of the first quality or the second quality is equal to or is less than the specified quality.

7. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the instructions upon being executable by the one or more processors individually and/or collectively, further cause the electronic device to:
identify whether an added number of times adding up a number of times of identifying that the second time point is not within the threshold time range of the first time point and a number of times of generating the data indicating that the at least one of the first quality or the second quality is equal to or is less than the specified quality is less than a specified number of times; and
in response to the added number of times being less than the specified number of times, perform an operation of generating the third data indicating the third time point, an operation of generating the fourth data indicating the fourth time point, an operation of identifying whether the fourth time point is within the threshold time range of the third time point, and an operation of authenticating the user using the third authentication data and the fourth authentication data.

8. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the instructions upon being executable by the one or more processors individually and/or collectively, further cause the electronic device to:
in response to the added number of times being equal to or greater than the specified number of times, and the second device being a device providing authentication data not including unique information of the user and required for authenticating the user, authenticate the user, using a third device in place of the second device, the third device being capable of providing authentication data indicating the same feature as a feature required for authentication indicated by the authentication data provided by the second device, and the first device.

9. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the instru

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• SHIN Minsoo
• Park Jiyoung
• You Heejun
• Chang Moonsoo
• Choi Yongha
• Choi Wonjung
• Hong Jihee
• Yeom Donghyun
• Lee Dasom

Classifications

• G06F21/45

  Structures or tools for the administration of authentication · CPC title

• G06F21/32 Primary

  using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints · CPC title

• G06F21/57

  Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities · CPC title

• G06F21/31 Primary

  User authentication · CPC title