Systems and methods of authenticating items

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12212679-B2
Application number	US-202318375836-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2023
Priority date	Aug 17, 2018
Publication date	Jan 28, 2025
Grant date	Jan 28, 2025

Abstract

In some embodiments, systems and methods provide distributed item authentication. In some embodiments systems comprise: a housing; a set of sensor systems; a transceiver; and an authentication control circuit configured to: obtain first sensor data of an item being authenticated, obtain an initial identification of the item; access an item authentication block specific to the item; obtain a first set of authentication instructions; control one or more sensor systems in accordance with the first set of authentication instructions; compare multiple current authentication sensor data to the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data; confirm that each of a threshold number of the multiple current authentication sensor data is consistent within a threshold variation of a corresponding one of the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data; and cause the item authentication block to be updated to include the confirmation of authentication of the item.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A distributed cryptographic item authentication system, comprising:
an authentication control circuit coupled with non-transitory memory storing code that when implemented by the authentication control circuit causes the authentication control circuit to:
obtain an initial identification of an item being authenticated;
access a blockchain database and acquire an item authentication block specific to the item based on the initial identification;
obtain, from the item authentication block, a first set of authentication instructions to be applied in authenticating the item;
obtain current authentication sensor data specific to the item based on one or more instructions of the first set of authentication instructions; and
confirm an authentication of the item based on the current authentication sensor data relative to corresponding historic authentication sensor data.

2. The item authentication system of claim 1 , wherein the authentication control circuit is further configured to cause the item authentication block within the blockchain database to be updated to include the current authentication sensor data.

3. The item authentication system of claim 1 , wherein the first set of authentication instructions specifies a sequence to be implemented in acquiring the current authentication sensor data, and wherein the authentication control circuit is configured to control one or more sensor systems consistent with the specified sequence in capturing at least some of the current authentication sensor data.

4. The item authentication system of claim 3 , wherein the authentication control circuit is further configured to distribute the current authentication sensor data to be incorporated into the historic authentication sensor data within the item authentication block specific to the item.

5. The item authentication system of claim 1 , wherein the authentication control circuit is configured to provide feedback to a user directing the user to make physical adjustments to capture the current authentication sensor data based on a first physical orientation.

6. The item authentication system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a motor communicatively coupled with the authentication control circuit;
wherein the first set of authentication instructions comprises motor instructions, and wherein the authentication control circuit is configured to control at least the motor in accordance with the motor instructions to implement physical adjustments in achieving a first physical orientation between the item and a first sensor system.

7. The item authentication system of claim 1 , wherein the authentication control circuit in obtaining the first set of authentication instructions is configured to identify the first set of authentication instructions from multiple different sets of instructions, wherein the multiple different sets of instructions each corresponds to a different level of accuracy of authentication.

8. The item authentication system of claim 7 , wherein a set of historic authentication sensor data of the historic authentication sensor data within the item authentication block specific to the item is generated by an original source of the item.

9. The item authentication system of claim 1 , wherein the authentication control circuit is further configured to:
confirm an identification of a purchasing user and update the item authentication block with a confirmation of a transfer of ownership of the item.

10. The item authentication system of claim 3 , wherein the one or more sensor systems comprise an image capture system, wherein the current authentication sensor data comprises an image captured by the image capture system.

11. A method of providing distributed cryptographic item authentication, comprising:
obtaining an initial identification of an item being authenticated;
accessing a blockchain database and acquiring an item authentication block specific to the item based on the initial identification;
obtaining, from the item authentication block, a first set of authentication instructions to be applied in authenticating the item;
obtaining current authentication sensor data specific to the item based on one or more instructions of the first set of authentication instructions; and
confirming an authentication of the item based on the current authentication sensor data relative to corresponding historic authentication sensor data.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
causing the item authentication block within the blockchain database to be updated to include the current authentication sensor data.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the obtaining the current authentication sensor data comprises implementing a sequence to controlling a sensor system and capturing at least some of the current authentication sensor data.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
incorporating the current authentication sensor data into the historic authentication sensor data within the item authentication block specific to the item.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
providing feedback to a user and directing the user to make physical adjustments in capturing the current authentication sensor data based on a first physical orientation.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
controlling a motor in accordance with an authentication instruction of the first set of authentication instructions implementing physical adjustments achieving a first physical orientation between a first sensor system and the item.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the obtaining the first set of authentication instructions comprises identifying the first set of authentication instructions from multiple different sets of instructions, wherein the multiple different sets of instructions each corresponds to a different level of accuracy of authentication.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
detecting the item is at least partially within a cavity of a housing of an authentication system and initiating the obtaining the current authentication sensor data.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
confirming an identification of a purchasing user; and
causing the item authentication block to be updated with a confirmation of a transfer of ownership of the item.

20. A distributed item authentication system, comprising:
a housing; and
an authentication control circuit coupled with non-transitory memory storing code that when implemented by the authentication control circuit causes the authentication control circuit to:
obtain an initial identification of an item being authenticated;
access a blockchain database and acquire an item authentication block specific to the item;
obtain, from the item authentication block, a first set of authentication instructions to be applied in authenticating the item;
obtain current authentication sensor data specific to the item based on one or more instructions of the first set of authentication instructions; and
confirm that the current authentication sensor data is within a threshold variation of corresponding historic authentication sensor data.

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Lobo Charles H
• Shake Sid
• Wilkinson Bruce W
• Nelms David M

Classifications

• H04L9/50

  using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees · CPC title

• H04L9/0637

  Modes of operation, e.g. cipher block chaining [CBC], electronic codebook [ECB] or Galois/counter mode [GCM] · CPC title

• G06Q20/389

  Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction · CPC title

• G06F16/27

  Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor · CPC title

• G06F16/2365

  Ensuring data consistency and integrity · CPC title