Synacom Technology, Inc.

Ming J Lee

Randall A Snyder

Michael Douglas Gallagher

Yick Man Chan

Vilnis G Grencions

Stuart Sanders Jeffery

Kirk D Carlson

A system and method for enabling sensitive authentication information to be under the control of the service provider and transmitting only non-sensitive authentication information to the AC, and for providing a secure technique for generating sensitive authentication information and for securely transmitting to and storing the information in the mobile system (MS) and a storage device controlled by the service provider. The present invention utilizes a secure authentication center (SAC) and a secure A-key management system (SAMS) to perform authentication. The present invention automatically and securely generates and programs an MS and SAMS with the sensitive authentication information while significantly reducing the risk of misappropriation of the sensitive authentication information. The risk of misappropriation is reduced since the sensitive authentication information (or other sensitive information) need not be pre-programmed into the MS, or if it is pre-programmed, the sensitive authentication information can be re-programmed, thereby reducing the potential access to the information by unauthorized people before the MS is sold. In addition, the risk of misappropriation is reduced since the generation and programming system and method is performed automatically using a secured communication technique.

Authentication key management system and method

A system and method for enabling sensitive authentication information to be under the control of the service provider and transmitting only non-sensitive authentication information to the AC, for providing a secure technique for generating sensitive authentication information and for securely transmitting to and storing the information in the mobile system (MS) and a storage device controlled by the service provider, and for enabling a mobile station to utilize features supported by the visited system even if the MS home system does not support the feature. The present invention utilizes a secure authentication center (SAC) and a secure A-key management system (SAMS) to perform authentication. The SAC can be positioned locally in a home system, or it can be centrally located, for example, between systems. The SAC can be connected to many SAMS. Each SAMS stores sensitive authentication information for a group of MS's. During authentication, the SAC generates a request signal to the appropriate SAMS which generates a unique signal based upon the secret authentication data and other data stored therein. However, the sensitive authentication data is not sent to the SAC. The SAC performs authentication using the unique signal transmitted by the SAMS.

Secure authentication-key management system and method for mobile

A system and method for enabling two or more communication systems, each supporting a different and possible incompatible signaling protocol, to communicate with each other where the system and method are not located within any of the affected systems and for enabling a mobile station to utilize features supported by the visited system even if its home system does not support the feature. The system of the present invention is a signaling gateway that is coupled to a communications signaling network. or the signaling gateway can be coupled directly to the incompatible systems. Communication signals that are transmitted from a first communication system to a second communication system and transmitted from the second network to the first network are received and transmitted by the signaling gateway. The protocols used by the first and second communication system are not fully compatible in that some (or all) of the signaling commands used by the first communication system do not translate directly into signaling commands understood by the second communication system.

Signaling gateway system and method

A system and method for automatically securely generating and programming an MS and SAMS with the sensitive authentication information while significantly reducing the risk of misappropriation of the sensitive authentication information. The risk of misappropriation is reduced since the sensitive authentication information (or other sensitive information) need not be pre-programmed into the MS, or if it is pre-programmed, the sensitive authentication information can be re-programmed, thereby reducing the potential access to the information by unauthorized people before the MS is sold. In addition, the risk of misappropriation is reduced since the generation and programming system and method is performed automatically using a secured communication technique.

A system and method for authenticating a mobile station (MS) in a cellular network. The present invention is an authentication technique that uses the AMPS standard, or a derivative thereof, can authenticate a MS automatically, does not require modifications to the BS, MSC, or VLR, can detect mobile identification number/electronic serial number (MIN/ESN) clones, detects MIN/ESN clones that re-transmit the authentication results of the present invention, and can be easily and inexpensively added to MSs 102 that are based on the AMPS standard (and derivatives thereof). The present invention uses the AMPS-based MSs to automatically execute special authentication procedures using standard MS-to-BS and BS-to-MS messages. The present invention also uses a corresponding network authentication function that can be implemented in either (a) a modified HLR/AC, or (b) a new network component that has access to the signaling information between the HLR and the MSC/VLR.

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Los Altos, CA, United States of America

Ming J Lee