Clover Network, Inc.

Narayanan Gopalakrishnan

Ketan Patwardhan

James Anzai Castillo

Victor Pan

Yi Sun

Brian Jeremiah Murray

Nagalakshmi Rajagopal

Methods and systems related to near field communication (NFC) front ends for point of sale terminals are disclosed. One point of sale system includes an applications microprocessor programmed to: (i) instantiate an operating system for the point of sale system and (ii) generate a set of data packets. The system also includes a discrete microcontroller communicatively coupled with the applications microprocessor and programmed to: (i) selectively operate in an unsecure mode and a secure mode; and (ii) filter, when operating in the unsecure mode, the set of data packets received from the applications microprocessor using a filter and a whitelist for the filter. The system also includes a near field communication front end communicatively coupled to the discrete microcontroller and an antenna, for transmitting a near field communication signal based on information from the set of data packets via the antenna.

Multi-use near field communication front end on a point of sale system

This disclosure relates to systems with multiple NFC front ends and at least one shared controller. One disclosed system includes a first discrete device having a first near field communication (NFC) controller, a second discrete device having a second NFC controller, a communicative connection between the first discrete device and the second discrete device, and a system controller located on the first discrete device. The system controller is communicatively connected to the first NFC controller. The system controller is connected to the second NFC controller via the communicative connection. In specific approaches, the second discrete device can include a display which is also controlled by the system controller, and the system controller is NCI compliant and application aware. In specific approaches, the system controller can control the second NFC controller based on the content concurrently being provided to the display.

Shared controller for system with multiple NFC readers

An external biometric reader and verification device for providing access control to a computing device, and associated methods, are disclosed. The external reader can store and verify biometrics under the control of the computing device and send identity verification messages to the computing device. One disclosed device includes a biometric reader communicatively connected to an external secure microcontroller. The external secure microcontroller stores a set of biometric data and a signing key. The signing key can be injected by a device manufacturer in a controlled key injection room in a manufacturing facility and can be used to sign a certificate. An operating system of the computing device can be programmed to send a request for the certificate, receive the certificate, and predicate control of access to the operating system using the verification messages on verification of the certificate.

Authenticated external biometric reader and verification device

Methods and systems related to near field communication (NFC) front ends for point of sale terminals are disclosed. One point of sale system includes an NFC front end communicatively coupled to an antenna, a discrete microcontroller (DM) communicatively coupled thereto, and an applications microprocessor (AP) communicatively coupled to the DM. The DM stores a first software stack for a first NFC protocol, a second software stack for a second NFC protocol, and instructions to process a digitized NFC signal from the NFC front end with the first software stack. The AP stores instructions to instantiate an operating system for the point of sale system, instantiate a master NFC service, and transmit a remote procedure call from the master NFC service to the DM to switch between the first software stack and the second software stack.

Methods and systems related to provisioning a secure connection are disclosed. One disclosed method includes storing a device secret on a secure element in a first device, storing a mapping from the device secret to a device identifier of the first device on a cloud architecture, generating a pairing key using a first connection protocol key generator on the secure element and the device secret, and generating the pairing key using a second connection protocol key generator on the cloud architecture and the device secret. The method also includes transmitting the pairing key from the cloud architecture to a second device in response to receiving the device identifier, mutually authenticating the first and second device using the pairing key, and adding the secure connection to the inter-device connection using the pairing key as stored on the first device and as stored on the second device.

Provisioning a secure connection using a pre-shared key

Methods and systems for determining the status of a packaged device are disclosed. The device can include a secure microcontroller, a battery, a memory storing a status code, and an NFC antenna located in the device and communicatively coupled to the secure microcontroller. A set of instructions are stored on the secure microcontroller to write the status code to the memory. The status code is accessible from outside the sealed package via the antenna. The device could also be a POS device with instructions to process payment information received on the antenna. The apparatus could also include a power routing switch. Power could then be provided from the antenna to the battery via the switch output when the switch is in a conductive state.

Growing community of inventors

Newark, CA, United States of America

Narayanan Gopalakrishnan