January 15, 2012 at 23:39Intel patents a new way to connect Wi-Fi devices to wireless networks
Wanting to simplify life even more for users who are actively using wireless networks, Intel has patented a new method that allows you to connect a Wi-Fi device to a router without entering passwords and is suitable mainly for home use. True, there is some caveat - both the connected device and the router - must have audio capabilities.
The essence of the proposal is as follows: for the first time, a device connected to a wireless network should generate some unique - within this network - a sequence of sounds that is recognized by the router, and the new device is stored in its database as legitimate. In the future, it will be enough for the user to simply repeat the same procedure without the need to enter passwords or any PIN codes. The authors of the patent are quite aware that this is not about laptops or smartphones that are quite capable of connecting to the network as many times as they like through the authentication procedure once: it is, first of all, about connecting TVs, wireless speakers and (or) headphones to the wireless network, when you need to enter the 8-digit PIN-code of the device recorded somewhere on its back wall on the router.
The technology described in this patent US 2011/0277023 is positioned as a potential replacement for the WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) protocol, which allows the user to easily connect to wireless networks by entering short PIN codes. It should be recalled that recently a dangerous vulnerability was discovered in WPS that allowed a hacker to gain access to the network in an acceptable time using the “brute force” method.
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The essence of the proposal is as follows: for the first time, a device connected to a wireless network should generate some unique - within this network - a sequence of sounds that is recognized by the router, and the new device is stored in its database as legitimate. In the future, it will be enough for the user to simply repeat the same procedure without the need to enter passwords or any PIN codes. The authors of the patent are quite aware that this is not about laptops or smartphones that are quite capable of connecting to the network as many times as they like through the authentication procedure once: it is, first of all, about connecting TVs, wireless speakers and (or) headphones to the wireless network, when you need to enter the 8-digit PIN-code of the device recorded somewhere on its back wall on the router.
The technology described in this patent US 2011/0277023 is positioned as a potential replacement for the WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) protocol, which allows the user to easily connect to wireless networks by entering short PIN codes. It should be recalled that recently a dangerous vulnerability was discovered in WPS that allowed a hacker to gain access to the network in an acceptable time using the “brute force” method.
[ Source ]