IL201570A - System and method for verifying the location of a person in real-time - Google Patents

Description

26097/09 Τ\Ώ $ inn ma -mwn mw? nun[ui roirm SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VERIFYING THE LOCATION OF A PERSON IN REAL-TIME SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VERIFYING THE LOCATION OF A PERSON IN REAL-TIME Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the verification of the location of a person. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for the verifying the location of a person in real-time.

Background of the Invention Verifying the location of a person in real-time is desirable for many purposes, such as security and reliability reasons. Moreover, the ability to authenticate and verify a person's identity in a given environment is sometimes of critical importance. For example, an employee charged with inspection of a certain site, may instead report from home or his office, causing sometimes substantial damages to his employer. Another example is a security guard who must report his whereabouts in a distant location reliably.

System such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) permit to pinpoint the location of objects in real-time, such as tracking the location of a group of soldiers, tracking the location of a stolen vehicle, and various other applications. Furthermore, systems that permit to verify the identity of a person are complicated, such as biometric authentication and digital certificates. The art has not yet provided a unique, efficient, and simple system to verify the location of an individual at a specific point in time, while simultaneously verifying his identity. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for authenticating the location of a person in predetermined sites in real-time.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the drawings: - Fig. 1 shows in block diagram form the system according to one embodiment of the invention; - Fig. 2 illustrates in a flow diagram form a process which is performed according to an embodiment of the invention; Summary of the Invention The invention relates to a system for verifying the location of a user within a specific site at a specific time, which comprises: (a) a stationary site terminal located at said site, which comprises a stationary display; (b) a server for periodically generating different challenging messages, each message is sent from said server to said site terminal, and displayed on said stationary display for a predetermined limited period; (c) a user terminal, from which said user, whose present location at said site is to be verified, sends a response message whose content depends on the presently displayed challenging message on said stationary display; and (d) a comparator at said server for comparing said response message with an expected response, as predefined at said server.

In one embodiment, the generated challenging message is selected from a random string to be repeated by said user in said response message, a number or string for manipulation, result of which to be included in said response message, or a question to be answered by the user in said response message.

In an embodiment of the invention, said user terminal is a stationary terminal.

In an embodiment of the invention, said user terminal is mobile.

In an embodiment of the invention, said user terminal is said site terminal.

In an embodiment of the invention, said server comprises a challenging message generator for generating said challenging messages.

In an embodiment of the invention, said server comprises a message comparator for comparing between each received response message and an expected response, and for issuing a respective passed or failed indication.

In an embodiment of the invention, said server comprises a database for storing records of said comparison indications.

In an embodiment of the invention, a privileged user can access the database to obtain data regarding said stored records.

In an embodiment of the invention, the system issues and sends an alert to a privileged user when a failed indication is issued.

The invention also relates to a method for verifying in real time that a person is indeed located at a specific site, which comprises: (a) providing at said site a site terminal with a stationary display; (b) sending from a remote server into said site terminal periodically changing challenging messages, and storing at said server the expected response from the user; (c) displaying on said stationary site terminal only for a limited allowable period said challenging message; (d) upon viewing the challenging message by said user, sending by said user to said server a response message; (e) comparing at said message said stored expected response with said user response, and issuing a corresponding passed or failed indication.

In an embodiment of the invention, the response message includes performance by the user of some predefined manipulation on the challenging message.

In an embodiment of the invention, the response signal includes an answer to a question which is included within the challenging message.

Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention relates to a system and method for verifying the location of an individual at a specific site in real-time. According to the invention said site is provided with a site terminal having stationary display which is connected via a network to a server which is located remote from the site. The server generates periodically changing challenging messages that are sent to the site and displayed on said stationary display. The individual, whose presence at the site is to be verified, is required to send to said server a response message in response the specific challenging message which is presently displayed on said display. Upon receipt of said response message, the server verifies the individual presence at said site by comparing the specific challenging message with the expected response at that specific time. In the simple case, the challenging message is a simple string which is sent and displayed to the individual on said stationary display, and the individual is required to respond by sending to the server a copy of the string which is presently displayed, to him. In another alternative, the individual is required to send a response message that includes some predefined manipulation on the challenging message which is presently displayed to him. In still another alternative, the challenging message introduces a question to which the individual is required to correctly answer.

A system according to one embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. 1. The system comprises a server 110 which is connected via a network to plurality site terminals 101, each being located at a respective site, only one site terminal at site 300 is shown for the sake of brevity. Message generator 111 of server 110 generates challenging messages every predefined period 119. The challenging messages from generator 111 may be randomly imported from a collection of messages stored in database 105, may be randomly generated strings, or may be a combination thereof. The messages from generator 111 are conveyed into network unit 112, which transmits them into stationary site terminals 101. Preferably, at each given time each site terminal at each specific site 300 receives a different challenging message. The site terminal 101 comprises a stationary display 102 (such as a TV screen, a computer screen, etc.), and is linked to server 110 via a network of some type.

The user whose location at said site 300 is to be verified, operates a user terminal 103 which may be mobile or stationary. When user terminal 103 is mobile, it may be a laptop computer, hand-held computer, palm computer, cellular phone, PDA, or any other mobile platform which is able to transfer messages to the main server 110. Alternatively, when terminal 103 is stationary, it may be the same as site terminal 101. In any of said cases, the user can view the challenging message only on the stationary display 102 at the site, and for a limited predefined period. Upon viewing the displayed message, the user types a response message at his terminal and sends said response message to network unit 112 of server 110. As said, the response message may be a pure copy of the displayed challenging message, some manipulation of said message, or an answer to a question included in said message.

At said server 110, the response message is conveyed to response comparator 115. In order to perform the comparison, response comparator 115 maintains for a limited period (hereinafter, "allowable period" 113) for which the response message is expected and allowed to arrive, the following verification data: a. In the case where a pure copy of the challenging message is expected: a copy of the challenging message as sent; b. In the case where a predefined manipulation on the challenging message is expected: the result of the manipulation, as expected; and c. In the case that an answer to a question is expected: the correct answer to the question - said answer is generally conveyed from database 105 to the comparator 115, when the corresponding question is extracted from the database and transmitted as a challenging message to the site.

Response comparator 115 compares during said allowable period the response (if at all arrives) with said verification data, and issues a corresponding "passed" or "failed" indication. If the response matches the expected response, a "passed" indication is issued. If however, the individual fails to issue the response message within the allowable period, or the comparator determines that the response does not match the expected response, a "failed" indication is issued. The comparator indications are provided into database 105, which also maintains records and statistics about the comparison results, i.e., on the presence of individuals within the various sites. If necessary some indications (for example, "failed" indications) are conveyed in real time to an administrator terminal 104 of a privileged person which administers the system. In some cases, the user at site 300 may be given several chances to send the correct response within the allowable period.

In a first embodiment of the invention, the communication between the user terminal 103 and server 110 is performed by establishment of a two way communication. In another embodiment, said communication is a one way communication, by sending from the user terminal the response, for example, by means of SMS. The type of response message may vary. For example, it may be an email, a voice response, etc.

Fig. 2 illustrates in a flow diagram form a process which is performed according to said first embodiment of the invention, where the user is required to establish a two way, authenticated communication with the server. The process begins at step 220 when the user, located physically in site 300, establishes communication with server 110, and issues a request to access the server. In step 230 the main server initiates an authentication request to the user. The user of terminal 103 provides in step 240 authentication data (e.g., a user name and password). In step 250 said authentication data is conveyed to the server 110. If the authentication data is found to be invalid, server 110 remains un-functional for any network traffic other than authentication traffic with this client, and the client is requested to resend an authentication data. If the authentication data is confirmed as valid, in step 260 the main server 110 sends a message to the client requesting him to enter his response message based on the challenging message which is presently displayed to him on display 102. At the same time, in step 270 the allowable period is established. The user of terminal 103 inputs the response message in step 280 and the client terminal 103 transfers the response message to the main server 110. In step 290 the response comparator 112 verifies the response message and issues a "passed" or "failed" indication, respectively, which is conveyed to database 105.

Going back to Fig. 1, as said the main server 110 conveys via network unit 112 a generated string to its respective site terminal 101, located at site 300. Main server 110 is configured such that there will be no identical challenging messages generated for two or more sites at a same iteration.

Example 1 The following are examples of possible challenging messages: a. A random message comprising of 5 characters such as: asthR; #t6EW; BHFIA; etc. b. A random number: 14765; 29874; 15476; etc. c. A random number such in (b), on which the user is requested to perform some predefined manipulation such as multiplying by the specific worker ID; d. Questions such as: The capital of the US; the currency in France; etc.

Example 2 A company who wishes to perform a competition which is limited only to people that are located within a specific site (such as a specific bar, restaurant, or theater) can broadcast on a public TV the competition challenge. Simultaneously, it can use the system of the invention to verify that those who respond to the competition challenges are indeed located at the defined locations. This is done by sending challenge messages only to said locations, displaying said challenge messages on respective stationary displays at said locations, and requesting those who are located at said locations, to send a corresponding response message that depends of the presently displayed challenge message.

While some embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration, it will be apparent that the invention can be carried into practice with many modifications, variations and adaptations, and with the use of the numerous equivalents or alternative solutions that are within the scope of persons skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the claims.

Claims (13)

26097/09 -10- CLAIMS:

1. System for verifying the location of a user within a specific site at a specific time, which comprises: a. a stationary site terminal located at said site, which comprises a stationary display; b. a server for periodically generating different challenging messages, each message is sent from said server to said site terminal, and displayed on said stationary display for a predetermined limited period; and c. a user terminal, from which said user, whose present location at said site is to be verified, sends a response message whose content depends on the presently displayed challenging message on said stationary display; and d. a comparator at said server for comparing said response message with an expected response, as predefined at said server.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein the generated challenging message is selected from a random string to be repeated by said user in said response message, a number or string for manipulation, result of which to be included in said response message, or a question to be answered by the user in said response message.

3. System according to claim 1, wherein said user terminal is a stationary terminal.

4. System according to claim 1, wherein said user terminal is mobile.

5. System according to claim 1, wherein said user terminal is said site terminal.

6. System according to claim 1, wherein said server comprises a challenging message generator for generating said challenging messages.

7. System according to claim 1, wherein said server comprises a message comparator for comparing between each received response message 26097/09 -1 1- and an expected response, and for issuing a respective passed or failed indication.

8. System according to claim 6, wherein said server comprises a database for storing records of said comparison indications.

9. System according to claim 7, wherein a privileged user can access the database to obtain data regarding said stored records.

10. System according to claim 1, for issuing and sending an alert to a privileged user when a failed indication is issued.

11. Method for verifying in real time that a person is indeed located at a specific site, comprising: a. providing at said site a site terminal with a stationary display; b. sending from a remote server into said site terminal periodically changing challenging messages, and storing at said server the expected response from the user; c. displaying on said stationary site terminal only for a limited allowable period said challenging message; d. upon viewing the challenging message by said user, sending by said user to said server a response message; e. comparing at said message said stored expected response with said user response, and issuing a corresponding passed or failed indication.

12. Method according to claim 11, wherein the response message includes performance by the user of some predefined manipulation on the challenging message.

13. Method according to claim 11, wherein the response signal includes an answer to a question which is introduced within the challenging message. LUZ2ATTO & LUZZATTO By