Granted Patent B2

US 12,543,039 · App. 18/336,948 · Granted Feb 3, 2026

Inventors: Marouane Balmakhtar (Fairfax, VA); Lyle W. Paczkowski (Mission Hills, KS)

H04W12/06H04W12/40

Abstract

Claims (61)

1 . A method for defining authentication credentials and authenticating a wireless communication device according to WIFI communication protocols, comprising:

obtaining, at a wireless communication device, a decentralized identity (DID) from one or more of wireless communication-device attributes and user attributes;

sending, by the wireless communication device, the DID to a data registry;

sending, by the wireless communication device, an encrypted authentication request to a core network server, wherein the encrypted authentication request comprises one or more of the DID, a communication device identifier, and the domain name;

receiving, by the data registry, the DID from the wireless communication device;

storing, by the data registry, the DID;

receiving, by the core network server, the encrypted authentication request from the wireless communication device;

sending, by the core network server, the encrypted authentication request to an authentication server based on one or more attributes in the encrypted authentication request;

determining, by the authentication server, a specialized network slice associated with the wireless communication device responsive to receiving the encrypted authentication request;

communicating, by the authentication server, authentication messages to the wireless communication device according to one or more network functions of the specialized network slice; and

authenticating, by the authentication server, the wireless communication device according to the specialized network slice responsive to communicating the authentication messages.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication device, a software stack from an onboarding server, wherein the software stack comprises one or more software components;

establishing, by the wireless communication device, a secure connection between the wireless communication device and the core network server using one or more elements of the software stack; and

sending, by the wireless communication device, the encrypted authentication request using the secure connection.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the core network server, a domain name from the encrypted authentication request; and

sending, by the core network server, the encrypted authentication request to the authentication server of a cellular network operator associated with the core network server when the domain name indicates the wireless communication device is a subscriber to the cellular network operator.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the core network server, a domain name from the encrypted authentication request; and

sending, by the core network server, the encrypted authentication request to the authentication server of an enterprise associated with the wireless communication device when the domain name indicates the wireless communication device is provisioned by the enterprise.

5 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising sending, by the wireless communication device, the encrypted authentication request over a virtual private network (VPN) connection.

6 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

sending, by the authentication server, a client verification request comprising the DID to the data registry; and

receiving, by the authentication server, a client verification response from the data registry responsive to sending the client verification request.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the client verification response indicates whether the wireless communication device is registered to an enterprise and the specialized network slice assigned to the wireless communication device.

8 . A system for defining authentication credentials and authenticating a wireless communication device according to WIFI communication protocols, comprising:

a wireless communication device configured to:

obtain a decentralized identity (DID) from one or more of communication-device attributes and user attributes,

send the DID to a data registry, and

send an encrypted authentication request to a core network server;

the data registry coupled to the wireless communication device and configured to:

receive the DID from the wireless communication device, and store the DID;

the core network server coupled to the wireless communication device and the data registry and configured to:

receive the encrypted authentication request, and

send the encrypted authentication request to an authentication server based on one or more attributes in the encrypted authentication request; and

the authentication server coupled to the core network server and to the data registry and configured to:

determine a specialized network slice associated with the wireless communication device based on the encrypted authentication request,

communicate authentication messages to the wireless communication device according to one or more network functions of the specialized network slice, and

authenticate the wireless communication device according to the specialized network slice responsive to communicating the authentication messages.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the wireless communication device is further configured to:

receive a software stack from an onboarding server, wherein the software stack comprises one or more software components,

establish a secure connection between the wireless communication device and the core network server using one or more elements of the software stack, and

send the encrypted authentication request using the secure connection.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the core network server is configured to:

obtain a domain name from the encrypted authentication request, and

send the encrypted authentication request to the authentication server of a cellular network operator associated with the core network server when the domain name indicates the wireless communication device is a subscriber to the cellular network operator.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the core network server is configured to:

obtain a domain name from the encrypted authentication request, and

send the encrypted authentication request to the authentication server of an enterprise associated with the communication device when the domain name indicates the wireless communication device is provisioned by the enterprise.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the encrypted authentication request comprises one or more of the DID, a communication device identifier, and the domain name.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the wireless communication device is configured to send the encrypted authentication request over a virtual private network (VPN) connection.

14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the authentication server is configured to:

send a client verification request comprising the DID to the data registry, and

receive a client verification response from the data registry responsive to sending the client verification request.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the client verification response indicates whether the wireless communication device is registered to an enterprise and the specialized network slice assigned to the wireless communication device.

16 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the wireless communication device is without a subscriber identification module (SIM).

17 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the wireless communication device comprises an Internet of Things (IoT) device.

18 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to the authentication, receiving, by the wireless communication device, controlled non-3GPP access to a core network for communicating data between the wireless communication device and the core network as determined by the specialized network slice.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication device is without a subscriber identification module (SIM).

20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication device comprises an Internet of Things (IoT) device.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (61)