Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
165 words
A method for determining whether access to a telecommunications network from a selected one of a plurality of user terminals communicably coupled to the network is authorized, the network comprising one of a wired network, a wireless network, a satellite network, a fiber optic cable network and a coaxial cable network, the method CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of: detecting a network coupling identifier of the selected user terminal upon receipt of an incoming call to the network from the selected user terminal, the identifier containing information regarding the communications channel of the network utilized by the incoming call from the selected user terminal; receiving from the user terminal a password; comparing the identifier and the password; allowing access to the network for the selected user terminal if at least a portion of the identifier matches at least a portion of the password; and denying access to the network for the selected user terminal if no portion of the identifier matches no portion of the password.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
71 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a telephone network having a network service center communicably coupled to the network for receiving incoming calls from the plurality of user terminals, and the step of detecting a network coupling identifier comprises the step of receiving a telephone number associated with the incoming call of the selected user terminal from an automatic number identification unit of a telephone network switching office.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
85 words
The method of claim 2, wherein the steps of allowing access to the network and denying access to the network comprise the steps of: coupling the incoming call of the selected user terminal to one of a network service, a network database and a network output device if at least portions of the identifier and the password match; and disconnecting the incoming call of the selected user terminal from the network if the at least portions of the identifier and the password do not match.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein upon establishment of a first communication between the network and the user terminal, the method further comprises the steps of: encrypting the identifier to generate a first encrypted password; and transmitting the first encrypted password to the user terminal via the network for storage in memory of the user terminal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 4, wherein the step of comparing the identifier and the password further comprises the step selected from the group of steps consisting of: encrypting the identifier to produce a second encrypted password for comparison with the first encrypted password received from the user terminal, and decrypting the first encrypted password to produce a decrypted identifier for comparison with the detected identifier.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
112 words
In a security system for authenticating access to a network from a selected one of a plurality of user terminals coupled to the network, a method is provided for selecting and passing to the selected user terminal a password used to obtain access to the network, the method CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of: detecting one of a communications channel and a network address of the selected user terminal upon establishment of a communication between the network and the user terminal, the identifier containing unique information of the user terminal's coupling to the network; encrypting the identifier to generate a secret password; and transmitting the password to the user terminal via the network.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
67 words
The method of claim 6, wherein the network comprises a telecommunications network selected from the group consisting of a wired network, a wireless network, a satellite network, a fiber optic cable network and a coaxial cable network and the step of detecting a network coupling identifier comprises the step of detecting the communications channel of the network utilized by an incoming call from the selected user terminal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 7, wherein the network comprises a computer network and the step of detecting a network coupling identifier comprises the step of detecting the network address of the users terminal's coupling to the computer network.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
153 words
In a security system for a telecommunications network having a plurality of user terminals communicably coupled to the network, an apparatus is provided for authenticating access to the network from a selected one of the plurality of user terminals having memory, the apparatus CHARACTERIZED BY a network service center communicably coupled to the network for receiving a network coupling identifier from memory of the selected user terminal upon establishment of a communication between the network and the user terminal, the identifier comprising one of a communications channel indicator, a network address and a telephone number of an incoming communication from the selected user terminal, the network service center comprising comparison logic for comparing the identifier with a password read from a predetermined location in memory of the selected user terminal, and a switch for allowing or denying access to the network for the selected user terminal based upon the result of the comparison.