Method and apparatus for encrypting/decrypting data

Claim 1

A method of encrypting data comprising: communicating, by at least one processor, with a biometric device configured to collect a noisy source of data; obtaining, by the at least one processor, a noisy source of key information based at least partially on the noisy source of data; generating, by the at least one processor, a first key based at least partially on the noisy source of key information; distributing, by the at least one processor, unique segments of the noisy source of key information across multiple encryption keys such that at least one of the multiple encryption keys include a segment that is not present in other encryption keys of the multiple encryption keys; encoding, by the at least one processor, the data by distributing the data redundantly among a number of groups, each group being associated with a respective encryption key of the multiple encryption keys; and encrypting, by the at least one processor, each group by the respective associated encryption key.

Claim 2

A method of encrypting data comprising: communicating, by at least one processor, with a biometric device configured to collect a noisy source of data; obtaining, by the at least one processor, a noisy source of key information based at least partially on the noisy source of data; generating, by the at least one processor, a first key based at least partially on the noisy source of key information; distributing, by the at least one processor, unique segments of the noisy source of key information across multiple encryption keys such that at least one of the multiple encryption keys include a segment that is not present in other encryption keys of the multiple encryption keys; encoding, by the at least one processor, the data by distributing the data redundantly among a number of groups, each group being associated with a respective encryption key of the multiple encryption keys; and encrypting, by the at least one processor, each group by the respective associated encryption key.

Claim 12

A method of decrypting encrypted data comprising: communicating, by at least one processor, with a biometric device configured to collect a noisy source of data; obtaining, by the at least one processor, a noisy source of key information based at least partially on the noisy source of data; generating, by the at least one processor, a first key and a second key for forming an estimate of an encryption/decryption key pair, wherein the second key comprises data from the noisy source of key information; decrypting, by the at least one processor, the encrypted data using multiple decryption keys in which each of the multiple decryption keys contain a unique segment of the noisy source of key information such that at least one of the multiple decryption keys includes a segment of the noisy source of key information that is not present in other decryption keys of the multiple decryption keys; decrypting, by the at least one processor, at least one or more encrypted groups using a respective decryption key of the multiple decryption keys that is associated with the encryption key used to encrypt the group; and decoding, by the at least one processor, the data from the at least one or more decrypted groups by extracting content related to the data from at least one or more decrypted groups.

Claim 13

A method of decrypting encrypted data comprising: communicating, by at least one processor, with a biometric device configured to collect a noisy source of data; obtaining, by the at least one processor, a noisy source of key information based at least partially on the noisy source of data; generating, by the at least one processor, a first key and a second key for forming an estimate of an encryption/decryption key pair, wherein the second key comprises data from the noisy source of key information; decrypting, by the at least one processor, the encrypted data using multiple decryption keys in which each of the multiple decryption keys contain a unique segment of the noisy source of key information such that at least one of the multiple decryption keys includes a segment of the noisy source of key information that is not present in other decryption keys of the multiple decryption keys; decrypting, by the at least one processor, at least one or more encrypted groups using a respective decryption key of the multiple decryption keys that is associated with the encryption key used to encrypt the group; and decoding, by the at least one processor, the data from the at least one or more decrypted groups by extracting content related to the data from at least one or more decrypted groups.

Claim 16

An apparatus for encrypting data comprising: a biometric device configured to collect a noisy source of data; a memory; at least one processor coupled to the memory and the biometric device, the at least one processor being configured to: communicate with the biometric device; obtain a noisy source of key information based at least partially on the noisy source of data; generate a first key based at least partially on the noisy source of key information; distribute unique segments of the noisy source of key information across multiple encryption keys such that at least one of the multiple encryption keys include a segment that is not present in other encryption keys of the multiple encryption keys; distribute data redundantly among a number of groups, each group being associated with a respective encryption key of the multiple encryption keys; and encrypt each group using the respective associated encryption key.

Claim 17

An apparatus for encrypting data comprising: a biometric device configured to collect a noisy source of data; a memory; at least one processor coupled to the memory and the biometric device, the at least one processor being configured to: communicate with the biometric device; obtain a noisy source of key information based at least partially on the noisy source of data; generate a first key based at least partially on the noisy source of key information; distribute unique segments of the noisy source of key information across multiple encryption keys such that at least one of the multiple encryption keys include a segment that is not present in other encryption keys of the multiple encryption keys; distribute data redundantly among a number of groups, each group being associated with a respective encryption key of the multiple encryption keys; and encrypt each group using the respective associated encryption key.

Claim 18

An apparatus for decrypting encrypted data comprising: a biometric device configured to collect a noisy source of data; a memory; at least one processor coupled to the memory and the biometric device, the at least one processor configured to: communicate with the biometric device; obtain a noisy source of key information based at least partially on the noisy source of data; generate a first key and a second key forming an estimate of an encryption/decryption key pair, wherein the second key comprises data from the noisy source of key information; decrypt the encrypted data using multiple decryption keys in which each of the multiple decryption keys contain a unique segment of the noisy source of key information such that at least one of the multiple decryption keys includes a segment of the noisy source of key information that is not present in other decryption keys of the multiple decryption keys; decrypt at least one or more encrypted groups with the respective decryption key associated with the encryption key used to encrypt the group; and decode original data from the at least one or more decrypted groups by extracting content related to the original data from at least one or more decrypted groups.

Claim 19

An apparatus for decrypting encrypted data comprising: a biometric device configured to collect a noisy source of data; a memory; at least one processor coupled to the memory and the biometric device, the at least one processor configured to: communicate with the biometric device; obtain a noisy source of key information based at least partially on the noisy source of data; generate a first key and a second key forming an estimate of an encryption/decryption key pair, wherein the second key comprises data from the noisy source of key information; decrypt the encrypted data using multiple decryption keys in which each of the multiple decryption keys contain a unique segment of the noisy source of key information such that at least one of the multiple decryption keys includes a segment of the noisy source of key information that is not present in other decryption keys of the multiple decryption keys; decrypt at least one or more encrypted groups with the respective decryption key associated with the encryption key used to encrypt the group; and decode original data from the at least one or more decrypted groups by extracting content related to the original data from at least one or more decrypted groups.

Claim 22

An apparatus for encrypting data comprising: a biometric device configured to collect a noisy source of data; a memory; at least one processor coupled to the memory and the biometric device, the at least one processor being configured to: communicate with the biometric device to generate a noisy feature vector based on the noisy source of data, the noisy feature vector representing an estimate of at least one physical feature of a user; generate multiple encryption keys such that each encryption key is based at least partially on a unique segment of the noisy feature vector; distribute data among a number of groups such that each group comprises at least a partially redundant representation of the data, the groups allowing recovery of the data, if decryption of some of the groups is unsuccessful, each group being associated with an encryption key of the multiple encryption keys; and encrypt each group using an associated encryption key of the multiple encryption keys.

Claim 23

An apparatus for encrypting data comprising: a biometric device configured to collect a noisy source of data; a memory; at least one processor coupled to the memory and the biometric device, the at least one processor being configured to: communicate with the biometric device to generate a noisy feature vector based on the noisy source of data, the noisy feature vector representing an estimate of at least one physical feature of a user; generate multiple encryption keys such that each encryption key is based at least partially on a unique segment of the noisy feature vector; distribute data among a number of groups such that each group comprises at least a partially redundant representation of the data, the groups allowing recovery of the data, if decryption of some of the groups is unsuccessful, each group being associated with an encryption key of the multiple encryption keys; and encrypt each group using an associated encryption key of the multiple encryption keys.

Claim 28

An apparatus for decrypting data comprising: a biometric device to collect a noisy source of data; a memory; at least one processor coupled to the memory and the biometric device, the at least one processor being configured to: communicate with the biometric device to generate a noisy feature vector based on the noisy source of data, the noisy feature vector representing an estimate of at least one physical feature of a user; generate multiple decryption keys such that each decryption key is based at least partially on a unique segment of the noisy feature vector; decrypt a number of groups of data using at least one of the multiple decryption keys, each group of data comprising at least a partially redundant portion of original data such that recovery of the original data is possible, if decryption of some of the groups is unsuccessful; and recover the original data by extracting information from at least one encrypted group of data that is successfully decrypted with at least one of the multiple decryption keys.

Claim 29

An apparatus for decrypting data comprising: a biometric device to collect a noisy source of data; a memory; at least one processor coupled to the memory and the biometric device, the at least one processor being configured to: communicate with the biometric device to generate a noisy feature vector based on the noisy source of data, the noisy feature vector representing an estimate of at least one physical feature of a user; generate multiple decryption keys such that each decryption key is based at least partially on a unique segment of the noisy feature vector; decrypt a number of groups of data using at least one of the multiple decryption keys, each group of data comprising at least a partially redundant portion of original data such that recovery of the original data is possible, if decryption of some of the groups is unsuccessful; and recover the original data by extracting information from at least one encrypted group of data that is successfully decrypted with at least one of the multiple decryption keys.