US 12,244,699 B1
System and methods for authentication between multiple devices using N-way entanglement
Peter Bordow, Fountain Hills, AZ (US); Jeff J. Stapleton, O'Fallon, MO (US); and Richard Orlando Toohey, Tempe, AZ (US)
Assigned to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed on Feb. 13, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/168,171.
Int. Cl. H04L 9/08 (2006.01); H04L 9/14 (2006.01)
CPC H04L 9/0852 (2013.01) [H04L 9/0866 (2013.01); H04L 9/14 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for authentication between multiple devices within a communication network comprising a quantum key distribution (QKD) device and a plurality of participating devices that are operably connected to one another, the method being initiated by a first participating device among the plurality of participating devices and comprising:
generating, by a secure key generator, a first key based on one or more quantum entangled particles received from the QKD device;
determining, by communications hardware, that a connection to a second participating device among the plurality of participating devices could not be established or maintained;
in response to determining that the connection to the second participating device could not be established or maintained, transmitting, by the communications hardware, a first connection request to establish a connection with a third participating device among the plurality of participating devices;
receiving, by the communications hardware and in response to the third participating device confirming that the first key is identical to a third key generated by the third participating device, an acknowledgement to instantiate the connection with the third participating device; and
establishing, by the communications hardware, the connection with the third participating device.