Apple Applies for Patent on RFID-based Network, Security Tool

The application was filed with the U.S. Patent Office on Sept. 6, 2005, and describes a number of other configuration and deployment schemes as well. The full text is available here.

The patent application does not detail the type of identifier that would be encoded to the RFID tags, nor if transceivers other than those embedded in Apple base stations would be able to read it. The document also does not detail the frequency such an RFID system would use, though it does repeatedly claim it would have a short range of around 1 foot. Apple has not responded to RFID Journal's request for an interview to learn more about the patent and the company's plans for commercialization around the technology.

Roger Kay, president of IT analyst firm Endpoint Technologies Associates, says the patent application appears to signal a move by Apple toward ingraining security into its wireless devices. "The main thing about this patent application is the ease of use and security [it would enable]," he explains. "What Apple is saying is, 'People aren't using security, and they should. And they will if we do all the configuration work for them.'"

According to Kay, the wireless network devices Apple users would want to add to a computer network in, say, a home setting, could include anything from a printer to an Apple iPhone. By making an iPhone a network device, a user might be able to transfer phone numbers from a computer-based address book to the phone.

Kay says it is also possible Apple is eyeing the RFID-based network configuration tool as a means of providing home network-based content sharing in an attempt to appease Hollywood studios concerned about copyright infringement. This, he adds, could be realized by allowing only devices authenticated as part of a home network to stream video or other media from that network. When Apple might deploy the technology, and in which of its devices, is not yet clear.

From Apple's patent application: "Network 100 comprises various devices, such as personal computers 101 and 102 along with printer 103. As illustrated, these devices are interconnected by hub/router/switch 104. Network 100 may also be connected to the Internet through router 104 and some form of broadband modem.... Also included in network 100 is wireless access point (or base station) 105, which provides a wireless link to portable computer 106 and PDA (personal digital assistant) 107. The wireless network interface preferably takes the form of a 'Wi-Fi' interface.... Depending on the exact functionality required, router 104 may be some combination of switch, hub, firewall, router, wireless access point, wireless repeater, DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol) server, etc..., examples of which include the AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express base stations available from Apple Computer."