| Abstract: | A motion-based authentication method is operative in a mobile computing
device having a display interface and that includes an accelerometer.
Normally, the device software includes a locking mechanism that
automatically locks the display interface after a configurable timeout.
The authentication method operates to un-lock the display interface (and
thus allow the user access to the device) by movement of the device in a
predetermined series of physical movements and without display-based
entry of a password or other access code on the display itself. In this
manner, the user can un-lock the device without display-based entry of a
password (on the display itself) by simply holding the device and
performing the necessary movement(s) to generate the unique code. |