2016 3rd International Conference on Advances in Computational Tools for Engineering Applications (ACTEA)
A Smart Lock System using Wi-Fi Security
Abdallah Kassem and Sami El Murr Department of
Electrical and Computer and Communication Engineering
Notre Dame University Louaize, Zouk Mosbeh-Lebanon
{akassem|selmurr}@ndu.edu.lb
Abstract— In large apartment complexes, fraternities, or even for
an owner having many keys for each and every apartment, car, or
gate he owns, maintaining entry to authorized personnel only is a
problem. Besides the costs involved in fabrication, duplication, and
distribution of keys, there are security problems in case of lost keys.
In this paper an innovative lock system prototype using today’s
technologies will be presented. The novelty of this prototype relies
on the fact that using new technologies along with old ones will
result in a smart and more efficient. We propose a smart digital
door lock system for any lock system. A digital door lock system is
any equipment that uses the digital information such as a secret
code instead of the legacy key system. In our proposed system, a
Central Control module is embedded in the door itself, this is
required to prevent additional complications and more robust
mechanism for the door as a whole. Technically, this system
embeds itself in the Local Area Network of the house. This adds
extra security layers and prevents access to the system only through
the network. Furthermore, the biggest advantage of the proposed
system over existing ones is that it can be easily installed with
minimal requirement of infrastructures and planning.
Keywords— Local Area Network; Central Control; Smart-
Lock-System;
I. INTRODUCTION
The technology of keys and locks remained the same for
the last century while everything else is evolving
exponentially. So why not use current technologies and apply
it with old ones to build something new and innovative.
Around 4000 years ago, the concept of Locks and Keys
were invented, and until today, regardless of some minimal
variation in security and sustainability [1]; locks are installed
in doors stimulated mechanically by the right key. Recently,
the Internet was enhanced, and everything was connected to it
(phones, televisions, laptops, tablets, cars and so on…). This
was done because we wanted to make systems “smarter”, in
other term “more productive”.
Why not do the same thing with Locks? Enhancing the
locks mechanism by connecting them to the internet, making
them more robust and productive.
Today, the number of mobile device users including
smartphone users has rapidly been increasing worldwide, and
various convenient and useful smartphone applications have
been developed [2]. Now smartphones are not only used to
send and receive phone calls, send text messages, and perform
mobile banking operations, but they also are used to control
various other devices in our real everyday lives. Through a
mobile operating system and internal applications, we can
remotely control a variety of external devices such as TVs,
projectors, computers, cars, etc.
978-1-4673-8523-7/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
Georges Jamous, Elie Saad and Marybelle Geagea
Department of Electrical and Computer and
Communication Engineering Notre Dame University
Louaize, Zouk Mosbeh-Lebanon {gejamous|mbgeagea|
easaad}@ndu.edu.lb
People normally operate ordinary locks with keys or
keyword locks such as a pin code. However, these locks have
few drawbacks such as misplacing keys or forgetting
passwords. Using smartphones, the remote lock can be easily
managed. Furthermore, the proposed system has wide range of
applications and can be used for various types of locks and
systems, such as lockers, bicycles, cars, etc.
Smart-Lock-System is a complete reinvention of the
standard Key-Door lock, where all the digital keys are stored
in a Digital Keychain kept on the owner’s phone. Encrypted
and secured Smart-Lock-System can be connected to the
Internet via internet cable (UTP) or wirelessly (Wi-Fi).
The concept behind Smart-Lock-System is explained in
section II. In section III and VI, the hardware/software of the
proposed prototype are detailed including the security concern.
The applicability of the proposed system is described in section V.
Finally, a conclusion is summarized in section IV.
II. THE CONCEPT OF SMART-LOCK-SYSTEM
In large apartment complexes, fraternities, or even for an
owner having many keys for each and every apartment, car, or
gate he owns, maintaining entry to authorized only persons is
a problem. Besides the costs involved in fabrication,
duplication, and distribution of keys, there are security
concerns in case of lost keys. The use of keyless entry unit not
only will tackle all of these problems, but adds some
additional improvement features [3].
In recent years, digital homes have evolved into smart
homes. With the popularity of smart phone and the Internet,
the smart home technology is also growing fast. To improve
the quality of life, many models for smart home have been
proposed.
The house-door is an important and crucial part of any
smart home, because the door system must be simple and
efficient enough to be used by anyone, and secure enough to
work well and prevent unwanted access to the house.
But before we can even discuss how the lock works, we
must realize that we are living in a world where our
smartphones have probably more information about us then
we do in our own homes. They contain information about our
family, our friends, our bank accounts, where our kids go to
school, and information about our lifestyle, etc.
For that reason, SLS takes advantages of the fact that it is
easier to misplace keys than to lose our phone. Also some
phones are now more secure than ever, it is possible to use a
standard AES encryption that is very hard to penetrate [4].
Smart Lock replaces the legacy keychain with a digital
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 2016 3rd International Conference on Advances in Computational Tools for Engineering Applications (ACTEA)
keychain, and replaces keys with digital keys. The advantage
behind a digital keychain is that you don't have to carry it
around. It is stored in one place and can be accessed only by
the authorized person. Digital keys can be renewed anytime
and updated throughout all the devices, this can save time
compared to mechanically copying keys and carrying them
around. There are many more advantages that we will be
discussed throughout this paper.
III. ARCHITECTURE OF THE SYSTEM
A. System Parts
The Smart-Lock-System consists mainly of three major
parts.
Part 1:
Door lock controller: All functions necessary for keyless
entry lock are implemented here.
Part 2:
Central Control: This is the heart of the system. The Central
Control is a combination of small systems. It reads the
commands, locks, unlocks the door and executes many other
operations that are crucial to the whole system.
Part 3:
Mobile Application: This is where all the digital keys are
stored in the digital keychains. The SLS mobile application is
the only software that can control the system. The mobile
application provides additional useful tools to the owner, such
as creating additional keys for family members, or creating
temporary keys for guests and close friends.
B. System Operation I
The system should be connected to the home network
(LAN) via a UTP cable. Also, the user must be on the same
network in order to control the system. A brief system
architecture is shown in the Figure 1.
Figure 1. SLS System
Architecture Mobile Phone to Router:
As it is mentioned in the previous section, the user’s phone
must be connected to the home network. When this is done,
the user can now send commands to the system only using the
mobile application provided.
Commands here are sent via Wifi (Packets of bits) and
routed by the router to the receiver; in this case the Central
Control.
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Router to Central Control to Lock: Central Control receives
the command packets, assembles them with an Ethernet
Module — then decides whether to act or not on the
command.
Router to Server on the Internet: As feedback is important
in any system, any command sent to the Central Control will
be sent to the Smart Lock server, where Notifications of
important actions can be forwarded to the owner via APN
Notification, Email or Text message.
C. Requirements For Operation
The first and most essential item for SLS is the Local Area
Network (LAN) formed by a simple Router, because the
system imbeds itself in the LAN and then becomes
operational.
Now having the base structure for our system, the next
crucial part is power, or power availability at all times. The
system uses PoE technology (Power over Ethernet), this
technology basically allows the system to harness power from
the same Ethernet cable connecting it to the home network.
This simplifies the design and makes it easier as it provides
the system with power at all times. Figure 2 shows a basic PoE
plug.
Figure 2. A PoE Plug
The PoE plug provides power for the Central Control
device and the Electric Lock. (No other input to the system is
needed)
D. System Operation II (Online Operation)
In this part the operation of the system will be discussed in
depth, form Startup to the point where the User issues a
command.
D1. Startup:
1. System Initialization
In this step the system performs a full Format Cycle
clearing its memory. Estimation Time (ET) is 300ms
2. Configure ports
 2016 3rd International Conference on Advances in Computational Tools for Engineering Applications (ACTEA)
The Central Control issues a full re-initialization of all
INPUT and OUTPUT ports, and thus resetting the state of
the LEDs and BUZZERS. ET: 500ms
3. Check system
During this step the whole system will be checked for security
purposes preventing anyone from tampering with the system.
The system shuts down in this case. ET : 100ms
4. Connect to the local network
During this cycle the system attempts to connect to the
LAN. This is important since the system must have an IP
Address to communicate with the Mobile Application.
Here the system goes in a loop until connection is made. A
red LED blinks in this case until connection is made. ET:
1000ms — in normal case
5. Configuration of keys
Each Central Control has its own UDID (Universal Device
IDentifier). Using this UDID, it generates a set of accepted
keys. Note that for every startup, new keys are generated
on the same UDID.
These keys are checked, encrypted and submitted to the
server.
6. Main loop
The system goes into the main loop.
D2. Main Loop
In the main loop, the system waits for the User’s
commands and keeps the connection to the router alive.
Day to day operations, like restarting the router, will force
the Central Control to request a new IP and re-configure
the keys. This is done for security reasons to keep the keys
updated at all times. Figure 3 reveals the security layers.
Figure 3. Security
layers D3. Open Door Command
When the user connects to the LAN, the command to the
Central Control is sent via the mobile application. The
Central Control (CC) checks the key validity and the
identity of the sender. The packet sent to the CC contains
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the information pertaining to the member sending this
command as well as the Key.
If the key is correct the system will unlock the door for 8
Seconds, giving the person enough time to enter. The door
is then locked, and the server is alerted of this event.
D4. Leaving Door Open
In the case where the door is open for longer than 30
Seconds, a small beep will sound every 30 Seconds. Also,
the CC will contact the server and issue a request every 2
minutes to alert all House members via Notifications,
Emails or Text messages.
E. System Operation III (Offline Operation)
To prevent system breakdown when no valid internet
connection is available (in step 5 to submit keys to server),
the system will run in offline mode where only the users
holding the Master key can unlock the door.
The master key is a pre-defined key in the system, as
well as in the Mobile Application. The master key is never
transferred over the internet, nor can it be viewed or shared
by the members. It is kept in the SLS Chip and in the
application encrypted.
USAGE: Each SLS system is tailored to its members.
And during installation of the system, the master key is
installed on the SLS Chip and provided to the house
members. When installed on both the devices any hard
record of the master key will be destroyed.
F. Fail Safe Operation
In the event where the system fails to load, for any reason, a
mechanical key can be used to open the door mechanically.
Figure 4 gives a brief overview of how an unlock door
command propagates through the system.
Figure 4. Flowchart of the unlock door command
IV. SECURITY
How does SLS perform against hacks and the latest security
bypassing techniques?
 2016 3rd International Conference on Advances in Computational Tools for Engineering Applications (ACTEA)
All digital keychains and digital keys are stored on the
User’s mobile phone, and can only be accessed from this
phone. The first layer of security is the User’s phone. Today,
every phone company follows standard encryption protocols
[5], where the mobile phone is completely encrypted when
locked.
As is mentioned earlier, SLS embeds itself in the LAN of
the house formed by a Router. That being said, the second
layer of security that needs to be addressed is the Local Area
Network. Many Wireless security protocols are implemented
on today’s routers, but since we need the best of the best, the
router’s security will be set to WPA2/PSK with a key of at
least 15 characters long [6].
WPA2/PSK protocol with a 15 characters key will have
around 95^15 (4.632912302 E29) possible keys [6], which
makes it very hard or impossible to penetrate the system.
As mentioned previously that the SLS (mainly Central
Control shown in figure 1) is connected to the router via cable,
not Wifi. That is for adding an extra layer of security (layer 3)
on the system. Tampering with the system will require
physical access to the components of the SLS.
Now for the UDID, Keys are generated by the Master key.
Table I shows a pattern string of each key.
Each UDID is unique, each Master Key is also unique, as
well as each generated key. Keys are generated randomly as
well as by timestamp (System Time) to prevent a duplicate
string [7].
Table I. Key Pattern (Case Sensitive)
Type Demo Key
UDID (40 characters) de305d54-75b4-431b-adb2
MASTER_KEY (20 characters) 7drFj1rjvXpLQdcwOsLF
KEY_GEN_1 (10 characters) CJsyeFSa5f0JcfOxGhJq-VH
KEY_GEN_2 (10 characters) j4ZI5MWtSlsq7yHpEcSJ-S7
V. APPLICABILITY
There is a wide range of applicability to this system, not
only be applied on home front doors, but also on gates, cars,
resorts with many locked areas and so on.
Since SLS is a standalone system that operates by itself
without the need for many requirements, and takes advantage
of the power of mobile application and 3G networks to contact
the server. SLS can also be used on car system with minimum
infrastructure.
In this paper, a general overview of this system is presented.
Deep Car lock designs can be built around it. Making the
mobile phone the only keychain needed holding all the digital
keys.
Furthermore, SLS can be applicable on large buildings and
resorts with many doors and each door for a specific set of
users. And all these users share a unique key for the main gate.
VI. MOBILE APPLICATION
The only way to control SLS is via the SLS mobile
application. SLS-App will contact directly the system once on
the network to unlock/lock the door.
User login authentication is required like Username and
Password. No need to remember and retype long digital keys.
They are kept on the device encrypted by the owner’s mobile
phone password, as well as the credentials of the user.
What SLS-APP CAN DO:
(a) Lock or unlock the door by selecting the right key from the
digital keychain.
(b) Add new family members. This will generate unique
username and password for that member to be able to use the
application.
(c) Generate temporary keys that work only at a specific time
and date of the week. This is good for friends or family
member coming over.
(d) Disable keys for certain users. If the phone was stolen.
(e) Receive notifications (with images if camera on system is
installed) or on any event.
(example: “Paul, your wife just left the apartment. “ or “Your
son Elie used his key at 6PM to enter the house” or “The
nanny, got in at 2:00pm and left at 5:00pm as scheduled”).
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the Smart-Lock-System will open the door
leading to a wide range of innovations in the world of lock
systems wherever they may be. With its ease of installation
and use, minimum complexity, wide applicability options, and
strong feasibility, SLS guarantees a huge aspiring step forward
into a better future lock system. All of the above can’t be
considered authentic or even possible without considerately
taking into account one of the most vital aspects to the
innovation: security. Therefore, after examining the detailed
evaluation and explanation of this phase, the project really
tackles the security concerns to eliminate any worries which
might cause a threat to the system’s success and prosperity.
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