WO2001015089A1

WO2001015089A1 - Issuing computer, admission control system and method for granting admission to an event

Info

Publication number: WO2001015089A1
Application number: PCT/NL2000/000576
Authority: WO
Inventors: Johan Peter Eilander; Hendrikus Martinus Smit
Original assignee: Beerens & Van Dijk; Robijns, Monique
Priority date: 1999-08-26
Filing date: 2000-08-18
Publication date: 2001-03-01
Also published as: EP1309946A1; NL1012914C2; AU6600900A

Abstract

A method for granting admission to an event, wherein an admission code is issued to a consumer via a distribution channel, which admission code is in accordance with a predetermined format and which forms part of a set of admission codes, which set of admission codes forms a predetermined random or pseudo-random subset of all codes having the predetermined format, wherein it is checked at the entrance to the event whether a code presented by a consumer is part of the set of admission codes.

Description

ISSUING COMPUTER, ADMISSION CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GRANTING ADMISSION TO AN EVENT

The present invention relates to a method for granting admission to an event, wherein an admission code is issued to a consumer via a distribution channel, which admission code has a predetermined format and which forms part of a set of admission codes . A code having a predetermined format may for example be a number or an alphanumeric sequence comprising a predetermined number of positions. It is noted that in this connection the term event is understood to refer to a trip as well .

A method of this kind is known, for example in connection with the granting of admission to aeroplanes as used, among others, by the British airline EasyJet Airlines Company. A consumer can thereby order a ticket via the Internet and pay with a credit card, for example, whereby an admission code consisting of for example 6 alphanumeric characters is transmitted, likewise via the Internet, which code can be printed out by the consumer on his printer. The passenger must show this admission code at the gate to the aeroplane, where this code is compared with the list of codes that have been issued. If the code being presented is included in the list and the name on the passenger's passport moreover corresponds with the name on the list, the passenger is granted admission to the aeroplane.

The drawback of this prior art method is the fact that a current and complete list of all admission codes that have been given out must be available at the gate to the aeroplane, which makes it necessary either to have an on-line connection with the issuing computer at the gate to the aeroplane or to stop the issuing admission codes well in advance and transmit the admission codes that have been granted to the memory of the computer that is present at the gate to the aeroplane. Moreover, the risk

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code a format of for example 20 alphanumeric characters, which, given a maximum number of admission codes of for example 100,000, gives more than 10³¹ possible codes, and to ensure that the set of admission codes constitutes a maximally random subset of the complete set.

Preferably, the code is placed on a carrier, preferably by means of a printer, after receipt by the consumer. Preferably the code comprises a bar code, which represents for example the aforesaid alphanumeric sequence. Preferably, the distribution channel is the Internet. The above preferred embodiments ensure that the issuing of codes takes place in a consumer-friendly, simple and quick manner, which codes can subsequently be subjected to a check in a simple manner.

The invention is especially advantageous if the event is a sports event, a concert, a day in an amusement park, a cinema show, a theatre show, a fair, a symposium, a boat trip, a rail journey, a bus journey or a flight.

Preferably, an entrance gate is unlocked or locked in dependence on the result of the check. This can take place automatically, for example, if the entrance gate is connected to an admission computer that does the checking .

At the entrance to the event the presented code is preferably input into the admission computer by means of an input apparatus, preferably an optical scanner, which admission computer carries out the check at the entrance by subjecting the presented code to a logic operation, the result of which is compared with a predetermined set of results that is stored in the memory of the admission computer.

The advantage of this method, wherein it is not the J > t to H M in o in o o σι

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specific period, the correct admission code that will grant admission to the event under those conditions will be obtained. In that case the only data that need to be programmed into the admission computer in advance in order to enable the check are the entrance gate number, the date, the period and the operation routine, and not the (issued) serial numbers, therefore.

Preferably, in order to prevent the same admission code being used a second time, at least one characteristic part of the presented admission code and/or the associated result, for example the serial number, is stored in a memory of the admission computer, and said admission code is then excluded from admission.

The invention also relates to an admission control system and to an issuing computer for implementing the method according to the invention.

The invention furthermore relates to a carrier on which an admission code has been placed by means of the method according to the invention.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with respect to the figures, which show an exemplary embodiment of the invention, merely for the purpose of illustration.

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the Internet, to which an issuing computer and a home computer are connected;

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a subset of admission codes;

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of another subset of admission codes; Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a logic operation, to which a subset of codes is subjected; and

Figure 5 is a schematic representation of an admission control system.

Figure 1 schematically shows a computer network, the Internet in this case, to which a server is permanently connected, which server functions as an issuing computer 2 for admission codes by means of which admission to one or more events can be obtained. When a consumer wishes to visit one of said events, he can contact the Internet 1 via his home computer by means of a modem, and input the Internet address (URL) of the server in question into his browser. His computer screen will then display a web page on which the various events are being offered.

The consumer can state his selection and also indicate certain preferences, such as the number of persons, the date, the time, the circle, etc. Then the total sum of the transaction will be displayed, which can subsequently be paid by the consumer, for example by means of a credit card or a coupon system, whereby a protected transmission procedure is used.

Once this has been done, the transaction is completed in that an admission code is sent to the consumer's home computer 3 by the issuing computer 2, which admission code, in this embodiment in the form of a bar code representing an alphanumeric sequence of twenty characters, is displayed on the screen. The sending of the admission code likewise takes place in a protected manner. Optionally, if the consumer states an e-mail address, the admission code is also transmitted by protected e-mail, so that the admission code will not be lost in the unhoped-for event that the web page should prematurely disappear from the screen.

Then the consumer can print out the admission code, in the form of a bar code, on his own printer 4, whereby it 5 is also possible to print additional information, such as the date, the starting time and the end time of the period during which the consumer must check in, a possible number of the entrance gate at which he must check in, as well as a possible seat number, as a result 10 of which an admission ticket comprising a unique admission code is created, as it were. If several admission codes have been purchased simultaneously for different events, or for several persons, these codes can be printed in a corresponding manner. 15

Now the procedure used for issuing the admission codes will be explained with reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4. As already discussed before, an admission code as used in the present embodiment consists of 20 alphanumeric characters. Sets 10, 20 2-tjfepresent all possible codes that consist of 20 alphanumeric characters, the so-called format that is prescribed for a code. Subsets 11, 21 represent the set of admission codes that can be issued for a specific event, and thus also determine the maximum number of consumers that can visit the event . 25

With the prior art method of issuing admission codes via the Internet as described in the introduction, the admission codes constitute a continuous, non-random subset 11 of a complete set 10, for example in that the code is incremented by one with SsGach new code that is to be issued. It is quite simple thereby to predict a next admission code once one or a few admission codes are known. When such a method is used, it is therefore necessary to check at the entrance whether the admission code in question has in actual fact been issued, and also to check _b5y means of an identity card whether the correct person is checking in with said admission code, in order to prevent a forger being granted admission with an admission code that has been issued to someone else. Consequently, a current list of actually issued admission codes and the associated names of consumers needs to be available at the entrance to the event .

The need for the above-described laborious additional protection can be obviated, as schematically shown in Figure 3, by making sure that it is not possible to predict an admission code on the basis of one or more other admission codes, in other words, that the admission codes are determined in a jxCandom or semi-random fashion, and furthermore ensuring that the subset of admission codes 21 is so small in comparison with the complete set 20 that the risk that a code that has been selected at random is an admission code is very small . With a format of 20 alphanumeric characters (36 possible characters jfibr each position, A .. Z, 0 .. 9) the complete set 10, 20 consists of 1.34 x 10³¹ codes, so that, given a maximum number of visitors of 100,000, the chance of a potential forger finding the correct admission code by a chance is only 1 : 1.34 x 10³¹ per attempt. 20

Referring to Figure 4, a specific procedure is used for determining a pseudo-random subset of admission codes 21. The starting point is a subset of "results" 31. The term results will be explained hereafter. In the embodiment said results 31 2^5re composed of an entrance gate number, an admission date, an admission time segment, a serial number and four filter codes. Overall said result comprises 15 characters. Results 31 constitute a non-random subset 31 of a complete set 30. Upon issue of the admission codes as described with reference to -fOLgure 1, a first result is retrieved from the memory of issuing computer 2 and at the same time blocked for a next issue .

Then the result is converted into a pseudo-random admission 3_S)de, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 4, by means of a logic operation, which consists of various steps in accordance with a specific routine, which depends on the entrance gate/admission date/admission time segment combination. The operation routine may comprise a well-known technique from the field of cryptology.

Eh the embodiment, the operation routine successively comprises the changing of positions of characters (for example the first character to the third position, the second character to the eleventh position, the third character to the second position, etc.), and the substitution of characters (for example A for Y, JBO for Z, C for 1, D for 2, etc.) . The first two filter codes must be used thereby in order to determine which changing step and which substitution step are to be used. Then an alphanumerical check number consisting of five characters is determined from the obtained code, with which the original ϊ_5esult is extended to a total of twenty characters. Following that, another changing step and another substitution step are carried out, which are determined by the third and fourth filter codes. Since there are four filter codes, 36⁴ (over 1.4 million) different operation routines are possible, which .parovides adequate protection against the system being hacked.

Thus a pseudo-random admission code is obtained, which is transmitted to the consumer's home computer via the Internet and which can be printed out by the consumer. 25

Pseudo-random means that statistically the subset of admission codes 21, which is obtained by subjecting all elements of subset 31 to the logic operation, is hardly distinguishable, if at all, from a truly random subset, in spite of being derived 35rom a non-random set.

The consumer subsequently checks in with his printed code at the indicated entrance gate in the indicated time segment . Figure 5 shows an admission control system, which consists of 3a5ι admission computer 40, which is connected to a number of entrance gates 41. Stored in the memory of admission computer 40 is an associated operation routine for every entrance gate/admission date/admission time segment combination that is possible. Consequently, there is no need for the admission codes themselves or the actually issued admission codes or the original serial numbers that form the basis thereof to be s±ored in the memory.

The operation routine that is used is the inverse of the operation routine that has been used by the computer when issuing admission codes for this entrance gate/admission Hate/admission time segment combination.

The consumer holds his code, which is printed in the form of a bar code, before an optical scanner 42, as a result of which the code is read into the memory of admission computer 40. Then jtJ e code that has been read is subjected to the operation routine, which is valid for the entrance gate in question at that point in time. Since this operation routine is the inverse of the operation routine by means of which the original result was converted into an admission code by the issuing computer, 210: follows that the computer will convert the presented code into a "result" consisting of, among other things, an entrance gate number, an admission date and an admission time segment.

If the above three data tally with the facts that apply at that 2crjbment , it is established that the code being presented is an admission code, and the consumer is granted admission. The check as regards the gate number, for example, can be selectively deactivated, for example when an entrance gate is defective and it is necessary to use an entrance gate other atLrian the originally intended one. The serial number, which is also included in the result, is stored in the memory of the admission computer after the check has been carried out, thus making it possible to check whether admission has been granted on the basis of an admission code before already. This makes it 3j£DSsible to prevent two people being granted admission on the basis of an admission code they have copied from each other. By including this protection message in the transmission and having it printed out upon issue of the admission code, the copying of admission codes is discouraged, and the consumer is warned not to show his code to strangers lest it be copied.

Cδce it has been established that a presented code is an admission code and admission has not been granted before, a barrier 43 connected to the admission computer 40, for example a turnstile, is unlocked, thus granting the consumer admission to the event .

Claims

1. A method for granting admission to an event, wherein an admission code is issued to a consumer via a distribution

5 channel, which admission code is in accordance with a predetermined format and which forms part of a set of admission codes, which set of admission codes forms a predetermined random or pseudo-random subset of all codes having the predetermined format, wherein it is checked at 10 the entrance to the event whether a code presented by a consumer is part of the set of admission codes.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the code is placed on a carrier after receipt by the consumer.

15

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein said code is placed on said carrier by means of a printer.

4. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3 , wherein said code 20 comprises a bar code.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said distribution channel comprises the Internet.

255 A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the event is part of the set consisting of a sports event, a concert, a day in an amusement park, a cinema show, a theatre show, a fair, a symposium, a boat trip, a rail journey, a bus journey or a flight.

30

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein an entrance gate is unlocked or locked in dependence on the result of the check.

335. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the presented code is input into the admission computer at the entrance to the event by means of an input apparatus .

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein said input apparatus is an optical scanner.

5

10. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the check at the entrance is carried out by the admission computer, which carries out a logic operation on the presented code, the result of which logic operation is 0 compared with a predetermined set of results stored in the memory of the computer.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein said result comprises an identification of an entrance gate and/or an 5 admission date and/or an admission time segment and/or a seat number and/or a serial number.

12. A method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the issuing computer processes can selectively carry out the 0 comparison between the result and the set of predetermined results on part of the result.

13. A method according to claim 10, 11 or 12, wherein said routine for the logic operation is changed periodically. 5

14. A method according to any one of the claims 10 - 13, wherein the admission code is determined upon being issued by an issuing computer by retrieving a result from said predetermined set of results and to subject said result to 0 the inverse of the logic operation that will be used at the moment of admission.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the issuing computer processes a result into an admission code only 5 once.

16. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one characteristic part of the presented admission code and/or the associated result, for example the serial number, is stored in a memory of the admission computer, and said admission code is then excluded from 5 admission.

17. An admission control system for implementing the method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising an admission computer, which includes means for checking

10 whether an input code is part of a set of admission codes, which set of admission codes forms a predetermined random or pseudo-random subset of all codes having a predetermined format .

USB. An admission control system according to claim 17, wherein said admission computer includes means which are capable of carrying out a logic operation on the input code, and of comparing the result thereof with a predetermined set of results stored in the memory of the computer.

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19. An admission control system according to claim 17 or 18, furthermore comprising at least one entrance gate, which can be unlocked or locked in dependence on the result of the check.

25

20. An issuing computer intended for implementing the method according to any one of the claims 1 - 16, including means that verify whether the admission code is in accordance with a predetermined format and forms an element of a set

30 of admission codes, which set of admission codes forms a predetermined random or pseudo-random subset of all codes having said predetermined format .

21. An issuing computer according to claim 20, furthermore 35 including means which are capable of determining the admission code by retrieving a result from a predetermined set of results and to subject said result to the inverse of the logic operation that can be used at the moment of admission by an admission control system admission code cording to claim 18 or 19.

22. A carrier on which an admission code has been placed in accordance with the method according to any one of the claims 1 - 16.