New Patent Issued to Computer Science Professor Ye Zhu

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 12,543,045, titled “Biometric Activity Based Pairing Protocols for Wearable Devices,” on February 3, 2026.

The patent names Ye Zhu, professor in Cleveland State University’s Department of Computer Science, and former CSU doctoral student Jafar Pourbemany, Ph.D., as inventors. The patent is assigned to Cleveland State University.

The invention presents a secure method for pairing two wearable devices by collecting biometric activity from each device. The biometric signals are processed to create separate security keys. The devices are permitted to pair when the two keys match.

The system may use the same type of biometric activity on both devices or different types of biometric activity. The processing method can be adjusted according to the biometric information being collected and the sensing mechanisms used by each device.

This patent highlights the Department of Computer Science’s continued contributions to research in wearable technology, cybersecurity and biometric authentication.