Smart-home device facilitating convenient setup of plural instances thereof in the smart home

• US 10,015,825 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2017
• Issued: 07/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Logue, Jay, Erickson, Grant, Tinkoff, Roger, Sloo, David, Fadell, Anthony M., Rogers, Matthew L., Boyd, Jeffrey A., Simister, James B.
• Primary Examiner(s): BLOUNT, ERIC
• Application Number:
  US15/458,768
• Publication Number:
  US 20170202039A1
• Time in Patent Office: 476 Days
• Field of Search: 340628-632
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/003 Address allocation methods and details
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 7/066 guiding along a path, e.g. evacuation path lighting strip
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2807 Exchanging configuration information on appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving network analysis for automatically determining the actual topology of a network H04L41/12; hardware or software tools for network management using graphical user interfaces H04L41/22; address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/18 using different networks or channels, e.g. using out of band channels cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving distinctive intermediate devices or communication paths H04L9/0827; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for authentication using a plurality of channels H04L9/3215
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1036 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 : Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 : Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 : Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A method for using a first device to pair a second device to a user account may include receiving first wireless communications using a first wireless protocol, where the first device has previously been paired with the user account. The method may also include receiving a transmission that instructs the first device to establish second wireless communications with the second device, and then establishing the second wireless communications between the first device and the second device using a second wireless protocol. The method may additionally include receiving, using the first wireless protocol, information allowing the second device to use the first wireless protocol, and sending the information to the second device using the second wireless protocol, where a new pairing between the second device and the user account is established using the first wireless protocol.

Claims

1. A method for using a first smart-home device to pair a second smart-home device to a user account, the method comprising:

receiving, by the first smart-home device, first wireless communications, wherein the first wireless communications use a first wireless protocol, and wherein the first smart-home device has previously been paired with the user account;

receiving, by the first smart-home device, a transmission that instructs the first smart-home device to establish second wireless communications between the first smart-home device and the second smart-home device;

establishing, between the first smart-home device and the second smart-home device, the second wireless communications, wherein the second wireless communications use a second wireless protocol;

receiving, by the first smart-home device, and using the first wireless protocol, information allowing the second smart-home device to use the first wireless protocol; and

sending, by the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device, and using the second wireless protocol, the information allowing the second smart-home device to use the first wireless protocol;

whereby a new pairing between the second smart-home device and the user account is established using the first wireless protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless protocol comprises a 802.11 Wi-Fi compliant protocol, and the second wireless protocol comprises a IEEE 802.15.4 compliant protocol.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing the new pairing between the second smart-home device and the user account comprises establishing wireless communication between the second smart-home device and a user account server using the first wireless protocol.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information allowing the second smart-home device to use the first wireless protocol comprises network credentials that are provided by an application operating on a mobile computing device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a language for the second smart-home device based on a geographic location of the second smart-home device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless communications are received by the first smart-home device from a mobile phone.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing, by the first smart-home device, one or more audible voice commands to a user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission that instructs the first smart-home device to establish second wireless communications between the first smart-home device and the second smart-home device comprises a voice command.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first smart-home device and/or the second smart-home device are battery-powered.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first smart-home device and/or second smart-home device comprises one or more of:

a network-connected appliance, a refrigerator, a stove, an oven, a television, a washer, a dryer, a light, a stereo, an intercom system, a garage-door opener, a floor fan, a ceiling fan, a wall air conditioner, a pool heater, an irrigation system, or a security system.

11. A first smart-home device for pairing a second smart-home device to a user account, the first smart-home device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory devices comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by the first smart-home device, first wireless communications, wherein the first wireless communications use a first wireless protocol, and wherein the first smart-home device has previously been paired with the user account;

receiving, by the first smart-home device, a transmission that instructs the first smart-home device to establish second wireless communications between the first smart-home device and the second smart-home device;

establishing, between the first smart-home device and the second smart-home device, the second wireless communications, wherein the second wireless communications use a second wireless protocol;

receiving, by the first smart-home device, and using the first wireless protocol, information allowing the second smart-home device to use the first wireless protocol; and

sending, by the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device, and using the second wireless protocol, the information allowing the second smart-home device to use the first wireless protocol;

whereby a new pairing between the second smart-home device and the user account is established using the first wireless protocol.

12. The first smart-home device of claim 11, wherein sending the information allowing the second smart-home device to use the first wireless protocol comprises creating a data tunnel between (i) the first smart-home device and a computing device using the first wireless protocol, and (ii) between the first-smart-home device and the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol.

13. The first smart-home device of claim 12, wherein the information allowing the second smart-home device to use the first wireless protocol is passed through the data tunnel from the computing device to the second smart-home device.

14. The first smart-home device of claim 12, wherein the second smart-home device is authenticated using a device code that is sent from the computing device to the second smart-home device through the data tunnel.

15. The first smart-home device of claim 11, wherein the one or more memory devices comprise additional instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform additional operations comprising:

receiving, by the first smart-home device, and using the first wireless protocol, a pairing code originating from an account server; and

transmitting, using the second wireless protocol, the pairing code from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device, wherein the pairing code allows the second smart-home device to pair with the user account at an account server.

16. The first smart-home device of claim 11, wherein the first wireless communications are received by the first smart-home device from a mobile phone.

17. The first smart-home device of claim 11, wherein the one or more memory devices comprise additional instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform additional operations comprising:

providing, by the first smart-home device, one or more audible voice commands to a user.

18. The first smart-home device of claim 11, wherein the transmission that instructs the first smart-home device to establish second wireless communications between the first smart-home device and the second smart-home device comprises a voice command.

19. The first smart-home device of claim 11, wherein the first smart-home device and/or the second smart-home device are battery-powered.

20. The first smart-home device of claim 11, wherein the first smart-home device and/or second smart-home device comprises one or more of:

a network-connected appliance, a refrigerator, a stove, an oven, a television, a washer, a dryer, a light, a stereo, an intercom system, a garage-door opener, a floor fan, a ceiling fan, a wall air conditioner, a pool heater, an irrigation system, or a security system.