METHOD OF PAIRING WIRELESS DEVICES

• US 20100255782A1
• Filed: 03/30/2010
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oticon A/S (William Demant Fonden)
• Original Assignee: Oticon A/S (William Demant Fonden)
• Inventors: KLEMMENSEN, Bjarne
• Granted Patent: US 8,554,140 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/41.200
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/20 Binding and programming of remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/27 Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of pairing a first device with a second device, the first and second devices being adapted for wirelessly communicating with each other, the pairing of devices aiming at ensuring communication only between trusted devices. The invention further relates to a communication device, a system, a computer readable medium and a data processing system. The object of the present invention is to provide a simple and intuitive scheme for pairing two wireless devices. The problem is solved by providing in the first device an algorithm comprising at least the following states a) A STANDBY state where the first device is in a default state; b) A CONNECTED state where wireless communication between the first and second devices is established; c) A PAIRING state comprising a pairing search state where pairing inquiries are repeatedly issued by the first device; and further providing that when the first device is NOT in the STANDBY or CONNECTED states, the first device is automatically, repeatedly brought in the pairing search state. This has the advantage of providing an automatic scheme for pairing two wireless devices. The invention may e.g. be used for wireless communication devices, e.g. portable, low-power devices, such as listening systems.

Claims

1. A method of pairing a first device with a second device, the first and second devices being adapted for wirelessly communicating with each other, the pairing of devices aiming at ensuring communication only between trusted devices, the method comprising in the first device providing an algorithm comprising at least the following states

A STANDBY state where the first device is in a default state;

A CONNECTED state where wireless communication between the first and second devices has been established;

A PAIRING state comprising a pairing search state where pairing inquiries are repeatedly issued by the first device; and

providing that when the first device is NOT in the STANDBY or CONNECTED states, the first device is automatically, repeatedly brought in the pairing search state.

2. A method according to claim 1 comprising providing that a transmit power P(Tx-PS) of the first device when in a the pairing search state is smaller than a transmit power P(Tx-Con) when in a CONNECTED state.

3. A method according to claim 2 comprising providing that P(Tx-PS) is at least 5 times smaller than P(Tx-Con), such as at least 10 times smaller, such as at least 50 times smaller, such as at least 100 times smaller, such as at least 200 times smaller.

4. A method according to claim 2 comprising providing that the transmit power P(Tx-PS) of the first device when in a the pairing search state corresponds to a transmission range of pairing RoP smaller than 1 m, such as smaller than 0.5 m, such as smaller than 0.3 m, such as smaller than 0.1 m.

5. A method according to claim 1 comprising providing that the duration of a pairing search state extends for a predefined PS-time.

6. A method according to claim 1 comprising providing that a pairing inquiry issued by the first device comprises a request for identification, ID, of devices receiving the inquiry.

7. A method according to claim 6 comprising providing a record of trusted device IDs with which connection is allowed to be established.

8. A method according to claim 7 comprising providing that a received device ID is compared to a record of trusted device IDs.

9. A method according to claim 1 comprising providing that the method further comprises a CONNECT state comprising a re-connect search state where the first device is ready to receive re-connect pairing requests from other devices.

10. A method according to claim 9 comprising providing that the duration of a re-connect search state extends for a predefined RC-time.

11. A method according to claim 1 comprising providing that the first device is adapted to toggle between the PAIRING state and the CONNECT state when not in the STANDBY or CONNECTED states.

12. A method according to claim 11 comprising providing that the first device is adapted to toggle between the pairing search state and the re-connect search state when not in the STANDBY or CONNECTED states.

13. A method according to claim 1 comprising providing a record of device IDs with which connection has been most recently allowed to be established.

14. A method according to claim 9 comprising providing that a received device ID from a re-connect request from another device is compared to a record of device IDs with which connection has been most recently allowed to be established.

15. A method according to claim 1 comprising creating a record of device IDs for which connection has been most recently rejected to be established.

16. A method according to claim 6 wherein a device ID comprises a MAC address and/or a class-ID, and/or a device name.

17. A method according to claim 1 wherein the first device is brought in the pairing search state at regular intervals in time, e.g. more frequently than every 5 minutes, such as more frequently than every minute, such as more frequently than every 15 s, such as more frequently than every 5 s, such as more frequently than every 1 s, such as more frequently than every 0.5 s, such as more frequently than every 0.25 s.

18. A method according to claim 1 wherein the first device is repeatedly brought in the pairing search state in that it is toggling between a pairing search state and a re-connect state and/or a STANDBY state according to a predefined scheme, e.g. regularly.

19. A tangible computer-readable medium storing a computer program comprising program code means for causing a data processing system to perform the steps of the method of claim 1, when said computer program is executed on the data processing system.

20. A data processing system comprising a processor and program code means for causing the processor to perform the steps of the method of claim 1.