CONFIGURATION CONNECTION DEVICE

• US 20140376528A1
• Filed: 06/21/2013
• Published: 12/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Savant Systems, LLC
• Original Assignee: Savant Systems, LLC
• Inventors: Madonna, Robert, Silva, Michael, Noonan, Michael, Haflett, Cory, Eisenberg, Zev, Avelar, Duarte, Aguiar, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 9,736,616 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• 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 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/26 using dedicated tools for LAN [Local Area Network] management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/0471 Key exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission

Abstract

In one embodiment, a connection device couples a mobile device having a touch-sensitive display screen to a component of home automation system. The connection device couples a wired serial communication interface of the mobile device to a wired serial communication interface of the component. The mobile device executes a configuration application (app), whose a user interface is displayed on the touch-sensitive display screen. Using the user interface, a user may configure the component to join a Wi-Fi network, as well as configure more advanced settings of the component. Similarly, in response to further input on the user interface, the configuration app on the mobile device may send additional control commands via the connection device, or the Wi-Fi network, to the component, to configure additional settings of the component.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a component of a home automation system that initially is inaccessible on a Wi-Fi network, comprising:

executing a configuration application (app) on a mobile device having a touch-sensitive display screen, a user interface of the configuration app being displayed to a user on the touch-sensitive display screen;

coupling the mobile device to the component of the home automation system via a connection device, the connection device connecting a wired serial communication interface of the mobile device to a wired serial communication interface of the component;

in response to input entered in the user interface being displayed on the touch-sensitive display screen, sending control signals from the mobile device to the component via the connection device to configure Wi-Fi settings of the component to cause the component join the Wi-Fi network;

in response to further input entered in the user interface being displayed on the touch-sensitive display screen, sending additional control signals from the mobile device to the component via the connection device or the Wi-Fi network to configure additional settings of the now Wi-Fi accessible component.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending additional control signals sends the additional control signals via the Wi-Fi network to the component.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the wired serial communication interface of the mobile device is a Lightning interface and the wired serial communication interface of the component is an RS232 interface.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the wired serial communication interface of the mobile device is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface and the wired serial communication interface of the component is an RS232 interface.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device operates as a controller node, the connection device operates as a transparent middle node and the component operates as a subordinate node, and packets sent from the controller nod to the transparent middle node include a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) pass-through command to cause transparent middle node to send the packets from a UART to the subordinate node.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the home automation system controls lighting devices, and the component is a lighting controller.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the component is a keypad.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing a control app on the mobile device, the control app configured to control ongoing operation of the home automation system after the Wi-Fi settings and additional settings of the component have been configured.

10. A system for configuring a component of a home automation system that initially is inaccessible on a Wi-Fi network, comprising:

a mobile device having a processor, a memory, a wired serial communication interface, and a touch sensitive display screen, wherein the memory is configured to store a configuration application (app), the touch sensitive display screen is configured to show a user interface of the configuration app, and the processor is configured to execute the configuration app, and the configuration app, when executed, is configured to send control commands to over the wired serial communication interface in response to input entered in the user interface, the control commands to configure Wi-Fi settings of the component of the home automation system to cause the component to join the Wi-Fi network; and

a connection device coupled to the wired serial communication interface of the mobile device and a wired serial communication interface of the component, the connection device configured to operate as a transparent middle node between the mobile device and the component and propagate the control commands there between,

wherein the configuration app, when executed, is further operable to send additional control signals to the component via the Wi-Fi network to configure additional settings of the now Wi-Fi accessible component, in response to further input entered in the user interface.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the wired serial communication interface of the mobile device is a Lightning interface and the wired serial communication interface of the component is an RS232 interface.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the wired serial communication interface of the mobile device is a universal serial bus (USB) interface and the wired serial communication interface of the component is an RS232 interface.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the mobile device is configured to send packets to the connection device that include a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) pass-through command, and the connection device, in response passes the packets out a UART.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the home automation system controls lighting devices, and the component is a lighting controller.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the component is a keypad.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the memory of the mobile device is further configured to store a control app, the control app, when executed by the processor of the mobile device, to control ongoing operation of the home automation system after the Wi-Fi settings and additional settings of the component have been configured.

18. A mobile device for configuring a component of a home automation system that initially is inaccessible on a Wi-Fi network, comprising:

a touch sensitive display screen;

a wired communication interface,

a Wi-Fi interface;

a memory configured to store a configuration application (app),

a processor configured to execute the configuration app, the configuration app, when executed, operable to

send control signals from the mobile device over the wired communication interface to configure Wi-Fi settings of the component of the home automation system to cause the component to join the Wi-Fi network, in response to input entered on the touch sensitive display screen, and

send additional control signals from the mobile device to the now Wi-Fi accessible component via the Wi-Fi network to configure additional settings of the now Wi-Fi accessible component, in response to further input entered on the touch sensitive display screen.

19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone.

20. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein component is a lighting controller.