RESOURCE-LIMITED DEVICE INTERACTIVITY WITH CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS

• US 20160127179A1
• Filed: 03/18/2013
• Published: 05/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABL IP Holding LLC (Acuity Brands, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Emmoco, Inc. (Shelfbucks, Inc.)
• Inventors: Walden, Charles, Frankel, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 10,284,422 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/509 Offload
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/00 Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units program control for peripheral devices G06F13/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/681 using addresses for wireless personal area networks or wireless sensor networks, e.g. Zigbee addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/00 Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications user-to-user messaging H04L51/00; network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/041 Key generation or derivation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/0431 Key distribution or pre-distribution; Key agreement

Abstract

Resource limited devices may be provided with a communications module enabling the resource limited device to communicate with a more powerful user computing system using a personal area networking protocol. The communications with the user computing system may be used to configure the resource limited device and/or its communications module to communicate with a remote computing system using a local or wide area networking protocol. This technology may shift processing functions that cannot be performed by resource-limited processors of the electronic device to more powerful computing systems, including, but not limited to cloud based systems. Bridges may also coordinate communications between multiple resource limited devices and the more powerful computing systems. Shifting these processing functions to more powerful computing systems may avoid the need for device manufacturers to include more expensive processors and may reduce device manufacturing costs. Devices and methods are provided.

Claims

1. A communication module comprising:

an interface to a microcontroller of a resource limited device; and

a transmitter-receiver configured to initially receive configuration data from a first computing system using a first communications protocol, and thereafter transmit resource limited device data obtained from the interface to a second computing system using a second communications protocol;

wherein the configuration data specifies at least one configuration setting for communicating with the second computing system using the second communications protocol.

2. The communications module of claim 1, further comprising a memory storing the configuration data, wherein the transmitter-receiver is further configured to transmit information about the communications module to the first communication system, receive resource limited device data from the second computing system, and send the received resource limited device data to the resource limited device through the interface.

3. The communications module of claim 2, wherein the resource limited device information transmitted by the transmitter-receiver to the first computing system is an identifier of the resource limited device and the configuration data received by the transmitter-receiver from the first computing system is an encryption key for communicating with the second computing system.

4. The communications module of claim 2, wherein the resource limited device information transmitted by the transmitter-receiver to the first computing system is an identifier of a network interface of the communications module and the configuration data received by the transmitter-receiver from the first computing system is an address of the second computing system.

5. The communications module of claim 2, wherein the resource limited device information transmitted by the transmitter-receiver to the first computing system is a media access control address of the communications module and the configuration data received by the transmitter-receiver from the first computing system is a network setting connecting the communications module to a communications network providing connectivity to the second computing system.

6. The communications module of claim 5, wherein the transmitter-receiver is further configured to transmit media access control address information about the resource limited device to the first communication system, receive resource limited device data from the second computing system, and send the received resource limited device data to the resource limited device through the interface.

7. The communications module of claim 1, wherein the first computing system is a portable computing device, the first communications protocol is a personal area network protocol, the second computing system is a remote system accessible over a communications network, and the second communications protocol is a local area network protocol.

8. The communications module of claim 5, wherein the personal area network protocol is a Bluetooth protocol and the local area network protocol is a Wi-Fi protocol.

9. The communications module of claim 6, wherein the second computing system is a cloud based system accessible over the Internet.

10. The communications module of claim 1, wherein the link is a serial link between the communications module and the microcontroller of the resource limited device.

11. A resource limited device comprising:

a microcontroller controlling an operation of the resource limited device;

a communications module linked to the microcontroller;

a memory storing an identifier of the resource limited device and an encryption key;

a receiver in the communications module configured to (i) receive the encryption key and a configuration setting for a second communications protocol from a first computing system separate from the resource limited device using a first communications protocol, (ii) store the received encryption key and configuration setting in the memory, (iii) receive data from a second computing system over a communications network using a second communications protocol, and (iv) send the received data to the resource limited device through the link; and

a transmitter in the communications module configured to (i) transmit the stored identifier of the resource limited device to the first computing system using the first communications protocol before the encryption key is received at the receiver, and (ii) transmit data from the resource limited device obtained through the link to the second computing system over the communications network using the second communications protocol after the second communications protocol is configured at the resource limited device with the configuration setting.

12. The resource limited device of claim 11, wherein the first computing system:

generates and transmits a first public and a first private encryption key to the resource limited device that are stored in the memory;

presents a user with a user interface for providing the configuration setting for the second communications protocol;

transmits the user provided configuration setting for the second communications protocol to the resource limited device using the first communications protocol; and

transmits the stored identifier of the resource limited device to the second computing system using a third protocol to register the resource limited device at the second computing system.

13. The resource limited device of claim 12, wherein:

the first computing system presents the user with a user interface for providing registration information to the second computing system and transmits the user provided registration information to the second computing system; and

the second computing system registers the resource limited device based on the user provided registration information and the stored identifier and transmits a public encryption key of the second computing system to the resource limited device.

14. The resource limited device of claim 13, wherein the second computing system transmits the public encryption key of the second computing system to the resource limited device via the first computing system.

15. A bridge comprising:

at least one first transmitter-receiver configured to communicate with a plurality of resource limited devices using a first communications protocol;

at least one second transmitter-receiver configured to communicate with a user computing device using a second communications protocol;

at least one third transmitter-receiver configured to communicate with a remote system over a communications network using a third communications protocol;

a converter for converting data between the protocols; and

a controller for scheduling data transmissions from the bridge;

wherein;

the at least one first transmitter-receiver receives an identifier of the resource limited device from a resource limited device using the first protocol;

the at least one second transmitter-receiver transmits the identifier to the first computing system using the second protocol after conversion by the converter;

the at least one second transmitter-receiver receives an encryption key and a configuration setting for said resource limited device using the second protocol;

the at least one first transmitter-receiver transmits the encryption key to said resource limited device using the first protocol;

the at least one first transmitter-receiver receives a request from said resource limited device to communicate with the remote system

the at least one third transmitter-receiver transmits data to or receives data from the remote system relating to said resource limited device over the communications network using the third protocol configured according to the configuration setting, wherein at least one segment of the data is encrypted based on the encryption key.

16. The bridge of claim 15, wherein the first protocol is a Bluetooth non-low energy protocol;

the second protocol is a Bluetooth low energy protocol, the third protocol is a WiFi protocol, the communication network is the Internet, and the configuration setting is a setting for communicating with the remote system through a websocket application programming interface (API) of the remote system.

17. A method, comprising:

transmitting, at a transmitter of a communications module connected to a resource limited device, an identifier of the resource limited device to a first computing system using a first communications protocol;

receiving from the first computing system using the first communications protocol at a receiver of the communications module connected to the resource limited device an encryption key and a configuration setting for communicating with a second computer system over a communications network using a second communications protocol;

storing the encryption key;

configuring communications with the second computing system with the received configuration setting; and

transmitting and receiving data between the resource limited device and the second computing system over the communications network using the second communications protocol after the configuring.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein at least some of the data is encrypted based on the encryption key.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving a first public and private encryption key from the first computing system for the resource limited device, the first public and private key generated by the first computing system;

encrypting communications to the second computing system using a second public encryption key of the second computing system; and

decrypting encrypted communications from the second computing system using the first private encryption key;

wherein the first computing system transmits the first public key and identifier of the resource limited device to the second computing system using a third protocol to register the resource limited device at the second computing system.

20. The resource limited device of claim 19, further comprising:

registering the resource limited device with the second computing system via the first computing system; and

receiving the second public encryption key of the second computing system from the first computing system using the first protocol.