MEDIA ACCESS CONTROL (MAC) ADDRESS IDENTIFICATION

• US 20170150488A1
• Filed: 11/24/2015
• Published: 05/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Original Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Inventors: Young, Douglas W., Patel, Hiren Harshad, Gupta, Prateek, Patil, Naganagouda B.
• Granted Patent: US 10,123,333 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/313 using a call-back technique via a telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/43 wireless channels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2103 Challenge-response
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/622 Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
• 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 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/19 Connection re-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The technology described in this document can be embodied in a method that includes establishing a first wireless communication channel between a first device and a second device. The method also includes accessing, by an application executing on the first device, a transmitter of a first device to transmit to a second device one or more signals configured to cause an occurrence of an event on the second device. The one or more signals are transmitted over a second wireless communication channel between the first device and the second device. The method further includes receiving, from the second device over the first wireless communication channel, information representing a media access control (MAC) address of the first device, and storing, on a storage device accessible by the first device, a representation of the MAC address of the first device. The MAC address is associated with the second wireless communication channel.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

establishing a first wireless communication channel between a first device and a second device;

accessing, by an application executing on the first device, a transmitter of a first device to transmit over a second wireless communication channel between the first device and a second device, one or more signals configured to cause an occurrence of an event on the second device;

receiving, from the second device over the first wireless communication channel, information representing a media access control (MAC) address of the first device, the MAC address being associated with the second wireless communication channel; and

storing, on a storage device accessible by the first device, a representation of the MAC address of the first device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless communication channel is established in accordance with a first wireless standard, and the second wireless communication channel is established in accordance with a second wireless standard that is different from the first wireless standard.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first wireless standard is Bluetooth®

Low Energy (BLE) and the second wireless standard is Bluetooth®

Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more signals configured to cause an occurrence of an event on the second device identifies the MAC address of the first device to the second device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more signals are transmitted within a predetermined time window following establishment of the first wireless communication channel.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the application is configured to access the transmitter via an Application Programming Interface (API) that interfaces between the application and an operating system of the first device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a third device, information on a list of one or more MAC addresses corresponding to one or more devices that the third device is connected to;

accessing the storage device to retrieve the MAC address of the first device; and

determining that the third device is connected to the first device based on determining that the list includes the MAC address of the first device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

presenting a representation of the third device on a user interface of the application executing on the first device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is a media player and the second device is a wireless-enabled audio device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the event comprises a change in volume of an acoustic output of the wireless-enabled audio device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the change in volume is in accordance with a predetermined pattern.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein a magnitude of change in the volume is lower than a threshold associated with human perception to changes in acoustic outputs.

13. A method comprising:

receiving, at a second device, a notification of establishment of a first wireless communication channel with a first device;

receiving, from the first device over a second wireless communication channel different from the first wireless communication channel, one or more signals configured to cause an event on a second device;

determining that the event matches an expected event; and

transmitting, from the second device over the first wireless communication channel and responsive to determining that the event matches the expected event, information representing a media access control (MAC) address of the first device, the MAC address being associated with a second wireless communication channel between the first device and the second device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the information representing the MAC address of the first device is transmitted from the second device responsive to receiving the one or more signals within a predetermined time window.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the predetermined time window is calculated from a point at which the second device receives the notification of establishment of the first wireless communication channel with the first device.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the first wireless communication channel is established in accordance with a first wireless standard, and the second wireless communication channel is established in accordance with a second wireless standard that is different from the first wireless standard.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first wireless standard is Bluetooth®

Low Energy (BLE) and the second wireless standard is Bluetooth®

Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR).

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more signals configured to cause an occurrence of an event on the second device identifies the MAC address of the first device to the second device.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

retrieving the MAC address of the first device from a storage location associated with the second device.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the first device is a media player and the second device is a wireless-enabled audio device.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the event comprises a change in volume of an acoustic output of the wireless-enabled audio device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the change in volume is in accordance with a predetermined pattern.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein a magnitude of change in the volume is lower than a threshold associated with human perception to changes in acoustic outputs.

24. A wireless-enabled device comprising:

a wireless protocol engine configured to establish a first wireless communication channel between a first device and a second device; and

one or more processing devices configured to;

execute an application that accesses a transmitter of a first device to transmit over a second wireless communication channel between the first device and a second device, one or more signals configured to cause an occurrence of an event on the second device,

receive, from the second device over the first wireless communication channel and via the wireless protocol engine, information representing a media access control (MAC) address of the first device, the MAC address being associated with the second wireless communication channel, and

access a storage device to store a representation of the MAC address of the first device.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein the first wireless communication channel is established in accordance with a first wireless standard, and the second wireless communication channel is established in accordance with a second wireless standard that is different from the first wireless standard.

26. The device of claim 25, wherein the first wireless standard is Bluetooth®

Low Energy (BLE) and the second wireless standard is Bluetooth®

Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR).

27. The device of claim 24, wherein the one or more signals are transmitted within a predetermined time window following establishment of the first wireless communication channel.

28. A wireless-enabled device comprising:

a wireless protocol engine configured to;

receive a notification of establishment of a first wireless communication channel with a remote device, and

receive from the remote device over a second wireless communication channel different from the first wireless communication channel, one or more signals configured to cause an event on the wireless-enabled device; and

a control engine comprising one or more processing devices, the control engine configured to;

determine that the event matches an expected event, and

cause, responsive to determining that the event matches the expected event, a transmission via the wireless protocol engine and over the first wireless communication channel, the transmission including information representing a media access control (MAC) address of the remote device, the MAC address being associated with a second wireless communication channel between the remote device and the wireless-enabled device.

29. The device of claim 28, wherein the information representing the MAC address of the remote device is transmitted from the wireless-enabled device responsive to receiving the one or more signals within a predetermined time window.

30. The device of claim 28, wherein the first wireless communication channel is established in accordance with Bluetooth®

Low Energy (BLE) standard, and the second wireless communication channel is established in accordance with Bluetooth®

Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR) standard.