Device to device connection setup using near-field communication

• US 8,224,246 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2010
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Bacioccola, Andrea, Suumäki, Jan
• Primary Examiner(s): Yun, Eugene
• Application Number:
  US12/776,874
• Publication Number:
  US 20110275316A1
• Time in Patent Office: 799 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.3, 455/411, 455/436
• US Class Current: 455/41.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10237 the reader and the record carrier being capable of selectively switching between reader and record carrier appearance, e.g. in near field communication [NFC] devices where the NFC device may function as an RFID reader or as an RFID tag
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• 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 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/10 Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
• 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

Abstract

Example method, apparatus, and computer program product embodiments are disclosed to enable near-field communication to be used in out-of-band initialization methods for connection setup for device-to-device communication. Example embodiments of the invention include a method comprising the steps of initiating, by a first device, an out-of-band near-field communication connection with a second device by transmitting wireless communication signals including necessary power for providing the near-field communication connection; sending a first short-range communication connection parameters for role determination, to the second device via the out-of-band near-field communication connection; receiving second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination, from the second device via the out-of-band near-field communication connection; selecting a role for the short-range communication connection by adopting short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that correspond to the role; discarding short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that are not adopted; and initiating the short-range communication connection according to the selected role using the adopted short-range communication connection parameters for role determination.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

initiating, by a first device, an out-of-band near-field communication connection with a second device by transmitting wireless communication signals for providing the near-field communication connection;

sending first short-range communication connection parameters for role determination, to the second device via the out-of-band near-field communication connection;

receiving second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination, from the second device via the out-of-band near-field communication connection;

selecting a role for the short-range communication connection by adopting one of the first or the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that corresponds to the selected role;

discarding one of the first or the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that is not adopted; and

initiating the short-range communication connection according to the selected role using the adopted one of the first or the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the out-of-band near-field communication connection is based on an NFC Forum Logical Link Control Protocol and the first and second devices use an NFC Forum Connection Handover protocol to exchange the first and second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein an NFC handover request message sent to the second device in the NFC Forum Connection Handover protocol, includes an NDEF record to carry the parameters for role determination.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the parameters for role determination are carried in a carrier configuration data credential in a carrier data NDEF record.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the short-range communication connection is an IEEE 802.11 wireless network and the carrier configuration data credential includes an IEEE 802.11 Service Set Identifier, authentication and encryption type deployed by the wireless network, a network key that a wireless station needs to authenticate with the network, and a MAC address of a device receiving the configuration, if known.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the parameters for role determination are carried in an auxiliary data NDEF record.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein an NFC handover select message received from the second device in the NFC Forum Connection Handover protocol, includes an NDEF record to carry the parameters for role determination.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the parameters for role determination are carried in a carrier configuration data credential in a carrier data NDEF record.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the short-range communication connection is an IEEE 802.11 wireless network and the carrier configuration data credential includes an IEEE 802.11 Service Set Identifier, authentication and encryption type deployed by the wireless network, a network key that a wireless station needs to authenticate with the network, and a MAC address of a device receiving the configuration, if known.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the parameters for role determination are carried in an auxiliary data NDEF record.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device selects a registrar role for the short-range communication connection by adopting short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that correspond to the registrar role and discards the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that are not adopted.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device selects an enrollee role for the short-range communication connection by adopting short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that correspond to the enrollee role and discards the first short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that are not adopted.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting a role for the short-range communication connection is made by negotiation over the out-of-band near-field communication connection, based on information in the first and second short-range communication connection parameters exchanged with the second device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting a role for the short-range communication connection is made by negotiation over both the out-of-band near-field communication connection and over the short-range communication connection, based on information in the first and second short-range communication connection parameters exchanged with the second device.

15. A device, comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the device at least to;

initiate an out-of-band near-field communication connection with a second device by transmitting wireless communication signals for providing the near-field communication connection;

send first short-range communication connection parameters for role determination, to the second device via the out-of-band near-field communication connection;

receive second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination, from the second device via the out-of-band near-field communication connection;

select a role for the short-range communication connection by adopting one of the first or the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that corresponds to the selected role;

discard one of the first or the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that is not adopted; and

initiate the short-range communication connection according to the selected role using the adopted one of the first or the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the out-of-band near-field communication connection is based on an NFC Forum Logical Link Control Protocol and the wireless and second devices use an NFC Forum Connection Handover protocol to exchange the first and second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the short-range communication connection is an IEEE 802.11 wireless network and the short-range communication connection parameters for role determination include an IEEE 802.11 Service Set Identifier, authentication and encryption type deployed by the wireless network, a network key that a wireless station needs to authenticate with the network, and a MAC address of a device receiving the configuration, if known.

18. The device of claim 15, wherein the device further comprises a near-field communication device using a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology enabling the exchange of data with the second device.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the short-range high frequency wireless communication technology is an extension of ISO/IEC 14443 proximity-card standard that combines an interface of a smartcard and a reader into a single device.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the device uses ISO/IEC 18092 communication standard to enable two-way communication with the second device.

21. The device of claim 15, wherein the device includes a radio frequency identification transponder and a radio frequency identification reader circuit associated as a unitary component capable of two-way communication.

22. A computer readable non-transitory medium storing program instructions, which when executed by a computer processor, perform the steps comprising:

initiating an out-of-band near-field communication connection with a second device by transmitting wireless communication signals for providing the near-field communication connection;

sending first short-range communication connection parameters for role determination, to the second device via the out-of-band near-field communication connection;

receiving second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination, from the second device via the out-of-band near-field communication connection;

selecting a role for the short-range communication connection by adopting one of the first or the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that corresponds to the selected role;

discarding one of the first or the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that is not adopted; and

initiating the short-range communication connection according to the selected role using the adopted one of the first or the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination.

23. The computer readable non-transitory medium storing program instructions of claim 22, which when executed by a computer processor, perform the step further comprising:

selecting a registrar role by adopting the first short-range communication connection parameters and discarding the second short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that are not adopted.

24. The computer readable non-transitory medium storing program instructions of claim 22, which when executed by a computer processor, perform the step further comprising:

selecting an enrollee role by adopting the second short-range communication connection parameters and discarding the first short-range communication connection parameters for role determination that are not adopted.