System and method of managing pairing information associated with peer-to-peer device pairings

• US 8,954,003 B2
• Filed: 10/18/2011
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Chen, Shi Harry
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tuan H
• Application Number:
  US13/276,078
• Publication Number:
  US 20130095753A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,211 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/412.1, 455/418, 455/420, 455/466, 370/310, 370/313
• US Class Current: 455/41.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/00 Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/00 Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field H04B10/00, H04B15/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1072 Discovery involving ranked list compilation of candidate peers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• 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 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/19 Connection re-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/30 Connection release
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

Systems and methods of managing pairing information associated with peer-to-peer device pairings are disclosed herein. The pairing information can include link keys or other configuration data associated with the peer-to-peer device pairing. The system can detect that a first electronic device has paired with a second electronic device via a peer-to-peer device pairing connection. The first electronic device can store pairing information associated with the peer-to-peer device pairing. The system can determine a first time associated with when the peer-to-peer device pairing terminates. For example, the system can determine that a peer-to-peer activity has terminated, that a timeout period has elapsed, or any other event indicative of a termination of a peer-to-peer device pairing. In response to the determination of the first time associated with when the peer-to-peer device pairing terminates, the system can delete the pairing information, thereby efficiently utilizing the storage medium of the first computing device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting a peer-to-peer device pairing for a device, the device storing pairing information including a link key associated with the peer-to-peer device pairing;

determining a first instance when the peer-to-peer device pairing terminates;

in response to determining termination of the peer-to-peer device pairing, automatically deleting the pairing information and rendering a user-selectable icon on the device to re-establish the peer-to-peer device pairing using one of the pairing information or second pairing information; and

storing the corresponding pairing information or the second pairing information upon receiving a command to re-establish the peer-to-peer device pairing;

in response to determining the peer-to-peer device pairing is not terminated, prompting whether to save the pairing information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the peer-to-peer device pairing is performed using one of a Bluetooth device pairing, a near-field communication device pairing, and a near-field communication-peer-to-peer device pairing.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first instance associated with when the peer-to-peer device pairing terminates comprises detecting a completion of a peer-to-peer activity.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the peer-to-peer activity includes one of a file transfer, a bandwidth sharing activity, a telephone call, a synchronization activity, a wireless input device activity, and a printing activity.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first instance associated with when the peer-to-peer device pairing terminates comprises detecting a decoupling of a peer-to-peer device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first instance associated with when the peer-to-peer device pairing terminates comprises detecting a period of inactivity exceeding a predetermined timeout period.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a command to save the pairing information;

deleting the pairing information; and

automatically re-establishing the peer-to-peer device pairing using one of the pairing information or second pairing information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the corresponding pairing information or the second pairing information is stored in a permanent storage.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising establishing a permanent peer-to-peer device pairing upon obtaining the command to save the peer-to-peer device pairing.

10. An electronic device comprising:

a display; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the display, the processor configured to execute instructions for;

detecting a peer-to-peer device pairing for a device, the device storing pairing information including a link key associated with the peer-to-peer device pairing;

determining a first instance when the peer-to-peer device pairing terminates;

in response to determining termination of the peer-to-peer device pairing, automatically deleting the pairing information and rendering a user-selectable icon on the device to re-establish the peer-to-peer device pairing using one of the pairing information or second pairing information;

in response to determining the peer-to-peer device pairing is not terminated, prompting whether to save the pairing information; and

storing the corresponding pairing information or the second pairing information upon receiving a command to re-establish the peer-to-peer device pairing.

11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to terminate the peer-to-peer device pairing upon detecting at least one of completion of a peer-to-peer activity, decoupling of a peer-to-peer device, and a period of inactivity exceeding a predetermined timeout period.

12. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions for:

obtaining a command to save the pairing information;

deleting the pairing information; and

automatically re-establishing the peer-to-peer device pairing using one of the pairing information or second pairing information.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions for storing the corresponding pairing information or the second pairing information in a permanent storage.

14. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to display a user-selectable icon prompting whether to save the pairing information.

15. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions to establish a permanent peer-to-peer device pairing upon obtaining the command to save the peer-to-peer device pairing.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause a computing device to perform steps comprising:

detecting a peer-to-peer device pairing for on a device, the device storing pairing information including a link key associated with the peer-to-peer device pairing;

determining a first instance when the peer-to-peer device pairing terminates;

in response to determining termination of the peer-to-peer device pairing, automatically deleting the pairing information and rendering a user-selectable icon on the device to re-establish the peer-to-peer device pairing using one of the pairing information or second pairing information;

in response to determining the peer-to-peer device pairing is not terminated, prompt whether to save the pairing information; and

storing the corresponding pairing information or the second pairing information upon receiving a command to re-establish the peer-to-peer device pairing.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to terminate the peer-to-peer device pairing upon detecting at least one of completion of a peer-to-peer activity, decoupling of a peer-to-peer device, and a period of inactivity exceeding a predetermined timeout period.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to:

obtain a command to save the pairing information;

delete the pairing information; and

automatically re-establish the peer-to-peer device pairing using one of the pairing information or second pairing information.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to execute instructions for storing the corresponding pairing information or the second pairing information in a permanent storage.