Wireless device pairing

• US 9,210,727 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2014
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BBY Solutions Incorporated (Best Buy Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: BBY Solutions Incorporated (Best Buy Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Widner, Steven W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bilodeau, David
• Application Number:
  US14/243,243
• Publication Number:
  US 20150289298A1
• Time in Patent Office: 615 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/086 Portable receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3827 Portable transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3883 Arrangements for mounting batteries or battery chargers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• 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 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Generally discussed herein are wireless systems, apparatuses, and methods for pairing a device and a base station. For example, the disclosed techniques may enable communication between a headphone base station (broadcasting an audio signal over a wireless channel) and a headphone set device (receiving an audio signal over a wireless channel) that establish communications using one or more identifiers. In some examples, a device or base station identifier maintained at the base station or device, respectfully, is validated and reprogrammed when it does not match a corresponding provided from the device or base station. In further examples, the validation and reprogramming may occur in response to a condition such as a charging event (such as the placement of the headphone set device onto a charging station provided by the headphone base station).

Claims

1. A base station comprising:

a radio receiver adapted to receive a first device identifier (ID) transmitted from a radio transmitter of a device;

a radio transmitter adapted to transmit communications to a radio receiver of the device, wherein the communications to the radio receiver of the device utilize a device ID value;

a memory including a second device ID; and

a device ID reprogramming module adapted to;

in response to detecting a condition for verifying the second device ID, determine whether the first device ID received from the device matches the second device ID stored in the memory; and

in response to determining the first device ID received from the device does not match the second device ID stored in the memory, cause the second device ID in the memory to be reprogrammed with the first device ID, resulting in subsequent communications to the radio receiver of the device to utilize the first device ID as the device ID value.

2. The base station of claim 1, further comprising a charging connection feature and charge circuitry, the charge circuitry adapted to charge a battery of the device in response to the charging connection feature of the base station establishing a charging connection with the device.

3. The base station of claim 2, wherein the condition for verifying the second device ID occurs in response to the charging connection feature of the base station establishing a charging connection with the device.

4. The base station of claim 1, wherein the radio receiver is further adapted to receive a first base station identifier (ID) transmitted from the radio transmitter of the device, and wherein the memory of the base station stores a second base station ID;

the base station further comprising a base station ID reprogramming module adapted to;

in response to detecting a condition for verifying the first base station ID, determine whether the first base station ID received from the device matches the second base station ID stored in the memory of the base station; and

in response to determining the first base station ID received from the device does not match the second base station ID stored in the memory of the base station, cause the device to be reprogrammed with the second base station ID.

5. The base station of claim 4, wherein the second device ID is stored in a programmable non-volatile memory of the base station, and wherein the first base station ID is stored in a programmable non-volatile memory of the device.

6. The base station of claim 5, wherein the first device ID is stored in a pre-programmed read-only memory (ROM) of the device, and wherein the second base station ID is stored in a pre-programmed read-only memory (ROM) of the base station.

7. The base station of claim 1, further comprising an indicator light, the indicator light adapted to change state in response to determining that the first device ID matches the second device ID.

8. The base station of claim 1, wherein the first device ID received from the device includes a 12-digit hexadecimal Medium Access Control (MAC) address.

9. The base station of claim 1, wherein the radio receiver and the radio transmitter are adapted to communicate using a frequency in an Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) radio band.

10. The base station of claim 1, wherein the base station is a headphone audio transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit a digital audio signal to the device, and wherein the device is a battery-powered headphone set including speakers adapted to generate output of the digital audio signal, the digital audio signal communicated to the device with use of the first device ID.

11. A method comprising:

receiving, at a base station and from a device via a wireless communication, a first device identifier (ID) stored in a memory of the device;

detecting, using a processor, a condition for verifying the first device ID received from the device;

determining, using the processor, whether the first device ID received from the device matches a second device ID stored in a memory of the base station; and

in response to determining that the first device ID received from the device does not match the second device ID stored in the base station, causing a memory location in the memory of the base station to be reprogrammed with the first device ID received from the device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining that the base station is electrically connected to the device through a charging connection feature of the base station before causing the memory location to be reprogrammed.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising charging a battery of the device using charging circuitry of the base station in response to determining the charging connection feature is electrically connected to the device.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, with a second wireless communication at the base station and from the device, a first base station ID stored in the memory of the device;

determining, using the processor, whether the first base station ID matches a second base station ID stored in the memory of the base station; and

in response to determining the first base station ID received from the device does not match the second base station ID stored in the memory of the base station, causing a memory location in the memory of the device to be reprogrammed with the second base station ID.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the memory location of the base station is maintained in a programmable non-volatile memory within the base station, and wherein the memory location of the device is maintained in a programmable non-volatile memory within the device.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising changing a state of an indicator light of the base station in response to determining the first device ID matches the second device ID and determining the first base station ID matches the second base station ID.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the memory of the base station includes the second device ID stored thereon at the memory location and wherein causing the memory location of the base station to be reprogrammed includes replacing the second device ID with a value from the first device ID at the memory location.

18. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon, the instructions, which when executed by a base station machine, cause the base station machine to perform operations comprising:

processing, from a wireless connection with a device, a received first device identifier (ID), the first device ID originating from a memory of the device;

detecting a condition for verifying the first device ID;

determining whether the first device ID matches a second device ID stored in a memory of the base station machine; and

in response to determining that the first device ID does not match the second device ID, causing a memory location in the memory of the base station machine to be reprogrammed to a value of the first device ID.

19. The machine readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions further cause the base station machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving, over the wireless connection at the base station machine and from the device, a first base station ID stored in the memory of the device;

determining whether the first base station ID received from the device matches a second base station ID stored in the memory of the base station machine; and

in response to determining that the first base station ID received from the device does not match the second base station ID stored in the memory of the base station machine, causing a memory location in the memory of the device to be reprogrammed to a value of the second base station ID.

20. The machine readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the base station machine to perform operations comprising:

determining that the base station machine is electrically connected to the device through a charging connection feature of the base station machine before causing the memory location of the base station machine to be reprogrammed or causing the memory location of the device to be reprogrammed.