Hazard detection unit facilitating convenient setup of plural instances thereof in the smart home

• US 9,332,040 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2014
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Logue, Jay, Erickson, Grant, Tinkoff, Roger, Sloo, David, Fadell, Anthony M., Rogers, Matthew L., Boyd, Jeffrey A., Simister, James B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Blount, Eric
• Application Number:
  US14/508,636
• Publication Number:
  US 20150097689A1
• Time in Patent Office: 574 Days
• Field of Search: 340628-632
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/003 Address allocation methods and details
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 7/066 guiding along a path, e.g. evacuation path lighting strip
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2807 Exchanging configuration information on appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving network analysis for automatically determining the actual topology of a network H04L41/12; hardware or software tools for network management using graphical user interfaces H04L41/22; address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/18 using different networks or channels, e.g. using out of band channels cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving distinctive intermediate devices or communication paths H04L9/0827; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for authentication using a plurality of channels H04L9/3215
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1036 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 : Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 : Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 : Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

include using an application on a mobile device to establish first wireless communications with a first hazard detector that was previously paired with the user account. The method may also include transmitting, to the first hazard detector and using the first wireless protocol, a transmission that instructs the first hazard detector to establish second wireless communications with a second hazard detector, where the second wireless communications use a second wireless protocol. The method may additionally include transmitting network credentials to the first hazard detector using the first wireless protocol, where the credentials are then sent from the first hazard detector to the second hazard detector using the second wireless protocol, such that the second hazard detector can pair with the user account using the first wireless protocol.

Claims

1. A method for pairing two or more hazard detectors with a user account, comprising:

establishing first wireless communications with a first hazard detector, wherein the first wireless communications use a first wireless protocol, and wherein the first hazard detector has previously been paired with the user account;

transmitting, to the first hazard detector, using the first wireless protocol, a transmission that instructs the first hazard detector to establish second wireless communication between the first hazard detector and a second hazard detector, wherein the second wireless communication established between the first hazard detector and the second hazard detector uses a second wireless protocol; and

transmitting, to the first hazard detector, using the first wireless protocol, network credentials for the second hazard detector to join the first wireless protocol, wherein the credentials are sent from the first hazard detector to the second hazard detector using the second wireless protocol;

whereby a new pairing between the second hazard detector and the user account is established using the first wireless protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless protocol is 802.11 Wi-Fi compliant and the second wireless protocol is IEEE 802.15.4 compliant.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a pairing between the first hazard detector and the user account by establishing wireless communication between the first hazard detector and a computing device via a network provided by the first hazard detector, wherein the network is provided using the first wireless protocol.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the network credentials are provided by an application operating on a mobile computing device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a language for the second hazard detector based on a geographic location of the second hazard detector.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first hazard detector creates a data tunnel between a computing device using the first wireless protocol and the second hazard detector using the second wireless protocol.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first hazard detector passes data between the computing device and the second hazard detector through the data tunnel.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, a device code for the second hazard detector; and

authenticating the computing device with the second hazard detector by sending the device code to the second hazard detector through the data tunnel.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a pairing code from an account server; and

transmitting, to the first hazard detector, using the first wireless protocol pairing code for the second hazard detector, wherein the pairing code is sent from the first hazard detector to the second hazard detector using the second wireless protocol; and

wherein the pairing code allows the second hazard detector to pair with the user account at the account server.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to transmitting the network credentials to the first hazard detector, receiving the network credentials from the first hazard detector.

11. A system for pairing two or more hazard detectors with a user account, comprising:

an application operating on a mobile computing device, wherein the application is designed for configuration and control of the two or more hazard detectors, said application establishing communication over the Internet with a central server that includes the user account, wherein the application is configured to;

establish first wireless communications with a first hazard detector, wherein the first wireless communications use a first wireless protocol, and wherein the first hazard detector has previously been paired with the user account;

transmit, to the first hazard detector, using the first wireless protocol, a transmission that instructs the first hazard detector to establish second wireless communication between the first hazard detector and a second hazard detector, wherein the second wireless communication established between the first hazard detector and the second hazard detector uses a second wireless protocol; and

transmit, to the first hazard detector, using the first wireless protocol, network credentials for the second hazard detector to join the first wireless protocol, wherein the credentials are sent from the first hazard detector to the second hazard detector using the second wireless protocol;

whereby a new pairing between the second hazard detector and the user account is established using the first wireless protocol.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first wireless protocol is 802.11 Wi-Fi compliant and the second wireless protocol is IEEE 802.15.4 compliant.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the application is further configured to establish a pairing between the first hazard detector and the user account by establishing wireless communication between the first hazard detector and a computing device via a network provided by the first hazard detector, wherein the network is provided using the first wireless protocol.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the network credentials are provided by an application operating on a mobile computing device.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the application is further configured to determine a language for the second hazard detector based on a geographic location of the second hazard detector.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the first hazard detector creates a data tunnel between a computing device using the first wireless protocol and the second hazard detector using the second wireless protocol.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the first hazard detector passes data between the computing device and the second hazard detector through the data tunnel.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the application is further configured to:

receive a device code for the second hazard detector; and

authenticate with the second hazard detector by sending the device code to the second hazard detector through the data tunnel.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the application is further configured to:

receive a pairing code from an account server; and

transmit, to the first hazard detector, using the first wireless protocol pairing code for the second hazard detector, wherein the pairing code is sent from the first hazard detector to the second hazard detector using the second wireless protocol; and

wherein the pairing code allows the second hazard detector to pair with the user account at the account server.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the application is further configured to, prior to transmitting the network credentials to the first hazard detector, receive the network credentials from the first hazard detector.