Setup of multiple IoT network devices

• US 9,451,462 B2
• Filed: 08/10/2014
• Issued: 09/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Belkin International Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Belkin International Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kim, Ryan Yong, Zeira, Ohad
• Primary Examiner(s): SIMITOSKI, MICHAEL J
• Application Number:
  US14/455,940
• Publication Number:
  US 20160044032A1
• Time in Patent Office: 772 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• 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 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to setup of multiple IoT network devices. Specifically, various techniques and systems are provided for setup of multiple similar IoT devices at substantially the same time using joint authentication. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and systems including, for example, receiving, at an existing network device on a network, one or more communications, wherein the one or more communications include an indication that multiple new network devices are associated with the network; receiving an indication that the multiple new network devices have each generated a setup access point; establishing a connection with the setup access point of each of the multiple new network devices; receiving identification information, wherein the identification information includes information identifying each of the multiple new network devices; and transmitting the identification information identifying each of the multiple new network devices, wherein when the identification information is received, the identification information facilitates generating one or more authentication queries to authenticate one or more of the multiple new network devices.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, at an existing network device on a network, a communication, wherein the communication includes an indication that a new network device is associated with the network, and wherein the network includes an access device and a gateway, the gateway having previously provided the existing network device with access to the network;

receiving an indication that the new network device has generated a setup access point;

establishing a connection between the existing network device and the setup access point of the new network device;

receiving identification information, wherein the identification information includes information identifying the new network device;

analyzing the received identification information to determine a characteristic associated with the new network device;

determining that an additional new network device is associated with the network;

establishing a connection with a setup access point of the additional new network device;

receiving additional identification information, where the additional identification information includes information identifying the additional new network device;

determining that the characteristic is associated with the additional new network device using the additional identification information;

establishing a network device group, wherein the network device group includes network devices associated with the characteristic, and wherein the network device group includes the new network device and the additional new network device;

transmitting, by the existing network device, the identification information of the devices in the network device group to the access device, wherein the identification information facilitates generating one or more authorization queries; and

generating one or more authorization queries to authorize network devices in the network device group, wherein generating the one or more authorization queries includes using the identification information identifying the new network device and the additional identification information identifying the additional new network device, wherein the authorization queries facilitate authenticating the network devices in the network device group to the gateway, and wherein the network devices in the network device group joined the network using the one or more authentication queries.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting one or more association queries, wherein the one or more association queries include a request to determine whether the multiple new network devices are associated with the network.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

aggregating received identification information, wherein the received identification information includes information associated with multiple new network devices.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein transmitting the identification information includes transmitting the aggregated identification information.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein an additional new network device is added to the aggregated received identification information when the additional new network device connects to the network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification information and the additional identification information are transmitted simultaneously.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving one or more responses to the one or more authentication queries; and

transmitting network credentials corresponding to each of the responses to the one or more authentication queries, wherein network credentials facilitate joining the network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification information identifying the new network device and the additional identification information identifying the additional new network device are received at the same time.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the one or more authentication queries, wherein receiving authentication queries facilitates displaying the identification information or the additional identification information.

10. A computing device, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform operations including;

receiving, at an existing network device on a network, a communication, wherein the communication includes an indication that a new network device is associated with the network, and wherein the network includes an access device and a gateway, the gateway having previously provided the existing network device with access to the network;

receiving an indication that the new network device has generated a setup access point;

establishing a connection between the existing network device and the setup access point of the new network device;

receiving identification information, wherein the identification information includes information identifying the new network device;

analyzing the received identification information to determine a characteristic associated with the new network device;

determining that an additional new network device is associated with the network;

establishing a connection with a setup access point of the additional new network device;

receiving additional identification information, where the additional identification information includes information identifying the additional new network device;

determining that the characteristic is associated with the additional new network device using the additional identification information;

establishing a network device group, wherein the network device group includes network devices associated with the characteristic, and wherein the network device group includes the new network device and the additional new network device;

transmitting, by the existing network device, the identification information of the devices in the network device group to the access device, wherein the identification information facilitates generating one or more authorization queries; and

generating one or more authorization queries to authorize network devices in the network device group, wherein generating the one or more authorization queries includes using the identification information identifying the new network device and the additional identification information identifying the additional new network device, wherein the authorization queries facilitate authenticating the network devices in the network device group to the gateway, and wherein the network devices in the network device group joined the network using the one or more authentication queries.

11. The computing device of claim 10, further comprising instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform operations including:

transmitting one or more association queries, wherein the one or more association queries include a request to determine whether the multiple new network devices are associated with the network.

12. The computing device of claim 10, further comprising instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform operations including:

aggregating received identification information, wherein the received identification information includes information associated with multiple new network devices.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein transmitting the identification information includes transmitting the aggregated identification information.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein an additional new network device is added to the aggregated received identification information when the additional new network device connects to the network.

15. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the identification information and the additional identification information are transmitted simultaneously.

16. The computing device of claim 10, further comprising instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform operations including:

receiving one or more responses to the one or more authentication queries; and

transmitting network credentials corresponding to each of the responses to the one or more authentication queries, wherein network credentials facilitate joining the network.

17. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the identification information identifying the new network device and the additional identification information identifying the additional new network device are received at the same time.

18. The computing device of claim 10, further comprising instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform operations including:

transmitting the one or more authentication queries, wherein receiving authentication queries facilitates displaying the identification information or the additional identification information.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to:

receive, at an existing network device on a network, a communication, wherein the communication includes an indication that a new network device is associated with the network, and wherein the network includes an access device and a gateway, the gateway having previously provided the existing network device with access to the network;

receive an indication that the new network device has generated a setup access point;

establish a connection between the existing network device and the setup access point of the new network device;

receive identification information, wherein the identification information includes information identifying the new network device;

analyze the received identification information to determine a characteristic associated with the new network device;

determine that an additional new network device is associated with the network;

establish a connection with a setup access point of the additional new network device;

receive additional identification information, where the additional identification information includes information identifying the additional new network device;

determine that the characteristic is associated with the additional new network device using the additional identification information;

establish a network device group, wherein the network device group includes network devices associated with the characteristic, and wherein the network device group includes the new network device and the additional new network device;

transmit, by the existing network device, the identification information of the devices in the network device group to the access device, wherein the identification information facilitates generating one or more authorization queries; and

generate one or more authorization queries to authorize network devices in the network device group, wherein generating the one or more authorization queries includes using the identification information identifying the new network device and the additional identification information identifying the additional new network device, wherein the authorization queries facilitate authenticating the network devices in the network device group to the gateway, and wherein the network devices in the network device group joined the network using the one or more authentication queries.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions configured to cause the data processing apparatus to:

transmit one or more association queries, wherein the one or more association queries include a request to determine whether the multiple new network devices are associated with the network.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions configured to cause the data processing apparatus to:

aggregate received identification information, wherein the received identification information includes information associated with multiple new network devices.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein transmitting the identification information includes transmitting the aggregated identification information.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein an additional new network device is added to the aggregated received identification information when the additional new network device connects to the network.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the identification information and the additional identification information are transmitted simultaneously.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions configured to cause the data processing apparatus to:

receive one or more responses to the one or more authentication queries; and

transmit network credentials corresponding to each of the responses to the one or more authentication queries, wherein network credentials facilitate joining the network.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the identification information identifying the new network device and the additional identification information identifying the additional new network device are received at the same.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions configured to cause the data processing apparatus to:

transmit the one or more authentication queries, wherein receiving authentication queries facilitates displaying the identification information or the additional identification information.