Smart home device facilitating user-friendly setup experience

• US 9,820,315 B2
• Filed: 05/22/2015
• Issued: 11/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Le Guen, Sophie, Sloo, David, Fadell, Anthony M., Rogers, Matthew L., Honjo, Shigefumi, Logue, Jay, Erickson, Grant, Webb, Nicholas, Boyd, Jeffrey A., Simister, James B., Boettcher, Jesse W., Bruck, Timo A., Coppock, Kevin, Rossi, Shiney
• Primary Examiner(s): Georgandellis, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US14/720,372
• Publication Number:
  US 20150256563A1
• Time in Patent Office: 907 Days
• 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

A method for establishing a pairing between a smart-home device and an online account may include instantiating an application on a computing device and receiving a first code from a central server. The application may receive a second code from printed material associated with the smart-home device. The smart-home device may broadcast a first communication protocol, and the application may join the first mutation protocol. The application can be authenticated by the smart-home device using the second code, and the application can receive an identity of a second communication protocol from a user. The application can then transmit the identity of the second communication protocol to the smart-home device. The smart-home device can use the second mutation protocol to access the Internet and transmit the first code to the central server, where the central server can use the first code in completing the pairing process.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a pairing between a smart-home device and an online management account at a central server, the method comprising:

instantiating, at a computing device, an application for configuration and control of the smart-home device, said application establishing communication over the Internet with the central server;

receiving, at the computing device, a first code from the central server;

receiving, at the computing device, information derived from a printed medium accompanying the smart-home device, said information comprising a second code;

broadcasting, by the smart-home device, an identifier for a first communication protocol that is hosted by the smart-home device;

receiving, at the computing device, a selection of said identifier from a user and establishing a connection with the smart-home device via the first communication protocol, wherein said connection is authenticated using said second code;

receiving, at the computing device, an identifier for a second communication protocol that provides access the Internet;

sending, from the computing device to the smart-home device, said first code and said identifier for the second communication protocol;

establishing, by the smart-home device, communications with said central server using said second communication protocol; and

transmitting, by the smart-home device to the central server, a transmission comprising said first code, wherein said transmission is authenticated by the central server using information stored in a non-volatile memory of said smart-home device;

whereby said pairing is achieved by said central server by (i) validating said second code, and (ii) upon said validating, associating said smart-home device with said online management account.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the printed medium comprises a Quick Response (QR) code that graphically encodes the second code.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the computing device, a location within an enclosure where the smart-home device is to be installed; and

transmitting, by the computing device to the central server, the location within the enclosure for storage at the central server.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the location within the enclosure comprises one or more selections from a group consisting of:

a bedroom, a bathroom, a family room, a hallway, a living room, a child bedroom, a master bedroom, a guest bedroom, and a dining room.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second code is printed in an alphanumeric format on the printed medium.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing, by the smart-home device, a verbal command instructing the user to provide a user input to the smart-home device to begin establishing the pairing between said smart-home device and the online management account.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing, by the smart-home device, a verbal command instructing the user to instantiate the application at the computing device, wherein the verbal command includes an instruction to download the application from an online application marketplace.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, receiving, at the computing device, configuration information from the central server, wherein said configuration information comprises information that enables said smart-home device to establish or join a local device network that is 802.15.4-compatible.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising deleting, from the computing device, the identifier for the second communication protocol after the identifier for the second communication protocol is sent to the smart-home device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the smart-home device to the central server, authentication information that is generated using a cryptographic key and/or certificate stored on the smart-home device during a manufacturing or post-manufacturing process.

11. A system for establishing a pairing between a smart-home device and an online management account at a central server, the system comprising:

an application operating, on a computing device, wherein said application configures and controls the smart-home device and establishes communication over the Internet with said central server, wherein the application is configured to;

receive a first code from the central server;

receive information derived. from a printed medium accompanying the smart-home device, said information comprising a second code;

receive a selection of an identifier for a first communication protocol that is hosted by the smart-home device, the selection being received from a user and establishing a connection with the smart-home device via the first communication protocol;

receive an identifier for a second communication protocol that provides access the Internet; and

send, to said smart-home device, said first code and said identifier for the second communication protocol; and

the smart-home device, wherein the smart-home device is configured to;

receive a user input to begin the pairing;

broadcast the identifier for the first communication protocol;

authenticate said connection between said application and said smart- home device using said second code;

receive, from said application, said first code and said identifier for said second communication protocol;

establish communications with said central server via said second communication protocol; and

transmit, to the central server, a transmission comprising said first code, wherein said transmission is authenticated by the central server using information stored in a non-volatile memory of said smart-home device;

whereby said pairing is achieved by said central server by (i) validating said second code, and (ii) upon said validating, associating said smart-home device with said online management account.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said identifier for said first communication protocol comprises a Wi-Fi access point SSID hosted by said smart-home device.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein said identifier for said second communication protocol comprises an SSID for a home Wi-Fi network.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein said smart-home device comprises one or more selections from a group consisting of:

a hazard detector, a thermostat, a security system device, a smart appliance, and an entry system device.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein said printed medium accompanying said smart-home device comprises a printed surface on said smart-home device or a printed document or package physically accompanying said smart-home device.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein said computing device comprises one or more selections from a group consisting of:

a smart phone, a tablet computer, a PDA, a laptop computer, and a home desktop computer.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein said application is provided by an online application marketplace.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein said application is further configured to, receive configuration information from the central server, wherein the configuration information comprises information that enables the smart-home device to establish or join a local device network that is 802.15.4-compatible.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein said identifier for said second communication protocol comprises a Wi-Fi password.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the smart-home device is further configured to transmit, to the central server, authentication information that is generated using a cryptographic key and/or certificate stored on the smart-home device during a manufacturing or post-manufacturing process.