Connecting wireless devices using visual image capture and processing

• US 9,867,218 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2016
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Debates, Scott P., Forest, Francis W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vuong, Quochien B
• Application Number:
  US15/144,555
• Publication Number:
  US 20160249394A1
• Time in Patent Office: 617 Days
• Field of Search: 455 411, 455 412, 455 413, 455410, 455411, 340 51, 340 52, 340 521, 340 561
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/22 Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/50 by performing operations within image blocks; by using histograms, e.g. histogram of oriented gradients [HoG]; by summing image-intensity values; Projection analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/75 Organisation of the matching processes, e.g. simultaneous or sequential comparisons of image or video features; Coarse-fine approaches, e.g. multi-scale approaches; using context analysis; Selection of dictionaries
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/10 Terrestrial scenes scenes under surveillance with static cameras G06V20/52; scenes perceived from the exterior of a vehicle G06V20/56; scenes perceived from the interior of a vehicle G06V20/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/622 Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• 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 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

A method facilitates establishment of wireless pairing connections between wireless electronic devices by: initiating, at a first device, a connection utility that enables the first device to establish a wireless connection with at least one second device; capturing an image of a selected second device, representing a second device to which a wireless connection is desired; and scanning for identifying information about each discoverable second device that is within a connection range of the first device. The method further includes: forwarding the captured image and any detected identifying information to a wireless connectivity assist (WCA) service; receiving wireless connection setup and configuration (WCSC) instructions from the WCA service; and establishing the wireless connection with the selected second device utilizing wireless connection setup and configuration (WCSC) instructions received from the WCA service.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

initiating, at a first electronic device, a connection utility configured to allow the first electronic device to establish a wireless connection with a second electronic device;

capturing an image associated with the second electronic device to which a wireless connection is desired;

forwarding the captured image to a wireless connectivity assist (WCA) service;

receiving wireless connection setup and configuration (WCSC) instructions based at least in part on the captured image from the WCA service; and

establishing the wireless connection with the second electronic device utilizing the WCSC instructions received from the WCA service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the connection utility comprises initiating a connection setup process on the first electronic device, and wherein the connection setup process is configured to generate a prompt on the first electronic device to capture the image associated with the second electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein capturing an image associated with the second electronic device comprises capturing an image of the second electronic device.

4. The method of claim 1, comprising obtaining additional identifying information relating to the second electronic from the second electronic device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein forwarding the captured image to the WCA service comprises forwarding the captured image and the additional identifying information to the WCA service.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein obtaining the additional identifying information relating to the second electronic comprises receiving an identification code of the second electronic device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving the identification code of the second electronic device comprises receiving a machine identifier (MAC ID) of the second electronic device.

8. The method of claim 4, comprising associating the captured image with a selectable subset of the additional identifying information relating to the second electronic device prior to forwarding the captured image and the additional identifying information to the WCA service.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the WCSC instructions comprises receiving the WCSC instructions during a specified period of time.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising scanning for additional identifying information relating to each of a plurality of discoverable electronic devices within a communication range of the first electronic device, wherein the plurality of discoverable electronic devices comprises the second electronic device.

11. An electronic device, comprising:

a processor configured to;

initiate a connection utility configured to allow the electronic device to establish a

wireless connection with a second electronic device;

cause the electronic device to capture an image associated with the second electronic device to which a wireless connection is desired;

forward the captured image to a wireless connectivity assist (WCA) service;

receive wireless connection setup and configuration (WCSC) instructions based at least in part on the captured image from the WCA service; and

establish the wireless connection with the second electronic device utilizing the WCSC instructions received from the WCA service.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to obtain additional identifying information relating to the second electronic from the second electronic device.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to forward the captured image and the additional identifying information to the WCA service.

14. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to receive an identification code of the second electronic device as the additional identifying information.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to receive a machine identifier (MAC ID) of the second electronic device as the identification code.

16. A memory having computer executable code stored thereon, the code comprising instructions to:

cause a processor of a first electronic device to initiate a connection utility configured to allow the first electronic device to establish a wireless connection with a second electronic device;

cause the processor to receive a captured image associated with the second electronic device to which a wireless connection is desired;

cause the processor to forward the captured image to a wireless connectivity assist (WCA) service;

cause the processor to receive wireless connection setup and configuration (WCSC) instructions based at least in part on the captured image from the WCA service; and

cause the processor to establish the wireless connection with the second electronic device utilizing the WCSC instructions received from the WCA service.

17. The memory of claim 16, wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the processor to obtain additional identifying information relating to the second electronic from the second electronic device.

18. The memory of claim 17, wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the processor to forward the captured image and the additional identifying information to the WCA service.

19. The memory of claim 16, wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the processor to establish a period of time for receiving the WCSC instructions.

20. The memory of claim 16, wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the processor to scan for additional identifying information relating to each of a plurality of electronic devices within a communication range of the first electronic device, wherein the plurality of electronic devices comprises the second electronic device.