Secure pairing of devices via pairing facilitator-intermediary device

• US 10,187,918 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2017
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fitbit, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Fitbit, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Panther, Heiko Gernot Albert
• Primary Examiner(s): Schwartz, Darren B
• Application Number:
  US15/682,494
• Publication Number:
  US 20180035481A1
• Time in Patent Office: 519 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0024 for multiple sensor units attached to the patient, e.g. using a body or personal area network
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6824 Arm or wrist
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6829 Foot or ankle
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0281 Proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0464 using hop-by-hop encryption, i.e. wherein an intermediate entity decrypts the information and re-encrypts it before forwarding it
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0471 applying encryption by an intermediary, e.g. receiving clear information at the intermediary and encrypting the received information at the intermediary before forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/00 Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/35 Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup

Abstract

The present inventions, in one aspect, are directed to systems and circuitry for and/or methods of establishing communication having one or more pairing facilitator-intermediary devices (for example, a network connected server) to enable or facilitate pairing and/or registering at least two devices (e.g., (i) a portable biometric monitoring device and (ii) a smartphone, laptop and/or tablet) to, for example, recognize, interact and/or enable interoperability between such devices. The pairing facilitator-intermediary device may responsively communicates information to one or more of the devices (to be paired or registered) which, in response, enable or facilitate such devices to pair or register. The present inventions may be advantageous where one or both of the devices to be paired or registered is/are not configured (e.g., include a user interface or certain communication circuitry that is configured or includes functionality) to pair devices without use of a facilitator-intermediary device.

Claims

1. A computing device, comprising:

communication circuitry;

a display;

a processor coupled to the communication circuitry; and

a memory storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to;

receive, by the communication circuitry, a list of one or more devices capable of being paired with the computing device, the list of one or more devices including a portable monitoring device, the list being received from a server via a network, the server further being in operative communication with the one or more devices pairable with the computing device via an existing secure connection;

display, via the display, the list of one or more devices;

receive an indication of a selection of the portable monitoring device to be paired with the computing device;

send first pairing information to the portable monitoring device via a wireless protocol;

receive second pairing information from the portable monitoring device via the wireless protocol; and

pair the computing device with the portable monitoring device based on the first and second pairing information.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein pairing the computing device with the portable monitoring device comprises creating a link between the computing device and the portable monitoring device, the memory further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to:

receive, by the communication circuitry, activity data from the portable monitoring device via the link,

wherein the activity data is representative of a physiological metric collected by one or more sensors embedded in the portable monitoring device.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the first pairing information comprises an identifier of the computing device and a first secret code and wherein the second pairing information comprises an identifier of the portable monitoring device and a second secret code.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the portable monitoring device lacks a user interface for receiving unencrypted pairing information.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the server is paired with the computing device and each of the devices in the list of one or more devices.

6. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the computing device is configured to communicate with the potable monitoring device via a communication protocol that is different from a communication protocol used to communicate with the pairing facilitator server.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause a processor of a computing device to:

receive, by communication circuitry of the computing device, a list of one or more devices capable of being paired with the computing device, the list of one or more devices including a portable monitoring device, the list being received from a server via a network, the server further being in operative communication with the one or more devices pairable with the computing device via an existing secure connection;

display, via a display of the computing device, the list of one or more devices;

receive an indication of a selection of the portable monitoring device to be paired with the computing device;

send first pairing information to the portable monitoring device via a wireless protocol;

receive second pairing information from the portable monitoring device via the wireless protocol; and

cause the computing device to be paired with the portable monitoring device based on the first and second pairing information.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein causing the computing device to be paired with the portable monitoring device comprises creating a link between the computing device and the portable monitoring device, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium further having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

receive, by the communication circuitry, activity data from the portable monitoring device via the link,

wherein the activity data is representative of a physiological metric collected by one or more sensors embedded in the portable monitoring device.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the first pairing information comprises an identifier of the computing device and a first secret code and wherein the second pairing information comprises an identifier of the portable monitoring device and a second secret code.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the portable monitoring device lacks a user interface for receiving unencrypted pairing information.

11. A method for pairing a portable monitoring device with a computing device, comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, a list of one or more devices capable of being paired with the computing device, the list of one or more devices including the portable monitoring device, the list being received from a server via a network, the server further being in operative communication with the one or more devices pairable with the computing device via an existing secure connection;

displaying, via a display of the computing device, the list of one or more devices;

receiving an indication of a selection of the portable monitoring device for pairing with the computing device;

sending first pairing information to the portable monitoring device via a wireless protocol;

receiving second pairing information from the portable monitoring device via the wireless protocol; and

causing the computing device to be paired with the portable monitoring device based on the first and second pairing information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein causing the computing device to be paired with the portable monitoring device comprises creating a link between the computing device and the portable monitoring device, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, activity data from the portable monitoring device via the link,

wherein the activity data is representative of a physiological metric collected by one or more sensors embedded in the portable monitoring device.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first pairing information comprises an identifier of the computing device and a first secret code and wherein the second pairing information comprises an identifier of the portable monitoring device and a second secret code.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the portable monitoring device lacks a user interface for receiving unencrypted pairing information.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the server is paired with the computing device and each of the devices in the list of one or more devices.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the computing device is configured to communicate with the potable monitoring device via a communication protocol that is different from a communication protocol used to communicate with the pairing facilitator server.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the portable monitoring device includes a sensor for sensing physiological metrics of a user while the portable monitoring device is worn by the user, and wherein the portable biometric device includes a housing that houses the sensor and has a dead front display and a button.