Automatic provisioning of services to network-connected devices

• US 10,528,927 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2018
• Issued: 01/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toronto-Dominion Bank
• Original Assignee: Toronto-Dominion Bank
• Inventors: Chow, Arthur Carroll, Chan, Paul Mon-Wah, Haldenby, Perry Aaron Jones, Jethwa, Rakesh Thomas, Law, Eddie Cheuk Long, Lee, John Jong Suk, McCann, Stephen John
• Primary Examiner(s): Rahim, Monjur
• Application Number:
  US16/139,738
• Publication Number:
  US 20190026710A1
• Time in Patent Office: 470 Days
• Field of Search: 726 6
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/085 involving remote charge determination or related payment systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/308 using the Internet of Things
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/567 Integrating service provisioning from a plurality of service providers

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments include computerized methods and systems that automatically provision one or more services available to an Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices upon connection to and registration onto communications network. In one aspect, a device may receive, from a computing system, data specifying one or more first services provisioned to the device. The device may identify a subset of the first services that are consistent with a device type of an additional device, and may transmit a portion of the stored first data that specifies the subset of the first services to that additional device. The additional device may process the transmitted portion to provision the subset of the first services to the additional device prior to a successful authentication.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a communications device;

a storage unit storing instructions; and

at least one hardware processor being coupled to the communications device and the storage unit, the at least one hardware processor being configured to execute the instructions to;

receive, via the communications device, a first signal from a computing system, the first signal comprising data specifying services available to the device;

determine that a subset of the services is consistent with a device type of an additional device; and

generate and transmit, via the communications device, a second signal to the additional device, the second signal comprising a portion of the data that specifies the subset of the services, the additional device being configured to process the portion of the data and to provision the additional device with the subset of the services prior to an authentication of the additional device.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

establish a connection with a communications network using the communications device; and

detect the additional device based on the established connection with the communications network.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to store the data within a portion of the storage unit, the storage of the data provisioning the device with the available services.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

establish a device capability of the additional device, the device capability being associated with the device type; and

determine that the device capability is inconsistent with a service capability of a corresponding one of the services.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

obtain code executable by the additional device when the device capability is inconsistent with the service capability, the obtained code corresponding to an executable application or a device driver; and

generate and transmit, via the communications device, a second signal that includes the obtained code to the additional device, the additional device being configured to execute the code to modify the device capability in a manner consistent with the service capability.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

receive second data structured in accordance with the service capability of the corresponding first service;

when the device capability is inconsistent with the service capability, modify a portion of the second data to reflect the device capability; and

generate and transmit, via the communications device, a second signal that includes the modified portion of the second data to the additional device.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a smart appliance, a sensor device, or a component of a vehicle.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the first data comprises authentication data that confirms an authentication of the device by the computing system; and

the second signal further comprises at least a portion of the authentication data.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein:

the additional device inherits the authentication of the device; and

the additional device is configured to implement one or more of the subset of the services in accordance with the inherited device authentication.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the subset of the services comprises a configuration service;

the data comprises configuration data associated with the device, the configuration data identifying a user-specified value of a configurable device parameter; and

upon provisioning to the additional device, the configuration service causes the additional device to configure the configurable device parameter in accordance with the user-specified value.

11. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by at least one hardware processor, a first signal from a computing system, the first signal comprising data specifying services available to a device;

determining, by the at least one hardware processor, that a subset of the services is consistent with a device type of an additional device; and

by the at least one hardware processor, generating and transmitting, a second signal to the additional device, the second signal comprising a portion of the data that specifies the subset of the services, the additional device being configured to process the portion of the data and to provision the additional device with the subset of the services prior to an authentication of the additional device.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

a communications device;

a storage unit storing instructions; and

at least one hardware processor coupled to the communications device and the storage unit, the at least one hardware processor being configured to execute the instructions to;

obtain first data identifying a plurality of first services provisioned to a first device by a computing system;

determine that a subset of the first services is consistent with a device type of a second device; and

generate and transmit, via the communications device, a first signal to the computing system that includes second data identifying the subset of the first services, the computing system being configured to provide, to the second device, service data that provisions the second device with the subset of the first services prior to an authentication of the second device.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

establish a first communications session with the first device across a communications network; and

detect the second device connected to the communications network.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to, in response to the established first communications session, store an identifier of the first device in a portion of the storage unit, the storage of the first device identifier registering the first device onto the network.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

in response to the detection, establish a second communications session with the second device across the communications network; and

store an identifier of the second device in a portion of the storage unit, the storage of the second device identifier registering the first device onto the network.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

obtain second data associated with second services, the second data comprising identifiers of the second services and additional device types associated with the second services;

determine that the additional device types of a subset of the second services are consistent with the device type of the second device; and

generate and transmit, via the communications device, a second signal to the computing system that includes the identifiers of the subset of the second services.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein, in response to the second signal, the computing system is configured to transmit additional service data specifying the subset of the second services to the second device prior to the authentication of the additional device, the transmitted additional service data provisioning the second device with the subset of the second services.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first and second devices comprise a smart appliance, a sensor device, or a component of a vehicle.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the first data indicates an authentication of the first device by the computing system; and

the second data comprises authentication data that confirms the authentication of the first device, the computing system being further configured to package the authentication data into a portion of the service data;

the second device inherits the authentication of the first device; and

the second device is configured to implement one or more of the subset of the first services in accordance with the inherited authentication.

20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the subset of the first services comprises a configuration service;

the second data comprises configuration data associated with the first device, the configuration data identifying a user-specified value of a configurable device parameter; and

upon provisioning to the second device, the configuration service causes the second device to configure the configurable device parameter in accordance with the user-specified value.