Systems and methods for commissioning a smart hub device

• US 10,764,128 B2
• Filed: 08/23/2018
• Issued: 09/01/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Kozura, John, Mathews, Jeff, Zimmer, Andrew, Taylor, Haley A., Hill, Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Chu, Wutchung
• Application Number:
  US16/111,082
• Publication Number:
  US 20190028338A1
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• 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 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/083 using passwords cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/069 using certificates or pre-shared keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/086 using security domains
• 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

Abstract

This application discloses a method for commissioning an electronic device in a smart home environment. The electronic device receives from a client device signals that are encoded with communication data. The client device executes a client-side application associated with a user account that generates the encoded signals. The encoded communication data includes at least one or more network credentials of a local area network, and an authentication token that provides sufficient information to identify the user account. The electronic device generates a link approval request including the authentication token, and device identification information that identifies the electronic device. The electronic device then accesses the local area network using the network credentials provided by the client device, and sends the link approval request to a server via the local area network for association with the user account and addition to the smart home environment.

Claims

1. A method of commissioning an electronic device, comprising:

at the electronic device having one or more processors, and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors;

receiving from a client device one or more network credentials of a local area network and an authentication token for commissioning the electronic device, wherein the client device is executing a client-side application associated with a user account and the authentication token provides sufficient information to identify the user account of the client-side application;

generating, by the electronic device, a link approval request for commissioning the electronic device, the link approval request including at least the authentication token received from the client device and device identification information that identifies the electronic device;

accessing the local area network using the one or more network credentials provided by the client device; and

sending the link approval request to a server via the local area network, wherein the server is configured to confirm availability of the electronic device for commissioning and to link the electronic device with the user account according to the authentication token and the device identification information associated with the electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to receiving the network credentials and the authentication token, broadcasting by the electronic device a readiness indicator signal, wherein the readiness indicator signal indicates to the client device that the electronic device is ready for a commissioning process.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the electronic device includes a LED light indicator that generates the readiness indicator signal, and in accordance with the readiness indicator signal, the LED light stays on, shines with a specific color, or flashes with a light pattern.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more network credentials and the authentication token are encoded in one way signals transmitted from the client device to the electronic device, and wherein the one-way signals include optical signals, and the client device is configured to provide the optical signals by one of a flash light and a display screen of the client device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more network credentials and the authentication token are encoded in one way signals transmitted from the client device to the electronic device, and wherein the client device includes a sensor configured to detect that the user has positioned the client device for coupling the one-way signals to a corresponding sensor of the electronic device configured to detect the one-way signals, and the client device is automatically initialize a commissioning process for the electronic device in response to the detecting.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the sensor includes at least one of an accelerometer and a gyroscope.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication token has been provided by the server to the client device, and the link approval request includes the authentication token when it is sent to the server for authenticating the commissioning process.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing by the electronic device a network scan to obtain a network identification of the local area network, wherein the one or more network credentials include a network password associated with the network identification.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more network credentials include a network identification and a network password that are associated with the local area network.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more network credentials include a hash value associated with a network identification and a network password that are used to access the local area network, further comprising:

determining locally at the electronic device the network identification based on the hash value.

11. An electronic device, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for;

receiving from a client device one or more network credentials of a local area network and an authentication token for commissioning the electronic device, wherein the client device is executing a client-side application associated with a user account and the authentication token provides sufficient information to identify the user account of the client-side application;

generating, by the electronic device, a link approval request for commissioning the electronic device, the link approval request including at least the authentication token received from the client device and device identification information that identifies the electronic device;

accessing the local area network using the one or more network credentials provided by the client device; and

sending the link approval request to a server via the local area network, wherein the server is configured to confirm availability of the electronic device for commissioning and to link the electronic device with the user account according to the authentication token and the device identification information associated with the electronic device.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the device identification information associated with the electronic device is stored in the memory of the electronic device, and obtained therefrom to generate the link approval request.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the device identification information includes a device identification identifier represented by one of a serial number, a media control access (MAC) address, and a universally unique identifier (UUID).

14. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the electronic device is configured to receive the one or more network credentials and the authentication token via a communication path having a bandwidth less than a threshold bandwidth.

15. The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising:

establishing communication with one or more smart devices via one or more communication networks, wherein the one or more communication networks are implemented based on at least one communication protocol of a group consisting of Insteon, IEEE 802.15.4, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, Thread, Z-Wave, Bluetooth Smart, Bluetooth Low Energy, ISA100.11a, WirelessHART, MiWi, OSIAN, Ethernet, and HomePlug.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

receiving from a client device one or more network credentials of a local area network and an authentication token for commissioning the electronic device, wherein the client device is executing a client-side application associated with a user account, and the authentication token provides sufficient information to identify the user account of the client-side application;

generating, by the electronic device, a link approval request for commissioning the electronic device, the link approval request including at least the authentication token received from the client device and device identification information that identifies the electronic device;

accessing the local area network using the one or more network credentials provided by the client device; and

sending the link approval request to a server via the local area network, wherein the server is configured to confirm availability of the electronic device for commissioning and to link the electronic device with the user account according to the authentication token and the device identification information associated with the electronic device.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, the one or more programs further comprising instructions for:

establishing communication with one or more smart devices via one or more communication networks.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the one or more communication networks are implemented based on at least one communication protocol of a group consisting of Insteon, IEEE 802.15.4, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, Thread, Z-Wave, Bluetooth Smart, Bluetooth Low Energy, ISA100.11a, WirelessHART, MiWi, OSIAN, Ethernet, and HomePlug.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the one or more communication networks are distinct from the local area network.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the electronic device is an existing hub device that has been commissioned in another smart home environment or associated with another user account, and the server is configured to send the link approval response to the client device only when the other user account approves the link approval request.