Device auto pairing without touch and tap

• US 9,451,649 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2015
• Issued: 09/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Sinha, Rohit R., Aerrabotu, Naveen
• Primary Examiner(s): HUANG, WEN WU
• Application Number:
  US14/816,759
• Publication Number:
  US 20160037574A1
• Time in Patent Office: 414 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• 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 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

A device-to-device (D2D) pairing assembly comprises: a first and a second device detecting and communicating (DDC) component communicatively coupled to each other and to a microprocessor that executes a device pairing parameter exchange (DPPE) utility, which configures the D2D pairing assembly to: detect a communicative coupling of a first user device to the first DDC component; receive from the first user device at least one first pairing parameter, which first pairing parameter enables another device to connect to and participate in a pairing session with the first user device; detect a communicative coupling of a second user device to the second DDC component; and communicate the at least one first pairing parameter to the second user device, via the second DDC component, to trigger the second user device to connect to and participate in a pairing session with the first user device via a direct device-to-device communication channel.

Claims

1. A device-to-device (D2D) pairing assembly comprising:

a first device detecting and communicating (DDC) component;

a second DDC component communicatively coupled to the first DDC component;

a hardware processor communicatively coupled to the first DDC component and to the second DDC component and which is configured with a device pairing parameter exchange (DPPE) utility that executes on the hardware processor and configures the D2D pairing assembly to;

detect a communicative coupling of a first user device to the first DDC component;

in response to detecting the communicative coupling of the first user device, receive from the first user device at least one first pairing parameter provided by a pairing application executing on the first user device and cause the first user device to allow additional devices to communicate with the first user device in a pairing session over a communication channel with the at least one first pairing parameter;

detect a communicative coupling of a second user device to the second DDC component, wherein the second user device has at least one second pairing parameter provided by the pairing application executing on the second user device;

communicate the at least one first pairing parameter to the second user device, via the second DDC component, and the at least one second pairing parameter to the first device, via the first DDC component, to cause the first user device and the second user device to connect to and participate in the pairing session over the communication channel.

2. The D2D pairing assembly of claim 1, wherein the DPPE utility further configures the device-to-device pairing assembly to:

in response to completion of a transfer of the at least one first pairing parameter via the D2D pairing assembly, de-couple communication between the first user device and the first DDC component and de-couple communication between the second user device and the second DDC component, wherein a subsequent exchange of communication, including information transfer between the first user device and the second user device, occurring via the pairing session, is completed independent of the D2D pairing assembly.

3. The D2D pairing assembly of claim 1, wherein the DPPE utility further configures the device-to-device pairing assembly to:

detect a communicative coupling of a third user device to the second DDC component while the first user device is paired to the second user device and still communicatively coupled to the first DDC component; and

in response to detecting the third user device communicatively coupled to the second DDC component while the first user device is paired to the second user device and still communicatively coupled to the first DDC component, communicate at least one different pairing parameter received from the first user device to the third user device to enable the third user device to complete device-to-device pairing with the first user device using at least one different pairing parameter than being utilized to complete the device-to-device pairing of the first user device and second user device.

4. The D2D pairing assembly of claim 1, wherein the DPPE utility further configures the device-to-device pairing assembly to:

detect a communicative coupling of a third user device to the second DDC component while the first user device is paired to the second user device and still communicatively coupled to the first DDC component; and

in response to detecting the third user device communicatively coupled to the second DDC component while the first user device is paired to the second user device and still communicatively coupled to the first DDC component, communicate a differently-encoded version of the at least one first pairing parameter that is received from the first user device to the third user device to enable the third user device to complete device-to-device pairing with the first user device using at least one differently-encoded pairing parameter than being utilized to complete the device-to-device pairing of the first user device and second user device.

5. The D2D pairing assembly of claim 1, further comprising:

an underlying pad that identifies a perimeter of the device-to-device pairing assembly;

a first device pad on which the first user device can be placed;

a second device pad on which the second user device can be placed; and

electronic circuitry associated with the first and second device pads which enable at least one of a wireless signal communication between the first device pad and the second device pad and direct communication via a communication bus extending between the first device pad and the second device pad.

6. The D2D pairing assembly of claim 5, wherein the electronic circuitry comprises:

a first DDC data transmitter that transmits pairing parameters that are received from the first user device; and

a second DDC data receiver for receiving pairing parameters transmitted from the first device pad.

7. The D2D pairing assembly of claim 6, wherein the first DDC data transmitter is a component of a first DDC data transceiver and the second DDC data receiver is a component of a second DDC data transceiver for bi-directional transfer of pairing information between a first user device and a second user device communicatively coupled to respective ones of the first DDC component and the second DDC component.

8. The D2D pairing assembly of claim 1, wherein:

the first DDC component comprises a first data receiver and a first data transmitter, which respectively receives the at least one first pairing parameter and transmits the received at least one first pairing parameter to the second DDC component; and

the second DDC component comprises a second data receiver that receives the at least one first pairing parameter from the first DDC component and a second data transmitter that transmits the at least one first pairing parameter to the second user device from the second DDC component.

9. The D2D pairing assembly of claim 8, wherein:

the first data receiver DDC is one of a radio frequency identifier (RFID) receiver and a near field communication (NFC) receiver; and

the second data transmitter DDC is one of a radio frequency identifier (RFID) transmitter and a near field communication (NFC) transmitter.

10. A method for facilitating pairing of a first user device with a second user device, the method comprising:

detecting a communicative coupling of a first user device to a first device detecting and communicating (DDC) component;

in response to detecting the communicative coupling of the first user device, receiving from the first user device at least one first pairing parameter provided by a pairing application executing on the first user device and cause the first user device to allow additional devices to communicate with the first user device in a pairing session over a communication channel with the at least one first pairing parameter;

detecting a communicative coupling of a second user device to a second DDC component that is communicatively coupled to the first DDC component on a device-to-device (D2D) pairing assembly, wherein the second user device has at least one second pairing parameter provided by the pairing application executing on the second user device;

communicating the at least one first pairing parameter to the second user device, via the second DDC component, and the at least one second pairing parameter to the first device, via the first DDC component, to cause the first user device and the second user device to connect to and participate in the pairing session over the communication channel.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

in response to completion of a transfer of the at least one first pairing parameter via the D2D pairing assembly;

disconnecting the communicative coupling of the first DDC component with the first user device; and

disconnecting the communicative coupling of the second DDC component with the second user device;

wherein a subsequent exchange of communication, including information transfer between the first user device and the second user device, occurring via the pairing session, is completed independent of the D2D pairing assembly.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

while the first user device is paired to the second user device and still communicatively coupled to the first DDC component; and

in response to detecting the third user device communicatively coupled to the second DDC component while the first user device is paired to the second user device and still communicatively coupled to the first DDC component, communicating to the third user device at least one different pairing parameter received from the first user device to enable the third user device to complete device-to-device pairing with the first user device using at least one different pairing parameter than being utilized to complete the device-to-device pairing of the first user device and second user device.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

detecting a communicative coupling of a third user device to the second DDC component while the first user device is paired to the second user device and still communicatively coupled to the first DDC component; and

in response to detecting the third user device communicatively coupled to the second DDC component while the first user device is paired to the second user device and still communicatively coupled to the first DDC component, communicating a differently-encoded version of at least one of the at least one first pairing parameter that is received from the first user device to the third user device to enable the third user device to complete device-to-device pairing with the first user device using at least one differently-encoded pairing parameter than being utilized to complete the device-to-device pairing of the first user device and second user device.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the device-to-device pairing assembly comprises:

an underlying pad that identifies a perimeter of the device-to-device pairing assembly;

a first device pad on which the first user device can be place;

a second device pad on which the second user device can be placed; and

electronic circuitry associated with the first and second device pads which enables at least one of a wireless signal communication between the first device pad and the second device pad and direct communication via a communication bus extending between the first device pad and the second device pad.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the electronic circuitry comprises:

a first DDC data transmitter that transmits pairing parameters that are received from the first user device; and

a second DDC data receiver for receiving the pairing parameters transmitted from the first device pad.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the first DDC data transmitter is a component of a first DDC data transceiver and the second DDC data receiver is a component of a second DDC data transceiver for bi-directional transfer of pairing information between a first user device and a second user device communicatively coupled to respective ones of the first DDC component and the second DDC component.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein:

the first DDC component comprises a first data receiver and a first data transmitter, which respectively receives the at least one first pairing parameter and transmits the received at least one first pairing parameter to the second DDC component; and

the second DDC component comprises a second data receiver that receives the at least one first pairing parameter from the first DDC component and a second data transmitter that transmits the at least one first pairing parameter to the second user device from the second DDC component.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the first data receiver is one of a radio frequency identifier (RFID) receiver and a near field communication (NFC) receiver; and

the second data transmitter is one of a radio frequency identifier (RFID) transmitter and a near field communication (NFC) transmitter.

19. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

detecting, using the D2D pairing assembly, one of (i) a physical placement of the first user device on the first DDC area and (ii) the first user device coming into proximity of and/or within communication range of the first DDC area; and

in response to the detecting, triggering the first DDC component to establish a communication with the first user device via a short-range wireless communication protocol supported by the first user device.