Relay service for communication between controllers and accessories

• US 9,680,646 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2016
• Issued: 06/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Nadathur, Anush G., McLaughlin, Kevin P., Lucas, Matthew C., Burks, Andrew, Thirumalai, Gokul P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Moorthy, Aravind
• Application Number:
  US15/064,406
• Publication Number:
  US 20160359629A1
• Time in Patent Office: 462 Days
• Field of Search: 713175, 713168, 726 6
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0884 by delegation of authentication, e.g. a proxy authenticates an entity to be authenticated on behalf of this entity vis-à-vis an authentication entity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1425 Traffic logging, e.g. anomaly detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/006 involving public key infrastructure [PKI] trust models network architecture or network communication protocol for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/14 using a plurality of keys or algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication

Abstract

A relay service can relay messages between controllers and electronically controllable accessory devices that may be located remotely from the controllers. Relaying of messages by the relay service can be decoupled from any knowledge of the functionality of the accessory or the content of the messages. Device identification and relaying of messages can be managed using “relay aliases” that are meaningful only to the relay service and the endpoint devices (the controller and accessory). The endpoint devices can implement end-to-end security for messages transported by the relay service.

Claims

1. A method for communicating between a first controller and an accessory via a relay service, the method comprising:

assigning, by the relay service, a first operator relay alias for the first controller, the first operator relay alias being usable by the relay service to send messages to the first controller;

assigning, by the relay service, an accessory relay alias for the accessory, wherein the accessory relay alias is uncorrelated with any other accessory-identifying information;

receiving, by the relay service, a request to establish a relay pairing between the first operator relay alias and the accessory relay alias;

responsive to the request to establish a relay pairing, generating and storing, by the relay service, a first valid access token in association with the first operator relay alias and the accessory relay alias;

establishing, at the relay service, a persistent accessory connection on a socket, the persistent accessory connection being identified with the accessory relay alias and the first valid access token;

receiving, by the relay service, a relay request from the first controller to relay a message to the accessory, the relay request including the first operator relay alias, the accessory relay alias, an relay request access token, and message content; and

responsive to a determination that the relay request access token received with the relay request from the first controller corresponds to the first valid access token, sending the message content to the accessory via the socket.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the message content is encrypted using a key that is not known to the relay service.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising, prior to assigning the accessory relay alias:

receiving, at a certificate server of the relay service, an activation request from the first controller on behalf of the accessory;

performing, by the certificate server, an authentication operation with the first controller on behalf of the accessory, wherein the authentication operation uses a digital security certificate provided to the accessory by a manufacturer thereof;

in the event that the authentication operation succeeds, generating, by the certificate server, a PKI certificate and a device identity token for the accessory, wherein the device identity token is independent of the PKI certificate; and

providing, by the certificate server, the PKI certificate and the device identity token to the first controller for delivery to the accessory.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein assigning the accessory relay alias for the accessory includes:

receiving, at an accessory courier server of the relay service, a request from the accessory for an accessory relay alias; and

performing, by the accessory courier server, an authentication operation with the accessory, wherein the authentication operation uses the PKI certificate and the device identity token generated by the certificate server,

wherein the accessory relay alias is assigned in the event that the authentication operation with the accessory succeeds.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, by the relay service via the socket, a relay request from the accessory to relay a message to the first controller, the relay request including the accessory relay alias, the first operator relay alias, an access token, and message content; and

responsive to a determination that the access token received with the relay request from the accessory corresponds to the first valid access token, sending the message content to the first controller based on the first operator relay alias.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, by the relay service, a request from a second controller for a consent token, the request including a second operator relay alias assigned by the relay service for the second controller, the request for a consent token including the accessory relay alias;

generating a consent token responsive to the request;

sending the consent token to the second controller;

thereafter

receiving, from the first controller a request to add a relay pairing with the second controller, the request including the consent token and the accessory relay alias;

generating and storing, by the relay service, a second valid access token in association with the second operator relay alias of the second controller and the accessory relay alias; and

providing the second valid access token to the first controller, wherein the first controller communicates the second valid access token to the accessory and to the second controller.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein establishing the persistent accessory connection includes:

receiving, at a pass server of the relay service, a request from the accessory for a pass, wherein the request for a pass includes accessory-identifying information for the accessory but does not include the accessory relay alias;

determining, by the pass server, based on the accessory-identifying information, whether a pass should be generated;

in response to determining that a pass should be generated, generating, by the pass server, a pass for the accessory, wherein the pass does not include any accessory-identifying information or any transaction-specific information; and

providing, by the pass server, the pass to the accessory;

thereafter

receiving, at an accessory courier server of the relay service, a connection request from the accessory, the connection request including the pass and the accessory relay alias; and

establishing, by the accessory courier server, the persistent accessory connection in response to determining that the pass is valid.

8. A method comprising:

establishing, by a controller, communication with an accessory via a local channel;

sending, by the controller to the accessory via the local channel, an operator relay alias for the controller, the operator relay alias being assigned to the controller by a relay service;

receiving, by the controller from the accessory via the local channel, an accessory relay alias assigned to the accessory by the relay service;

receiving, by the controller from the accessory via the local channel, a temporary pairing token obtained by the accessory from the relay service;

sending, by the controller to the relay service, a request for an access token, the request including the temporary pairing token, the accessory relay alias, and an operator relay alias of the controller;

receiving, by the controller from the relay service, an access token generated by the relay service;

storing, by the controller, the access token in association with the accessory relay alias;

sending, by the controller to the accessory via the local channel, the access token; and

using, by the controller, the access token, the operator relay alias, and the accessory relay alias to communicate with the accessory via the relay service.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein using the access token, the operator relay alias, and the accessory relay alias to communicate with the accessory via the relay service includes:

generating, by the controller, a request message for the accessory; and

sending, by the controller, a relay request to a controller courier server of the relay service to relay the request message to the accessory, the relay request including the access token, the operator relay alias, and the accessory relay alias.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein establishing communication with an accessory via the local channel includes establishing a local pairing with the accessory and wherein the request message includes a request to establish a pair-verified session that enables end-to-end message security for messages subsequently sent via the relay service.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the controller communicates with the accessory via the relay service during a time when the controller does not have access to the accessory via the local channel.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising, prior to receiving the accessory relay alias:

sending, by the controller to a certificate server of the relay service, an activation request on behalf of the accessory;

receiving, by the controller from the certificate server, a PKI certificate and a device identity token for the accessory, wherein the device identity token is independent of the PKI certificate; and

sending, by the controller to the accessory via the local channel, the PKI certificate and the device identity token, wherein the accessory uses the PKI certificate and the device identity token to obtain the accessory relay alias from the relay service.

13. A method comprising:

establishing, by an accessory, communication with a controller via a local channel;

receiving, by the accessory from the controller via the local channel, an operator relay alias for the controller, the operator relay alias being assigned to the controller by a relay service;

sending, by the accessory to the controller via the local channel, an accessory relay alias assigned to the accessory by the relay service;

sending, by the accessory to the relay service, a request for a temporary pairing token, the request including the accessory relay alias and the operator relay alias of the controller;

receiving, by the accessory from the relay service, a temporary pairing token generated by the relay service;

sending, by the accessory to the controller via the local channel, the temporary pairing token;

receiving, by the accessory from the controller, an access token obtained by the controller from the relay service;

storing, by the accessory, the access token in association with the operator relay alias; and

using, by the accessory, the access token, the operator relay alias, and the accessory relay alias to communicate with the controller via the relay service.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein using the access token, the operator relay alias, and the accessory relay alias to communicate with the controller via the relay service includes:

sending, by the accessory, a request to an accessory courier server of the relay service to establish a socket, the request to establish a socket including the access token, the operator relay alias, and the accessory relay alias; and

receiving, by the accessory, a request message from the controller via the socket.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising, prior to sending, by the accessory, a request to the accessory courier server of the relay service to establish the socket:

sending, by the accessory, a pass request to a pass server of the relay service, wherein the pass request includes accessory-identifying information for the accessory but does not include the accessory relay alias;

receiving, by the accessory from the pass server, a pass for the accessory, wherein the pass does not include any accessory-identifying information or any transaction-specific information; and

including, by the accessory, the pass in the request to establish a socket.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

processing, by the accessory, the request message to generate a response message; and

sending, by the accessory, a relay request to the accessory courier server to relay the response message to the controller, the relay request including the response message, the access token, the operator relay alias, and the accessory relay alias.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein establishing communication with a controller via the local channel includes establishing a local pairing with the controller and wherein the request message includes a request to establish a pair-verified session that enables end-to-end message security for messages subsequently sent via the relay service.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein using the access token, the operator relay alias, and the accessory relay alias to communicate with the controller via the relay service includes:

detecting, by the accessory, a state change;

determining, by the accessory, that the controller should be notified;

generating a notification message for the controller, the notification message indicating that a state change has occurred; and

sending, by the accessory, a relay request to an accessory courier server to relay the notification message to the controller, the relay request including the notification message, the access token, the operator relay alias, and the accessory relay alias.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the notification message indicates only that a state change has occurred.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the accessory sends the relay request to relay the notification message during a time when the accessory does not have access to the controller via the local channel.