Proximity pairing based on signal strength

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10187919-B2
Application number	US-201715686083-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 24, 2017
Priority date	May 22, 2017
Publication date	Jan 22, 2019
Grant date	Jan 22, 2019

Abstract

Proximity of a responder device to an initiator device can be used to determine user intent for pairing the responder device with the initiator device. For example, the initiator device can measure a signal strength of an advertisement signal from the responder device. When the signal strength is sufficiently strong, a pairing process can be initiated, e.g., the user of the initiator device can automatically be prompted to begin pairing. The determination of whether the signal strength is sufficiently high can be determined based on a human interaction model, which can use measurements from various geometrical configurations of the two types of devices. Measurements at expected configurations that users would place the two devices to initiate pairing can be used to determine a threshold value for the signal strength to identify user intent with a new pair of devices.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of electronically pairing an initiator device to a responder device, the method comprising performing, by the initiator device:
performing one or more signal strength measurements of an advertisement signal from the responder device;
determining a signal strength value using the one or more signal strength measurements;
comparing the signal strength value to a threshold value, the threshold value determined by a human interaction model that discriminates between proximal states of the responder device and non-proximal states of the responder device, wherein the human interaction model is generated using other measurements of one or more other responder devices and one or more other initiator devices in a plurality of configurations; and
initiating a pairing process between the responder device and the initiator device based on the comparing of the signal strength value to the threshold value.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
analyzing data in the advertisement signal to determine whether to perform the one or more signal strength measurements.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein analyzing the data in the advertisement signal includes:
identifying a field in the advertisement signal that indicates that the responder device has not been previously been paired with another device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the signal strength value includes:
determining an average or a median value of a plurality of signal strength measurements of the advertisement signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of signal strength measurements are performed, and wherein determining the signal strength value includes:
for each of the plurality of signal strength measurements:
determining a proximal probability of the signal strength measurement corresponding to a user intent to initiate the pairing process by comparing the signal strength measurement to a proximal probability distribution, wherein the proximal probability distribution is generated using the other measurements of the one or more other responder devices and the one or more other initiator devices in a plurality of configurations; and

using the proximal probabilities to determine the signal strength value.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
for each of the plurality of signal strength measurements:
determining a non-proximal probability of the signal strength measurement corresponding to a user intent to not initiate the pairing process by comparing the signal strength measurement to a non-proximal probability distribution, wherein the non-proximal probability distribution is generated using the other measurements of the one or more other responder devices and the one or more other initiator devices in a plurality of configurations; and

determining the signal strength value by comparing the proximal probabilities to the non-proximal probabilities.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
based on the comparing of the signal strength value to the threshold value, providing a confirmation option to a user for user input to confirm that the pairing process is to be initiated; and
pairing the responder device and the initiator device in response to the user input.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a type of the responder device; and
using the type to select the human interaction model from a plurality of human interaction models.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the responder device and the initiator device are both mobile devices.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending a pairing request to the responder device;
receiving a pairing response from the responder device;
authenticating the responder device;
exchanging one or more keys with the responder device;
ending a current communication session with the responder device; and
at a later time, establishing a new communication session using the one or more keys, the new communication session being established without performing the pairing process.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the responder device includes a plurality of sub-units.

12. A computer product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions that when executed cause an initiator device to electronically pair with a responder device by:
performing one or more signal strength measurements of an advertisement signal from the responder device;
determining a signal strength value using the one or more signal strength measurements;
comparing the signal strength value to a threshold value, the threshold value determined by a human interaction model that discriminates between proximal states of the responder device and non-proximal states of the responder device, wherein the human interaction model is generated using other measurements of one or more other responder devices and one or more other initiator devices in a plurality of configurations; and
initiating a pairing process between the responder device and the initiator device based on the comparing of the signal strength value to the threshold value.

13. The computer product of claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the initiator device to perform:
analyzing data in the advertisement signal to determine whether to perform the one or more signal strength measurements, wherein analyzing the data in the advertisement signal includes:
identifying a field in the advertisement signal that indicates that the responder device has not been previously been paired with another device.

14. The computer product of claim 12 , wherein a plurality of signal strength measurements are performed, and wherein determining the signal strength value includes:
for each of the plurality of signal strength measurements:
determining a proximal probability of the signal strength measurement corresponding to a user intent to initiate the pairing process by comparing the signal strength measurement to a proximal probability distribution, wherein the proximal probability distribution is generated using the other measurements of the one or more other responder devices and the one or more other initiator devices in a plurality of configurations; and

using the proximal probabilities to determine the signal strength value.

15. The computer product of claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the initiator device to perform:
based on the comparing of the signal strength value to the threshold value, providing a confirmation option to a user for user input to confirm that the pairing process is to be initiated; and
pairing the responder device and the initiator device in response to the user input.

16. The computer product of claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the initiator device to perform:
identifying a type of the responder device; and
using the type to select the human interaction model from a plurality of human interaction models.

17. An initiator device for electronically pairing with a responder device, the initiator device including one or more processors configured to:
perform one or more signal strength measurements of an advertisement signal from the responder device;
determine a signal strength value using the one or more signal strength measurements;
compare the signal strength value to a threshold value, the threshold value determined by a human interaction model that discriminates between proximal states of the responder device and non-proximal states of the responder device, wherein the human interaction model is generated u

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Ledvina Brent M
• Mayor Robert William
• Bradley Bob

Classifications

• H04W24/10

  Scheduling measurement reports {; Arrangements for measurement reports} · CPC title

• H04W8/005

  Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals · CPC title

• H04W76/14 Primary

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04W4/80 Primary

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title