Internet of things (IoT) device activation and management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10484477-B2
Application number	US-201514983717-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 30, 2015
Priority date	Dec 30, 2015
Publication date	Nov 19, 2019
Grant date	Nov 19, 2019

Abstract

A user device, such as a smart phone, collects information about an Internet-of-things (IoT) device. The information may be obtained through a local wireless connection between the user device and the IoT device. The user device forwards, to an application server, a request to activate the IoT device over a service network, such as a wireless data network, and receives information for activating the IoT device. The user device uses the received information to activate the IoT device and collects data from the activated IoT devices. The user device may selectively report portions of the collected data to the application server, and may receive instruction updates. The user device may update the operation of the IoT device based on the received instruction updates.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
identifying, by a processor associated with a user device, an attribute of an Internet-of-things (IoT) device;
forwarding, by the processor, the attribute to a cloud storage, wherein the cloud storage stores data identifying IoT devices associated with the user device and data associated with IoT devices associated with other user devices, and wherein the cloud storage identifies an application server, from a plurality of application servers, that manages similar IoT devices for the other user devices, wherein the similar IoT devices include IoT devices with attributes similar to the attribute;
obtaining, by the processor, a form associated with the application server;
populating, by the processor, the form to generate an activation request based on the attribute of the IoT device, wherein the activation request relates to activating the IoT device, and wherein the activation request includes the attribute of the IoT device, information associated with the user device, and an intended usage for the IoT device;
forwarding, by the processor, the activation request to the application server, wherein the activation request is forwarded via a service network;
receiving, by the processor and from the application server, activation information for activating the IoT device;
storing, by the processor, the activation information to the cloud storage;
activating, by the processor, the IoT device by forwarding the activation information to the IoT device, wherein the activation information is not sent through the service network, and wherein the activation information includes an indication of a second device to receive data from the IoT device during particular time periods or when the user device is not in communication with the IoT device;
receiving, by the processor, data collected by the activated IoT device;
generating, by the processor, a reporting message based on the data collected by the activated IoT device;
receiving, by the processor and from a user of the user device, an indication of a particular time when the reporting message should be forwarded to the application server; and
forwarding, by the processor, the reporting message to the application server via the service network at the particular time.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the reporting message further includes:
providing a user interface (UI), wherein the UI presents portions of the data collected by the activated IoT device;
receiving, through the UI, a user input selecting one of the portions of the data collected by the activated IoT device; and
including the selected one of the portions of the data collected by the activated IoT device in the reporting message, wherein the reporting message excludes non-selected ones of the portions of data collected by the activated IoT device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the reporting message further includes:
identifying a status of the user device; and
including, in the reporting message, information identifying the status of the user device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the reporting message further includes:
receiving, by the processor, data collected by another IoT device; and
including, in the reporting message, at least a portion of the data collected by the other IoT device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activation information is received during a first time period, and wherein forwarding the activation information to the IoT device further includes:
storing the activation information during the first time period;
receiving a user input during a second time period that is after the first time period; and
forwarding the activation information to the IoT device during the second time period based on receiving the user input.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein forwarding the activation information to the IoT device further includes:
providing a user interface (UI), wherein the UI presents the activation information;
receiving, through the UI, a user input identifying a modification to the activation information; and
forwarding the modification to the activation information to the IoT device.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the modification identifies an emergency situation, and wherein the modification causes the IoT device to forward a notification to the application server when the emergency situation is detected.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the attribute of the IoT device includes:
capturing an image of the IoT device; and
processing the image to determine the attribute of the IoT device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the attribute of the IoT device includes:
establishing a short-range connection between the user device and the IoT device; and
obtaining data identifying the attribute from the IoT device.

10. A device comprising:
a memory to store one or more instructions;
a first wireless interface to communicate via a local network;
a second wireless interface to communicate via a service network that differs from the local network; and
a processor configured to execute the one or more instructions to:
identify an attribute of an Internet-of-things (IoT) device that differs from the device;
forward, to a cloud storage, the attribute, wherein the cloud storage stores data identifying IoT devices associated with the device and data associated with IoT devices associated with other devices, and wherein the cloud storage identifies an application server, from a plurality of application servers, that manages similar IoT devices for the other devices, wherein the similar IoT devices include IoT devices with attributes similar to the attribute;
obtain a form associated with the application server;
populate the form to generate an activation request based on the attribute of the IoT device, wherein the activation request relates to activating the IoT device, and wherein the activation request includes the attribute of the IoT device, information associated with the device, and an intended usage for the IoT device;
forward the activation request to the application server using the second wireless interface;
receive, from the application server and using the second wireless interface, activation information for activating the IoT device;
store the activation information to the cloud storage;
activate the IoT device by forwarding, using the first wireless interface, the activation information to the IoT device, wherein the activation information includes an indication of a second device to receive data from the IoT device during particular time periods or when the device is not in communication with the IoT device;
receive, using the first wireless interface, data collected by the activated IoT device;
generate a reporting message based on the data collected by the activated IoT device;
receive from a user associated with the device an indication of a particular time when the reporting message should be forwarded to the application server; and
forward, using the second wireless interface, the reporting message to the application server at the particular time.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the processor, when generating the reporting message, is further configured to:
provide a user interface (UI), wherein the UI presents portions of the data collected by the activated IoT device;
receive, through the UI, a user input selecting one of the portions of the data collected by the activated IoT device; and
include the selected one of the portions of the data collected by the activated IoT device in the reporting message, wherein the reporting message excludes non-selected ones of the p

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Nasir Azim
• Turner Andre R
• Mckenna Daniel J

Classifications

• H04W4/80

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

• H04L67/34

  involving the movement of software or configuration parameters  (network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416) · CPC title

• H04L67/125 Primary

  involving control of end-device applications over a network · CPC title

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• H04L67/36

  Electricity · mapped topic