Method, apparatus, and device for automatic pairing of wireless devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11032860-B2
Application number	US-201916575620-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2019
Priority date	Mar 29, 2019
Publication date	Jun 8, 2021
Grant date	Jun 8, 2021

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for communication include: after a data source device discovers a first device in a device group based on a group identifier, pairing the first device with the data source device based on the group identifier to obtain pairing information; transmitting a notification message from the first device to one or more other devices in the device group, the notification message including an instruction to update a status of each of the one or more other devices in the device group to be invisible to a device outside the device group; and providing the pairing information to a second device in the device group, the pairing information being used for establishing a connection between the second device and the data source device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for communication, comprising:
after a data source device discovers a first device in a device group based on a group identifier, pairing the first device with the data source device based on the group identifier to obtain pairing information, the device group identifier uniquely identifying the device group, wherein
a status of each device in the device group is set as visible to one or more devices outside the device group,
devices in the device group are identified to the one or more devices outside the device group by the group identifier, and
the pairing information is generated by the first device using the group identifier and an identifier of the data source device;

transmitting a notification message from the first device to one or more other devices in the device group, the notification message including an instruction to update a status of each of the one or more other devices in the device group to be invisible to the one or more devices outside the device group; and
providing the pairing information to a second device in the device group, the pairing information being used for establishing a connection between the second device and the data source.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pairing information comprises a link key.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
after pairing the first device with the data source device via the group identifier, establishing a connection between the first device and the data source device using the pairing information.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pairing information is used for establishing a connection between the second device and the data source when a predetermined condition is met, and the predetermined condition comprises at least one of:
a link between the first device and the data source device malfunctioning;
a battery power of the first device being below a first threshold;
a status of the first device being abnormal; or
a quality of a signal between the first device and the data source device being below a second threshold.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the pairing information to the second device in the device group comprises:
storing, by the first device, the pairing information in a predetermined storage area accessible to the second device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the pairing information to the second device in the device group comprises:
transmitting the pairing information from the first device to the second device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second device is in the device group, and the second device is different from the first device.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
before pairing the first device with the data source device via the group identifier, pairing and connecting the first device with the one or more other devices in the device group to establish the device group.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the group identifier is determined in accordance with a predetermined rule.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the group identifier is the same as an identifier of one of the devices in the device group.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the devices in the device group comprises a wireless device or a wired device.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the wireless device comprises a Bluetooth® device.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the Bluetooth® device comprises a Bluetooth® audio device.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the Bluetooth® audio device comprises a Bluetooth® earbud or a Bluetooth® audio system.

15. A communication apparatus comprising a storage device and a processor, the processor executing a program instruction in the storage device to implement the method of claim 1 .

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program, when being executed by a processor, implements the method of claim 1 .

17. A method for communication, wherein the method comprises:
before establishing a connection between a first device and a data source device, obtaining, by a second device, pairing information provided by the first device, wherein
the first device and the second device are in a device group,
the pairing information is obtained by pairing the first device with the data source device based on a group identifier, the group identifier uniquely identifying the device group,
before pairing the first device with the data source device via the group identifier to obtain the pairing information, a status of each device in the device group is set as visible to a device outside the device group, and
devices in the device group are identified to the device outside the device group by the group identifier;

receiving, by the second device, a notification message transmitted by the first device and updating, by the second device, a status of the second device to be invisible to the device outside the device group in accordance with the notification message; and
establishing a connection between the second device and the data source device based on the pairing information.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the connection between the second device and the data source device is established when a predetermined condition is met, and the predetermined condition comprises at least one of:
a link between the first device and the data source device being malfunctioning;
a battery power of the first device being below a first threshold;
a status of the first device being abnormal; or
a quality of a signal between the first device and the data source device being below a second threshold.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein obtaining, by the second device, the pairing information provided by the first device comprises:
obtaining, by the second device, the pairing information stored in a predetermined storage area by the first device.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein obtaining, by the second device, the pairing information provided by the first device comprises:
receiving, by the second device, the pairing information transmitted by the first device.

21. A communication apparatus comprising a storage device and a processor, the processor executing a program instruction in the storage device to implement the method of claim 17 .

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program, when being executed by a processor, implements the method of claim 17 .

23. An apparatus for communication, applied to a first device, the apparatus comprising a processor and a transmission-and-reception device, wherein
the processor is configured to pair with a data source device based on a group identifier to obtain pairing information after the data source device discovers the first device in a device group based on the group identifier, wherein
the first device is any one of devices in the device group,
the group identifier uniquely identifies the device group,
before pairing the first device with the data source device based on the group identifier to obtain the pairing information, a status of each device in the device group is set as visible to one or more devices outside the device group,
the devices in the device group are identified to the one or more devices outside the device group by the group identifier, and
the pairing information is generated by the first device in accordance

Assignees

• Spreadtrum Comm Shanghai Co

Inventors

• Chen Guochu

Classifications

• H04W76/10

  Connection setup · 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

• H04W8/26

  Network addressing or numbering for mobility support · CPC title

• H04W8/186

  Processing of subscriber group data · CPC title

• H04W76/14 Primary

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title