Cloud based proximity pairing and switching for peer-to-peer devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11432129-B2
Application number	US-202117232422-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 16, 2021
Priority date	Jun 5, 2015
Publication date	Aug 30, 2022
Grant date	Aug 30, 2022

Abstract

A first wireless communication device (UE device) associated with a certain user (or included in a specified set/group of UE devices) may establish a first communication link with an accessory device according to a short-range radio access technology, and transmit link (pairing) information associated with the first communication link to a server, such as a cloud-based server. The server may share this (first) link information with other UE devices associated with the same user (or belonging to the same specified group of UE devices as the first UE device). Link information associated with the other UE devices (i.e. second link information) may equally be shared with the accessory device, and the other UE devices and accessory device may use the first link information and second link information in establishing respective communication links between any of the other UE devices and the accessory device without having to undergo a pairing procedure.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a processor configured to cause a wireless device to:
determine that the wireless device is in proximity to an accessory device, wherein the wireless device has not previously paired with the accessory device; and
establish a direct connection with the accessory device, in response to determining that the wireless device is in proximity to the accessory device, without engaging in a pairing procedure with the accessory device by using a first item of link information associated with the accessory device, wherein the first item of link information was previously received by the wireless device from a second device different from the accessory device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the wireless device and the second device are included in a set of devices associated with a common user.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to further cause the wireless device to:
receive a disconnect message to disconnect from the accessory device when the accessory device is within at least a specified proximity of a third device, to allow the accessory device to connect to the third device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first item of link information comprises at least one of:
security credentials;
a link key;
a long term key; or
an out-of-band key.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein being in proximity to the accessory device includes one or more of:
being within effective communication range of the accessory device;
being within several meters of the accessory device; or
being within at least a specified distance of the accessory device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to further cause the wireless device to:
determine that the wireless device is in proximity to the accessory device by performing proximity calculations based on one or more specified metrics.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the one or more specified metrics include signal strength, and wherein the processor is configured to further cause the wireless device to determine that the wireless device is in proximity to the accessory device by comparing results of the proximity calculations to a threshold value.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to further cause the wireless device to display a user interface indication in response to determining that the wireless device is in proximity to the accessory device, wherein the user interface indication presents a user of the wireless device with an option to establish the direct connection with the accessory device.

9. A wireless device comprising:
a radio interface configured to enable wireless communications of the wireless device according to a specified wireless protocol with at least one or more accessory devices; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the radio interface and configured to cause the wireless device to:
determine that the wireless device is in proximity to an accessory device, wherein the wireless device has not previously paired with the accessory device; and
establish a direct connection with the accessory device, in response to determining that the wireless device is in proximity to the accessory device, without engaging in a pairing procedure with the accessory device by using a first item of link information associated with the accessory device, wherein the first item of link information was previously received by the wireless device from a second device different from the accessory device.

10. The wireless device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to further cause the wireless device to:
receive a disconnect message to disconnect from the accessory device when the accessory device is within at least a specified proximity of a third device, to allow the accessory device to connect to the third device.

11. The wireless device of claim 9 , wherein the first item of link information comprises at least one of:
security credentials;
a link key;
a long-term key; or
an out-of-band key.

12. The wireless device of claim 9 , wherein being in proximity to the accessory device includes one or more of:
being within effective communication range of the accessory device;
being within several meters of the accessory device; or
being within at least a specified distance of the accessory device.

13. The wireless device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to further cause the wireless device to:
determine that the wireless device is in proximity to the accessory device by performing proximity calculations based on one or more specified metrics.

14. The wireless device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more specified metrics include signal strength, and wherein the processor is configured to further cause the wireless device to determine that the wireless device is in proximity to the accessory device by comparing results of the proximity calculations to a threshold value.

15. The wireless device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to further cause the wireless device to display a user interface indication in response to determining that the wireless device is in proximity to the accessory device, wherein the user interface indication presents a user of the wireless device with an option to establish the direct connection with the accessory device.

16. A non-transitory memory element storing instructions executable by a processor to cause a wireless device to:
determine that the wireless device is in proximity to an accessory device, wherein the wireless device has not previously paired with the accessory device; and
establish a direct connection with the accessory device, in response to determining that the wireless device is in proximity to the accessory device, without engaging in a pairing procedure with the accessory device by using a first item of link information associated with the accessory device, wherein the first item of link information was previously received by the wireless device from a second device different from the accessory device.

17. The non-transitory memory element of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to further cause the wireless device to:
receive a disconnect message to disconnect from the accessory device when the accessory device is within at least a specified proximity of a third device, to allow the accessory device to connect to the third device.

18. The non-transitory memory element of claim 16 , wherein the first item of link information comprises at least one of:
security credentials;
a link key;
a long-term key; or
an out-of-band key.

19. The non-transitory memory element of claim 16 , wherein being in proximity to the accessory device includes one or more of:
being within effective communication range of the accessory device;
being within several meters of the accessory device; or
being within at least a specified distance of the accessory device.

20. The non-transitory memory element of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to further cause the wireless device to determine that the wireless device is in proximity to the accessory device by:
performing proximity calculations based on signal strength; and
comparing results of the proximity calculations to a threshold value.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Srivatsa Akshay Mangalam
• Dooley Craig P
• Shaw David John
• Batta Ganesha Adkasthala Ganapathi
• Giles Michael Jason
• Hariharan Sriram

Classifications

• H04L67/306

  User profiles · CPC title

• H04L67/104

  Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks · CPC title

• H04W12/04

  Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA] · CPC title

• H04W4/08 Primary

  User group management · 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