Method for joining a Zigbee device to a Zigbee network and corresponding Zigbee device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11490238-B2
Application number	US-202016778226-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 31, 2020
Priority date	Jan 31, 2019
Publication date	Nov 1, 2022
Grant date	Nov 1, 2022

Abstract

A method for joining a Zigbee device to a Zigbee network, includes starting a Zigbee protocol stack and a Bluetooth protocol stack on the Zigbee device, sending out Zigbee requests to seek for Zigbee networks, sending out Bluetooth beacon messages containing a Zigbee install code, wherein the Zigbee requests and the Bluetooth beacon messages are sent out in a time division multiplex manner.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for joining a Zigbee device to a Zigbee network, the method comprising:
starting a Zigbee protocol stack and a Bluetooth protocol stack on the Zigbee device;
sending out, to a first wireless communication device, Zigbee requests to seek a Zigbee network; and
sending out, to a second wireless communication device, Bluetooth beacon messages containing a Zigbee install code;
wherein the Zigbee requests and the Bluetooth beacon messages are sent out in a time division multiplex manner; and
wherein the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device are different devices.

2. A method for joining a Zigbee device to a Zigbee network, the method comprising:
starting a Zigbee protocol stack and a Bluetooth protocol stack on the Zigbee device;
sending out Zigbee requests to seek a Zigbee network and sending out Bluetooth beacon messages containing a Zigbee install code, wherein the Zigbee requests and the Bluetooth beacon messages are sent out in a time division multiplex manner;
receiving a Bluetooth beacon message sent out by the Zigbee device with a Bluetooth communication device;
obtaining the Zigbee install code from the Bluetooth beacon message;
sending the Zigbee install code to a trust center device of the Zigbee network; and
joining the Zigbee device to the Zigbee network using the Zigbee install code.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein sending the Zigbee install code to the trust center device of the Zigbee network comprises:
sending the Zigbee install code from the Bluetooth communication device to a server; and
sending the Zigbee install code from the server to the trust center device of the Zigbee network.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein at least one of sending the Zigbee install code from the Bluetooth communication device to the server and sending the Zigbee install code from the server to the trust center device of the Zigbee network is carried out over TCP/IP.

5. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
ceasing to send out Bluetooth beacon messages containing the Zigbee install code once the Zigbee device has been joined to the Zigbee network.

6. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the Bluetooth beacon messages are sent out encrypted.

7. A Zigbee device configured to join a Zigbee network according to the method of claim 2 , the Zigbee device comprising:
at least one processing means configured to:
start the Zigbee protocol stack and the Bluetooth protocol stack on the Zigbee device;
send out the Zigbee requests to seek for Zigbee networks; and
send out the Bluetooth beacon messages containing the Zigbee install code;

wherein the Zigbee device is configured to send out the Zigbee requests and the Bluetooth beacon messages in the time division multiplex manner.

8. The Zigbee device according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one processing means is further configured to at least one of:
cease sending out Bluetooth beacon messages containing the Zigbee install code once the Zigbee device has been joined to the Zigbee network; and
send out the Bluetooth beacon messages encrypted.

9. The Zigbee device according to claim 7 , further comprising:
memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processing means;
a transmitter communicatively coupled with the at least one processing means; and
an antenna communicatively coupled with the transmitter.

10. The Zigbee device according to claim 7 , wherein the Zigbee device is a lighting device or a lamp.

11. The method according to claim 2 , wherein at least one of:
the Zigbee requests are Zigbee beacon requests; and
the Bluetooth beacon messages further contain a MAC address.

12. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the Zigbee device is a lighting device or a lamp.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the Bluetooth beacon messages are sent out encrypted.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of:
the Zigbee requests are Zigbee beacon requests; and
the Bluetooth beacon messages further contain a MAC address.

15. A Zigbee device configured to join a Zigbee network according to the method of claim 1 , the Zigbee device comprising:
at least one processing means configured to:
start the Zigbee protocol stack and the Bluetooth protocol stack on the Zigbee device;
send out the Zigbee requests to seek for Zigbee networks; and
send out the Bluetooth beacon messages containing the Zigbee install code;

wherein the Zigbee device is configured to send out the Zigbee requests and the Bluetooth beacon messages in the time division multiplex manner.

16. The Zigbee device according to claim 15 , wherein the at least one processing means is further configured to at least one of:
cease sending out Bluetooth beacon messages containing the Zigbee install code once the Zigbee device has been joined to the Zigbee network; and
send out the Bluetooth beacon messages encrypted.

17. The Zigbee device according to claim 15 , further comprising:
memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processing means;
a transmitter communicatively coupled with the at least one processing means; and
an antenna communicatively coupled with the transmitter.

18. The Zigbee device according to claim 15 , wherein the Zigbee device is a lighting device or a lamp.

19. The Zigbee device according to claim 15 , wherein the Zigbee device is configured to transmit but not receive a Bluetooth signal.

20. The Zigbee device according to claim 7 , wherein the Zigbee device is configured to transmit but not receive a Bluetooth signal.

Assignees

• Ledvance Gmbh

Inventors

• Huang Huajin
• Jiang Wang
• Liao Wuqiang
• Lu Li

Classifications

• H04W88/06

  adapted for operation in multiple networks {or having at least two operational modes}, e.g. multi-mode terminals · CPC title

• H04W12/66

  Trust-dependent, e.g. using trust scores or trust relationships · CPC title

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• H04W12/009

  specially adapted for networks, e.g. wireless sensor networks, ad-hoc networks, RFID networks or cloud networks · CPC title