System and method for pre-enrollment and network pre-configuration of internet of things (IoT) devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11855839-B2
Application number	US-202117403493-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 16, 2021
Priority date	Nov 28, 2018
Publication date	Dec 26, 2023
Grant date	Dec 26, 2023

Abstract

A system, apparatus, and method for automatically provisioning a new IoT device. For example, one embodiment of a system comprises: an Internet of Things (IoT) service comprising: an IoT database to store user account data and IoT devices associated with each user account; an application programming interface (API) exposed to one or more online retail services to allow the online retail services to submit data related to IoT device purchases to the IoT service; a first IoT device purchased from the online retail service by a first user associated with a first user account on the IoT service, wherein in response to the first user purchasing the first IoT device, the online retail service is to transmit first identification data to identify the first IoT device and second identification data to identify the first user account; and device provisioning circuitry and/or logic to automatically add the first IoT device to the first user account on the IoT database in response to receipt of the first and second identification data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, from an online retail service, a first identification data identifying a first user account associated with a first user at an Internet of Things (IoT) service and a second identification data identifying a first IoT device purchased by, and/or shipped to, the first user from the online retail service;
creating, at the IoT service, a mapping between the first user account and the first IoT device, wherein the first IoT device is added to a whitelist associated with the first user account;
authorizing an IoT hub associated with the first user account to establish communication with the first IoT device based on the whitelist, wherein the whitelist identifies one or more IoT devices that are permitted to connect to the IoT hub;
receiving, at the IoT hub, a request from the first IoT device to establish a local communication and responsively providing credentials for a local wireless network of the first user to the first IoT device through the local communication channel established between the first IoT device and the IoT hub; and
connecting the first IoT device to the local wireless network using the credentials.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising establishing a connection between the first IoT device and the IoT service through the local wireless network.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing an entry associated with the first user in an account database of the online retail service, the entry including the first and second identification data.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the entry further includes an indication of whether the first IoT device is suitable for auto-configuration.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising determining, based on the entry in the account database, that the first IoT device is suitable for auto-configuration and responsively sending the first and second identification data to the IoT service.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second identification data is provided to the IoT service through an application program interface (API) exposed by the IoT service to the online retail service.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the credentials for the local wireless network at the IoT hub.

8. A system comprising:
an Internet of Things (I) service to receive, from an online retail service, a first identification data a identifying a first user account associated with a first user at the IoT service and a second identification data identifying a first IoT device purchased by, and/or shipped to, the first user from the online retail service;
a device provisioning logic of the IoT service to create a mapping between the first user account and the first IoT device, wherein the first IoT device is added to a whitelist associated with the first user account, the device provisioning logic further to authorize an IoT hub associated with the first user account to establish communication with the first IoT device based on the whitelist, wherein the whitelist identifies one or more IoT devices that are permitted to connect to the IoT hub;
the IoT hub to receive a request from the first IoT device to establish a local communication and to responsively provide credentials for a local wireless network of the first user to the first IoT device through the local communication channel established between the first IoT device and the IoT hub; and
the first IoT device to connect to the local wireless network using the credentials.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first IoT device is to establish a connection with the IoT service through the local wireless network.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the online retail service includes an account database to store an entry associated with the first user, the entry including the first and second identification data.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the entry further includes an indication of whether the first IoT device is suitable for auto-configuration.

12. The system of claim 11 , further wherein the online retail service further includes an auto-configuration manager to determine, based on the entry in the account database, that the first IoT device is suitable for auto-configuration and to responsively send the first and second identification data to the IoT service.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first and second identification data is provided to the IoT service through an application program interface (API) exposed by the IoT service to the online retail service.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the IoT hub includes a local storage to store the credentials for the local wireless network.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon which, when executed by one or more machines, causes the machines to perform operations of:
receiving, from an online retail service, a first identification data a identifying a first user account associated with a first user at an Internet of Things (IoT) service and a second identification data identifying a first IoT device purchased by, and/or shipped to, the first user from the online retail service;
creating, at the IoT service, a mapping between the first user account and the first IoT device, wherein the first IoT device is added to a whitelist associated with the first user account;
authorizing an IoT hub associated with the first user account to establish communication with the first IoT device based on the whitelist, wherein the whitelist identifies one or more IoT devices that are permitted to connect to the IoT hub;
receiving, at the IoT hub, a request from the first IoT device to establish a local communication and responsively providing credentials for a local wireless network of the first user to the first IoT device through the local communication channel established between the first IoT device and the IoT hub; and
connecting the first IoT device to the local wireless network using the credentials.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise establishing a connection between the first IoT device and the IoT service through the local wireless network.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise storing an entry associated with the first user in an account database of the online retail service, the entry including the first and second identification data.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the entry further includes an indication of whether the first IoT device is suitable for auto-configuration.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise determining, based on the entry in the account database, that the first IoT device is suitable for auto-configuration and responsively sending the first and second identification data to the IoT service.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the first and second identification data is provided to the IoT service through an application program interface (API) exposed by the IoT service to the online retail service.

21. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise storing the credentials for the local wireless network at the IoT hub.

Assignees

• Afero Inc

Inventors

• Bartlett Scott
• Britt Joe
• Sewerynek Stephen
• Aiuto Chris

Classifications

• H04L41/0806 Primary

  for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play · CPC title

• G06Q30/0601 Primary

  Electronic shopping [e-shopping] · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04W12/068

  using credential vaults, e.g. password manager applications or one time password [OTP] applications · CPC title

• H04W76/11

  Allocation or use of connection identifiers · CPC title