Temporary pairing for wireless devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11997496-B2
Application number	US-201916428652-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2019
Priority date	May 31, 2019
Publication date	May 28, 2024
Grant date	May 28, 2024

Abstract

A device providing temporary pairing for wireless devices may include a memory and at least one processor configured to receive a request to temporarily pair with a wireless device. The at least one processor may be further configured to pair with the wireless device, wherein the pairing comprises generating a link key for connecting to the wireless device. The at least one processor may be further configured to connect to the wireless device using the link key. The at least one processor may be further configured to initiate a timer upon disconnecting from the wireless device. The at least one processor may be further configured to automatically and without user input, delete the link key when the timer reaches a timeout value without having reconnected to the wireless device using the link key.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device comprising:
a memory; and
at least one processor, wherein the device is associated with a first user account and wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
receive a request to temporarily pair with a wireless device that is associated with a second user account different from the first user account;
pair with the wireless device responsive to the request, wherein the pairing comprises generating a link key for connecting to the wireless device;
perform one or more operations to connect the device to the wireless device using the link key;
initiate a timer upon disconnecting from the wireless device; and
automatically and without user input, delete the link key when the timer reaches a timeout value without having reconnected to the wireless device using the link key.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
perform one or more operations to reconnect the device to the wireless device using the link key when a request to reconnect to the wireless device is received prior to the timer reaching a timeout value.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is paired with, and connected to, another wireless device using another link key when the request to temporarily pair with the wireless device is received.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the device and the other wireless device are associated with the first user account and the wireless device is associated with the second user account, and wherein the request comprises a user request received via a user interface displayed by the device.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
provide the other link key for secure storage on a server in association with the first user account.

6. The device of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
continue to store the other link key after disconnecting with the other wireless device including when the timer reaches the timeout value without having reconnected with the other wireless device using the other link key.

7. The device of claim 4 , wherein the wireless device and other wireless device comprise wireless audio output devices, and the at least one processor is further configured to:
stream a first audio stream to the wireless device and concurrently stream a second audio stream to the other wireless device.

8. The device of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
continue to stream the first audio stream to the wireless device after disconnecting from the other wireless device.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
provide, for transmission to the wireless device, an indication that the link key corresponds to a temporary pairing which indicates that that the wireless device should, automatically and without user input, delete the link key when a timer initiated upon disconnecting from the device reaches the timeout value without having reconnected to the device using the link key.

10. A method comprising:
receiving, by an electronic device that is associated with a first user account and from another electronic device that is associated with a second user account that differs from the first user account, a request to connect to a wireless device that is associated with the first user account and connected to the electronic device, wherein the wireless device is paired with the electronic device and the wireless device is not paired with the other electronic device;
generating, in response to the request, a link key for a connection between the other electronic device and the wireless device, the link key being different than another link key used by the electronic device to connect to the wireless device; and
transmitting the link key to the wireless device and the other electronic device, wherein the other electronic device is configured to initiate a connection with the wireless device based at least in part on the link key without having paired with the wireless device.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving, from the other electronic device, a communication address corresponding to the other electronic device;
transmitting, to the wireless device, the communication address corresponding to the other electronic device in conjunction with transmitting the link key to the wireless device; and
transmitting, to the other electronic device, another communication address corresponding to the wireless device in conjunction with transmitting the link key to the other electronic device, wherein the other electronic device is configured to initiate the connection with the wireless device based at least in part on the link key and the other communication address corresponding to the wireless device without having paired with the wireless device.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
initiating, by the other electronic device and without having paired with the wireless device, the connection with the wireless device using the link key and the communication address corresponding to the wireless device.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the connection initiated by the electronic device with the wireless device without having paired with the wireless device comprises a Bluetooth connection.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
automatically, and without user input, reconnecting to the wireless device using the other link key upon termination of the connection between the wireless device and the other electronic device.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving, by the electronic device, a request to reconnect with the wireless device while the wireless device is connected to the other electronic device; and
reconnecting, responsive to receiving the request, to the wireless device using the other link key, wherein the reconnecting causes the wireless device to disconnect from the other electronic device.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the wireless device is configured to delete the link key for the connection with the other electronic device after reconnecting to the electronic device.

17. A system comprising:
an electronic device comprising a memory and at least one processor configured to:
provide, for transmission to a proximate electronic device, a request to stream audio to a wireless audio output device connected to the proximate electronic device, wherein the electronic device is not paired with the wireless audio output device, and wherein the proximate electronic device and the wireless audio output device are associated with a first user account and the electronic device is associated with a second user account that differs from the first user account;
receive, from the proximate electronic device in response to the request, a link key for connecting to the wireless audio output device;
initiate a Bluetooth connection with the wireless audio output device based at least in part on the link key and without having paired with the wireless audio output device; and
stream the audio to the wireless audio output device via the Bluetooth connection.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to provide, for transmission, the request responsive to a user request received by the electronic device via a user interface displayed by the electronic device with an indication of an availability of the wireless audio output device, and wherein the at least one processor of the electronic de

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Fornshell Natalia A
• Kumar Aarti
• Watson Robert D
• Cotte Ariane
• Bradley Bob
• Krochmal Marc J
• Sun Kang
• Ganir Chen
• Ranade Sarang S
• Mangalam Srivatsa Akshay

Classifications

• H04W12/0431

  Key distribution or pre-distribution; Key agreement · CPC title

• H04W12/50 Primary

  Secure pairing of devices · 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

• H04W12/041

  Key generation or derivation · CPC title

• H04W12/0471 Primary

  Key exchange · CPC title