Home appliance and operating method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12294574-B2
Application number	US-202217841242-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2022
Priority date	Jul 30, 2021
Publication date	May 6, 2025
Grant date	May 6, 2025

Abstract

Provided are a method of registering a home appliance in an Internet-of-Things (IoT) server, and a home appliance. The home appliance performs device registration by obtaining access point information and information of a set-up cloud server from a mobile device connected through device-to-device communication, transmitting a temporary password to the mobile device through the device-to-device communication, establishing a communication connection with the set-up cloud server by using the obtained access point information and the obtained information of the set-up cloud server, obtaining user account information from the set-up cloud server by using the temporary password as an identification key, and providing information of the home appliance and the user account information to an IoT server.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
by a home appliance,
obtaining access point information and information of a set-up cloud server, from a mobile device connected to the home appliance through device-to-device communication;
transmitting a temporary password to the mobile device through the device-to-device communication;
establishing a communication connection with the set-up cloud server by using the obtained access point information and the obtained information of the set-up cloud server;
obtaining user account information from the set-up cloud server by using the temporary password as an identification key; and
registering the home appliance in an Internet-of-Things (IoT) server by providing information of the home appliance and the obtained user account information to the IoT server.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the user account information is obtained from the set-up cloud server based on a mapping of the user account information with the temporary password in a key-value format in the set-up cloud server.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining of the user account information comprises:
transmitting, to the set-up cloud server through the communication connection with the set-up cloud server, the temporary password and a query signal for requesting the user account information, and
obtaining, from the set-up cloud server, the user account information based on a mapping of the user account information with the temporary password in a key-value format in the set-up cloud server.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
by the home appliance,
receiving, from the mobile device, a user authentication process request signal for requesting an authentication process with respect to ownership of the home appliance;
in response to the received user authentication process request signal, receiving an authentication input from a user; and
transmitting information about the authentication input to the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein,
in the transmitting of the temporary password, the temporary password is transmitted to the mobile device according to a result of a user authentication by the mobile device based on the transmitted information about the authentication input.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the registering of the home appliance comprises:
establishing a communication connection with the IoT server by using the server connection information,
signing in to the IoT server by using the user account information, and
registering the home appliance with the user account by transmitting at least one of device identification information, a device type, resource information, or profile information of the home appliance.

7. A home appliance comprising:
a communication interface configured to perform data communication with a server or a mobile device;
a memory storing at least one instruction; and
at least one processor configured to execute the at least one instruction stored in the memory to:
obtain access point information and information of a set-up cloud server from the mobile device connected to the home appliance through device-to-device communication, by using the communication interface,
generate a temporary password comprising a random number,
transmit the temporary password to the mobile device by using the communication interface,
establish a communication connection with the set-up cloud server by using the obtained access point information and the obtained information of the set-up cloud server,
obtain user account information from the set-up cloud server by using the temporary password as an identification key, and
perform device registration in an Internet-of-Things (IoT) server by providing information of the home appliance and the obtained user account information to the IoT server.

8. The home appliance of claim 7 , wherein the user account information comprises a user identifier (ID) and a password.

9. The home appliance of claim 7 , wherein
the user account information is obtained from the set-up cloud server based on a mapping of the user account information with the temporary password in a key-value format in the set-up cloud server.

10. The home appliance of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
control the communication interface to transmit, to the set-up cloud server, the temporary password and a query signal for requesting the user account information, and
obtain the user account information based on a mapping of the user account information with the temporary password in a key-value format in the set-up cloud server.

11. The home appliance of claim 7 , further comprising:
a user input unit,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
receive, from the mobile device through the communication interface, a user authentication process request signal for requesting an authentication process with respect to ownership of the home appliance,
receive an authentication input from a user through the user input unit in response to the received user authentication process request signal, and
control the communication interface to transmit, to the mobile device, information about the authentication input.

12. The home appliance of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
control the communication interface to transmit the temporary password to the mobile device according to a result of a user authentication by the mobile device based on the transmitted information about the authentication input.

13. The home appliance of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
control the communication interface to obtain, from the set-up cloud server, server connection information comprising at least one of an internet protocol (IP) address of the IoT server, an access token of the IoT server, a location ID of the home appliance, a room ID, a nickname, and an access point name (APN).

14. The home appliance of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
establish a communication connection with the IoT server by using the server connection information,
sign in to the IoT server by using the user account information,
control the communication interface to transmit at least one of device identification information, a device type, resource information, or profile information of the home appliance, and
register the home appliance in the IoT server in association with the user account information.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having recorded thereon instructions executable by a home appliance for performing:
by the home appliance,
obtaining access point information and information of a set-up cloud server from a mobile device connected to the home appliance through device-to-device communication;
transmitting a temporary password to the mobile device through the device-to-device communication;
establishing a communication connection with the set-up cloud server by using the obtained access point information and the obtained information of the set-up cloud server;
obtaining user account information from the set-up cloud server by using the temporary password as an identification key; and
registering the home appliance in an Internet-of-Things (IoT) server by providing information of the home appliance and the

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Hyunsoo
• Choi Jungwoo
• Nam Kihoon
• Kang Dongwan
• Kim Sangkoo
• Park Donghoo
• Park Jooseok
• Sohn Jeonghyo
• Lee Kanghee

Classifications

• H04L12/2803

  Home automation networks · CPC title

• H04L2012/285

  Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators · CPC title

• H04L67/12 Primary

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

• H04L63/083

  using passwords (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226) · CPC title

• H04L12/2834

  Switching of information between an external network and a home network (access arrangements H04L12/2856) · CPC title