Secure Pairing of Devices via Pairing Facilitator-Intermediary Device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016150583-A1
Application number	US-201615012552-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 1, 2016
Priority date	Apr 26, 2012
Publication date	May 26, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present inventions, in one aspect, are directed to systems and circuitry for and/or methods of establishing communication having one or more pairing facilitator-intermediary devices (for example, a network connected server) to enable or facilitate pairing and/or registering at least two devices (e.g., (i) a portable biometric monitoring device and (ii) a smartphone, laptop and/or tablet) to, for example, recognize, interact and/or enable interoperability between such devices. The pairing facilitator-intermediary device may responsively communicates information to one or more of the devices (to be paired or registered) which, in response, enable or facilitate such devices to pair or register. The present inventions may be advantageous where one or both of the devices to be paired or registered is/are not configured (e.g., include a user interface or certain communication circuitry that is configured or includes functionality) to pair devices without use of a facilitator-intermediary device.

First claim

1 . A method for pairing a portable monitoring device with a computing device, comprising:
receiving by the computing device a selection of the portable monitoring device for pairing with the computing device; sending by the computing device via a computer network to a server an instruction to receive first pairing information; receiving by the computing device via the computer network from the server the first pairing information in response to sending the instruction; sending the first pairing information from the computing device to the portable monitoring device; receiving by the computing device second pairing information from the portable monitoring device, the second pairing information being obtained by the portable monitoring device from the server via the computer network; and pairing the computing device with the portable monitoring device after said sending of the first pairing information from the computing device to the portable monitoring device and said receiving by the computing device of the second pairing information from the portable monitoring device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first pairing information includes an identifier of the portable monitoring device and a secret code, wherein the second pairing information includes an identifier of the computing device and a secret code.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the portable monitoring device does not transmit data to the server via the computer network.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving by the computing device activity data from the portable monitoring device after the computing device is paired with the portable monitoring device.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
providing access to a user account on a display device of the computing device via a web service; and displaying the activity data on the display device.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the portable monitoring device is a biometric device and the computing device is a smart phone or a tablet or a computer, wherein the biometric device includes a display unit to display information.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the portable monitoring device is configured to communicate bi-directionally with the server via the computer network to send data to the server and to receive the second pairing information from the server.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the portable monitoring device lacks a user interface for receiving the selection, wherein the portable monitoring device has a dead front display.

9 . A computing device comprising:
a user interface configured to receive a selection of a portable monitoring device for pairing with the computing device; a communication unit configured to send via a computer network to a server an instruction to receive first pairing information, the communication unit being configured to receive via the computer network from the server the first pairing information in response to sending the instruction; the communication unit configured to send the first pairing information to the portable monitoring device, the communication unit being configured to receive second pairing information from the portable monitoring device, the second pairing information being obtained by the portable monitoring device from the server via the computer network; and a processor is configured to pair the computing device with the portable monitoring device after the first pairing information is sent from the communication unit to the portable monitoring device and the second pairing information is received by the communication unit from the portable monitoring device.

10 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the second pairing information includes an identifier of the computing device and a secret code, wherein the first pairing information includes an identifier of the portable monitoring device and a secret code.

11 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the portable monitoring device does not transmit data to the server via the computer network.

12 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the communication unit is configured to receive activity data from the portable monitoring device after the processor is paired with the portable monitoring device.

13 . The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the user interface is configured to provide access to a user account via a web service, wherein the user interface includes a display device configured to display the activity data.

14 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the portable monitoring device is a biometric device and the computing device is a smart phone or a tablet or a computer, wherein the biometric device includes a display unit to display information.

15 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the portable monitoring device is configured to communicate bi-directionally with the server via the computer network to send data to the server and to receive the second pairing information from the server.

16 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the portable monitoring device lacks a user interface for receiving a selection, wherein the portable monitoring device has a dead front display.

17 . A method for pairing a portable monitoring device with a computing device, comprising:
receiving by the computing device a selection of the portable monitoring device for pairing with the computing device; sending by the computing device via a computer network to a server an instruction to receive pairing information, the portable monitoring device being configured to send data to the server via the computer network and not being configured to receive pairing-related information from the server via the computer network; receiving by the computing device via the computer network from the server the pairing information in response to sending the instruction; sending the pairing information from the computing device to the portable monitoring device; and pairing the computing device with the portable monitoring device after said sending of the pairing information to the portable monitoring device.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the pairing information includes an identifier of the portable monitoring device and a secret code.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the selection includes an identification of the portable monitoring device.

20 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising receiving by the computing device activity data from the portable monitoring device after the computing device is paired with the portable monitoring device.

21 . The method of claim 20 , further comprising:
providing access to a user account on a display device of the computing device via a web service; and displaying the activity data on the display device.

22 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the portable monitoring device is a biometric device and the computing device is a smart phone or a tablet or a computer, wherein the biometric device includes a display unit to display information.

23 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the server is configured to transmit the pairing information to the computing device via a secure connection between the server and the computing device.

24 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the portable monitoring device lacks a user interface for receiving the selection, wherein the portable monitoring device has a dead front display.

25 . A computing device comprising:
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Assignees

• Fitbit Inc

Inventors

• Panther Heiko Gernot Albert

Classifications

• H04L63/0471

  applying encryption by an intermediary, e.g. receiving clear information at the intermediary and encrypting the received information at the intermediary before forwarding · CPC title

• H04W12/00 Primary

  Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity · CPC title

• A61B5/11

  Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor or mobility of a limb {(A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721)} · CPC title

• H04L63/0281

  Proxies · CPC title

• A61B5/6824

  Arm or wrist · CPC title