Connecting wireless devices using visual image capture and processing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016249394-A1
Application number	US-201615144555-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 2, 2016
Priority date	Jul 30, 2014
Publication date	Aug 25, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method facilitates establishment of wireless pairing connections between wireless electronic devices by: initiating, at a first device, a connection utility that enables the first device to establish a wireless connection with at least one second device; capturing an image of a selected second device, representing a second device to which a wireless connection is desired; and scanning for identifying information about each discoverable second device that is within a connection range of the first device. The method further includes: forwarding the captured image and any detected identifying information to a wireless connectivity assist (WCA) service; receiving wireless connection setup and configuration (WCSC) instructions from the WCA service; and establishing the wireless connection with the selected second device utilizing wireless connection setup and configuration (WCSC) instructions received from the WCA service.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
initiating, at a first electronic device, a connection utility configured to allow the first electronic device to establish a wireless connection with a second electronic device; capturing an image associated with the second electronic device to which a wireless connection is desired; forwarding the captured image to a wireless connectivity assist (WCA) service; receiving wireless connection setup and configuration (WCSC) instructions based at least in part on the captured image from the WCA service; and establishing the wireless connection with the second electronic device utilizing the WCSC instructions received from the WCA service.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating the connection utility comprises initiating a connection setup process on the first electronic device, and wherein the connection setup process is configured to generate a prompt on the first electronic device to capture the image associated with the second electronic device.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing an image associated with the second electronic device comprises capturing an image of the second electronic device.

4 . The method of claim 1 , comprising obtaining additional identifying information relating to the second electronic from the second electronic device.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein forwarding the captured image to the WCA service comprises forwarding the captured image and the additional identifying information to the WCA service.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein obtaining the additional identifying information relating to the second electronic comprises receiving an identification code of the second electronic device.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein receiving the identification code of the second electronic device comprises receiving a machine identifier (MAC ID) of the second electronic device.

8 . The method of claim 4 , comprising associating the captured image with a selectable subset of the additional identifying information relating to the second electronic device prior to forwarding the captured image and the additional identifying information to the WCA service.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the WCSC instructions comprises receiving the WCSC instructions during a specified period of time.

10 . The method of claim 1 , comprising scanning for additional identifying information relating to each of a plurality of discoverable electronic devices within a communication range of the first electronic device, wherein the plurality of discoverable electronic devices comprises the second electronic device.

11 . An electronic device, comprising:
a processor configured to:
initiate a connection utility configured to allow the electronic device to establish a wireless connection with a second electronic device;
cause the electronic device to capture an image associated with the second electronic device to which a wireless connection is desired;
forward the captured image to a wireless connectivity assist (WCA) service;
receive wireless connection setup and configuration (WCSC) instructions based at least in part on the captured image from the WCA service; and
establish the wireless connection with the second electronic device utilizing the WCSC instructions received from the WCA service.

12 . The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to obtain additional identifying information relating to the second electronic from the second electronic device.

13 . The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to forward the captured image and the additional identifying information to the WCA service.

14 . The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to receive an identification code of the second electronic device as the additional identifying information.

15 . The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to receive a machine identifier (MAC ID) of the second electronic device as the identification code.

16 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon, the code comprising instructions to:
cause a processor of a first electronic device to initiate a connection utility configured to allow the first electronic device to establish a wireless connection with a second electronic device; cause the processor to receive a captured image associated with the second electronic device to which a wireless connection is desired; cause the processor to forward the captured image to a wireless connectivity assist (WCA) service; cause the processor to receive wireless connection setup and configuration (WCSC) instructions based at least in part on the captured image from the WCA service; and cause the processor to establish the wireless connection with the second electronic device utilizing the WCSC instructions received from the WCA service.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the processor to obtain additional identifying information relating to the second electronic from the second electronic device.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the processor to forward the captured image and the additional identifying information to the WCA service.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the processor to establish a period of time for receiving the WCSC instructions.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the processor to scan for additional identifying information relating to each of a plurality of electronic devices within a communication range of the first electronic device, wherein the plurality of electronic devices comprises the second electronic device.

Assignees

• Google Inc

Inventors

• Debates Scott P
• Forest Francis W

Classifications

• H04W76/10

  Connection setup · CPC title

• H04W8/005 Primary

  Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals · CPC title

• G06F18/22

  Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures · CPC title

• G06V10/50

  by performing operations within image blocks; by using histograms, e.g. histogram of oriented gradients [HoG]; by summing image-intensity values; Projection analysis · CPC title

• G06V10/75

  Organisation of the matching processes, e.g. simultaneous or sequential comparisons of image or video features; Coarse-fine approaches, e.g. multi-scale approaches; using context analysis; Selection of dictionaries · CPC title