Authentication and pairing of a mobile device to an external power source

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9256897-B2
Application number	US-201514660319-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 17, 2015
Priority date	Jan 31, 2012
Publication date	Feb 9, 2016
Grant date	Feb 9, 2016

Abstract

A mobile device communicates with an authenticator affiliated with a recharging facility, to identify itself. To confirm that the mobile device is connected to the correct facility, the authenticator instructs the mobile device to draw electrical charge according to an identifiable pattern. Upon detecting a charge being drawn according to that pattern, the authenticator has confirmation that the identified device is connected to the facility, and permits the charging to proceed. The amount of electricity drawn during the charging procedure can be metered, and then billed to a party associated with the identified mobile device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for managing a charging session with a mobile device, comprising:
a mobile device; and
a wireless communication network comprised of a plurality of nodes, each node being associated with a charging device and configured to communicate between the associated charging device and the mobile device, wherein
the mobile device is configured to
send a broadcast message to one or more of the plurality of nodes in the wireless communication network requesting a charging session,
receive an instruction from one of the plurality of nodes in the network to initiate a unique load pattern associated with the mobile device, in response to the broadcast message, and
draw a charge in accordance with the unique load pattern corresponding to the received instruction.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of charging devices, wherein each charging device is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of nodes of the wireless communication network.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein each charging device is configured to receive an authentication signal from the mobile device and respectively authenticate the mobile device based on the received authentication signal.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein each charging device is configured to supply power to the mobile device from a power source based on the unique load pattern corresponding to the received instruction.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the broadcast message includes an authentication signal,
each node of the plurality of nodes is configured to authenticate the mobile device using the authentication signal, and
the instruction is sent to the mobile device from the one of the plurality of nodes subsequent to authentication of the mobile device.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a back office system configured to associate the charge drawn by the mobile device with an account associated with the mobile device.

7. A system for managing a charging session with a mobile device, comprising:
a mobile device; and
a wireless communication network comprised of a plurality of nodes, each node being associated with a charging device and configured to communicate between the associated charging device and the mobile device, wherein
the mobile device is configured to
send a broadcast message to one or more of the plurality of nodes in the wireless communication network requesting a charging session,
receive a corresponding instruction from at least two of the plurality of nodes in the wireless communication network to initiate a corresponding unique load pattern respectively associated with a corresponding one of the at least two nodes,
select one of the received instructions for execution, and
draw a charge in accordance with the unique load pattern corresponding to the selected instruction.

8. The system of claim 7 , further comprising:
a plurality of charging devices, wherein each charging device is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of nodes of the wireless communication network.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein each charging device is configured to receive an authentication signal from the mobile device and respectively authenticate the mobile device based on the received authentication signal.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein each charging device is configured to supply power to the mobile device from a power source based on the unique load pattern corresponding to the received instruction.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein
the broadcast message includes an authentication signal,
each node of the plurality of nodes is configured to authenticate the mobile device using the authentication signal, and
the corresponding instructions are sent to the mobile device from the at least two of the plurality of nodes subsequent to corresponding authentication of the mobile device by the at least two nodes, respectively.

12. The system of claim 7 , further comprising:
a back office system configured to associate the charge drawn by the mobile device with an account associated with the mobile device.

13. A method for managing a charging session with a mobile device, comprising:
sending, from a mobile device, a broadcast message requesting a charging session to at least one node among a plurality of nodes of a wireless communication network, wherein each node is associated with a charging device and is configured to communicate between the associated charging device and the mobile device;
receiving, by the mobile device, an instruction from one of the plurality of nodes in the network to initiate a unique load pattern associated with the mobile device, in response to the broadcast message; and
drawing a charge at the mobile device in accordance with the unique load pattern corresponding to the received instruction.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein a plurality of charging devices are respectively associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of nodes, and
wherein the method comprises:
receiving, by each charging device associated with a corresponding one of the nodes, an authentication signal from the mobile device; and
authenticating, by each charging device, the mobile device based on the received authentication signal.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the charge drawn by the mobile device is supplied from the charging device associated with the one of the plurality of nodes.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein
the broadcast message includes an authentication signal,
the plurality of nodes respectively authenticate the mobile device using the authentication signal, and
the instruction is sent to the mobile device from the one of the plurality of nodes subsequent to authentication of the mobile device.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
associating, by a back office system, the charge drawn by the mobile device with an account associated with the mobile device.

18. A method for managing a charging session with a mobile device, comprising:
sending, from a mobile device, a broadcast message requesting a charging session to at least one node among a plurality of nodes of a wireless communication network, wherein each node is associated with a charging device and is configured to communicate between the associated charging device and the mobile device;
receiving, by the mobile device, a corresponding instruction from at least two of the plurality of nodes in the network to initiate a corresponding unique load pattern respectively associated with a corresponding one of the at least two nodes;
selecting, by the mobile device, one of the received instructions for execution; and
drawing a charge at the mobile device in accordance with the unique load pattern corresponding to the selected instruction.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
receiving, by each charging device associated with a corresponding one of the nodes, an authentication signal from the mobile device; and
authenticating, by each charging device, the mobile device based on the received authentication signal.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the charge drawn by the mobile device is supplied from the charging device associated with the one of the plurality of nodes.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein
the broadcast message includes an authentication signal,
the plurality of nodes respectively authenticate the mobile device using the authentication signal, and
the corresponding instructions are sent to the mob

Assignees

• Silver Spring Networks Inc

Inventors

• Marlin Eli
• Seibert Cristina

Classifications

• Y02T90/16

  Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles · CPC title

• Y02T90/14

  Plug-in electric vehicles · CPC title

• G06F21/84

  output devices, e.g. displays or monitors · CPC title

• G06Q50/06

  Energy or water supply · CPC title

• Y04S30/14

  Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing · CPC title