Smart-home device facilitating convenient setup of plural instances thereof in the smart home

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9596708-B2
Application number	US-201615094566-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 8, 2016
Priority date	Oct 7, 2013
Publication date	Mar 14, 2017
Grant date	Mar 14, 2017

Abstract

include using an application on a mobile device to establish first wireless communications with a first smart-home device that was previously paired with the user account. The method may also include transmitting, to the first smart-home device and using the first wireless protocol, a transmission that instructs the first smart-home device to establish second wireless communications with a second smart-home device, where the second wireless communications use a second wireless protocol. The method may additionally include transmitting network credentials to the first smart-home device using the first wireless protocol, where the credentials are then sent from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol, such that the second smart-home device can pair with the user account using the first wireless protocol.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for pairing two or more smart-home devices with a user account, comprising:
establishing first wireless communications with a first smart-home device, wherein the first wireless communications use a first wireless protocol, and wherein the first smart-home device has previously been paired with the user account;
transmitting, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol, a transmission that instructs the first smart-home device to establish second wireless communication between the first smart-home device and a second smart-home device, wherein the second wireless communication established between the first smart-home device and the second smart-home device uses a second wireless protocol; and
transmitting, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol, network credentials for the second smart-home device to join a first wireless protocol network, wherein the credentials are sent from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol;
whereby a new pairing between the second smart-home device and the user account is established using the first wireless protocol.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless protocol is 802.11 Wi-Fi compliant and the second wireless protocol is IEEE 802.15.4 compliant.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising establishing a pairing between the first smart-home device and the user account by establishing wireless communication between the first smart-home device and a computing device via a network provided by the first smart-home device, wherein the network is provided using the first wireless protocol.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network credentials are provided by an application operating on a mobile computing device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a language for the second smart-home device based on a geographic location of the second smart-home device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first smart-home device creates a data tunnel between a computing device using the first wireless protocol and the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first smart-home device passes data between the computing device and the second smart-home device through the data tunnel.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving, by the computing device, a device code for the second smart-home device; and
authenticating the computing device with the second smart-home device by sending the device code to the second smart-home device through the data tunnel.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a pairing code from an account server; and
transmitting, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol pairing code for the second smart-home device, wherein the pairing code is sent from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol; and wherein the pairing code allows the second smart-home device to pair with the user account at the account server.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to transmitting the network credentials to the first smart-home device, receiving the network credentials from the first smart-home device.

11. A system for pairing two or more smart-home devices with a user account, comprising:
an application operating on a mobile computing device, wherein the application is designed for configuration and control of the two or more smart-home devices, said application establishing communication over the Internet with a central server that includes the user account, wherein the application is configured to:
establish first wireless communications with a first smart-home device, wherein the first wireless communications use a first wireless protocol, and wherein the first smart-home device has previously been paired with the user account;
transmit, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol, a transmission that instructs the first smart-home device to establish second wireless communication between the first smart-home device and a second smart-home device, wherein the second wireless communication established between the first smart-home device and the second smart-home device uses a second wireless protocol; and
transmit, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol, network credentials for the second smart-home device to join a first wireless protocol network, wherein the credentials are sent from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol;
whereby a new pairing between the second smart-home device and the user account is established using the first wireless protocol.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first wireless protocol is 802.11 Wi-Fi compliant and the second wireless protocol is IEEE 802.15.4 compliant.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the application is further configured to establish a pairing between the first smart-home device and the user account by establishing wireless communication between the first smart-home device and a computing device via a network provided by the first smart-home device, wherein the network is provided using the first wireless protocol.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the network credentials are provided by an application operating on a mobile computing device.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the application is further configured to determine a language for the second smart-home device based on a geographic location of the second smart-home device.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first smart-home device creates a data tunnel between a computing device using the first wireless protocol and the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the first smart-home device passes data between the computing device and the second smart-home device through the data tunnel.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the application is further configured to:
receive a device code for the second smart-home device; and
authenticate with the second smart-home device by sending the device code to the second smart-home device through the data tunnel.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the application is further configured to:
receive a pairing code from an account server; and
transmit, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol pairing code for the second smart-home device, wherein the pairing code is sent from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol; and wherein the pairing code allows the second smart-home device to pair with the user account at the account server.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the application is further configured to, prior to transmitting the network credentials to the first smart-home device, receive the network credentials from the first smart-home device.

Assignees

• Google Inc

Inventors

• Logue Jay
• Erickson Grant
• Tinkoff Roger
• Sloo David
• Fadell Anthony M
• Rogers Matthew L
• Boyd Jeffrey A
• Simister James B

Classifications

• H04W76/15

  Setup of multiple wireless link connections · CPC title

• H04W76/10

  Connection setup · CPC title

• G08B25/08

  using communication transmission lines {(G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence)} · CPC title

• H04L63/18

  using different networks or channels, e.g. using out of band channels (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving distinctive intermediate devices or communication paths H04L9/0827; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for authentication using a plurality of channels H04L9/3215) · CPC title

• H04L12/2807

  Exchanging configuration information on appliance services in a home automation network (arrangements for maintenance or administration involving network analysis for automatically determining the actual topology of a network H04L41/12; hardware or software tools for network management using graphical user interfaces H04L41/22; address allocation H04L61/50) · CPC title