Service provisioning profile for a fabric network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9847964-B2
Application number	US-201514590495-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 6, 2015
Priority date	Oct 8, 2014
Publication date	Dec 19, 2017
Grant date	Dec 19, 2017

Abstract

Methods and systems for pairing a device to an account managed by a remote service include connecting to a commissioning device. The commissioning device is a device that manages pairing of devices to a remote service. Pairing the device to the fabric in a remote service also includes receiving service configuration details from the commissioning device. The commissioning device has previously retrieved the service configuration details that contain details configured to enable the joining device to connect to the remote service. Using the service configuration details, a device connects to the remote service using the received service configuration details.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for pairing a joining device to an account managed by a remote service comprising:
connecting, by the joining device, to a commissioning device via a first communication path of multiple communication paths, the commissioning device being configured to manage the pairing of the joining device to an account managed by a remote service;
receiving, via the first communication path, service configuration details from the commissioning device, the commissioning device having previously retrieved the service configuration details from the remote service, the service configuration details configured to enable the joining device to connect to the remote service using any of the multiple communication paths, and the service configuration details comprising an account identifier, a pairing token that is uniquely associated with the account identifier, and a list of certificates;
connecting, by the joining device using the service configuration details, to the remote service via a second communication path of the multiple communication paths;
validating the connection between the joining device and the remote service using the account identifier, the pairing token that is uniquely associated with the account identifier, and the list of certificates; and
obtaining, by the joining device, additional service configuration details from the remote service via the second communication path.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the service configuration details are configured to be accessible, at the remote service, by entry of:
the account identifier that identifies an account that is paired to a fabric to which the joining device is to be joined; and
a password for the account that verifies that a device having the password is authorized to manage the account.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning device comprises a smartphone or a tablet that has been used to add the joining device to a fabric using a fabric provisioning profile, and wherein the commissioning device is configured to send fabric credentials or credentials for a local area network to the joining device to enable the joining device to join the fabric or the local area network.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pairing token is generated by the remote service.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the certificates included in the list of certificates include a public key, and wherein the list of certificates includes certificates that correspond to a device type for the joining device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the service connection details comprise a location of entry that is usable to communicate with the remote service, and wherein the location of entry comprises a location from which the joining device may obtain a directory of pairing servers within the remote service that enable the joining device to determine at least another location of an appropriate pairing server within the remote service.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pairing token has a limited duration of validity, wherein validation of an initial connection between the joining device and the remote service is blocked after the limited duration of validity has expired after the commissioning device receives the service configuration details from the remote service, and wherein after the limited duration of validity the commissioning device acquires an updated version of the service configuration details.

8. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for pairing a joining device to an account managed by a remote service, the instructions executable by a processor to configure the joining device to:
connect to a commissioning device via a first communication path of multiple communication paths, the commissioning device being configured to manage the pairing of the joining device to an account managed by the remote service;
receive, via the first communication path, service configuration details from the commissioning device, which has previously retrieved the service configuration details from the remote service, the service configuration details configured to enable the joining device to connect to the remote service using any of the multiple communication paths, and the service configuration details comprising an account identifier, a pairing token that is uniquely associated with the account identifier, and a list of certificates;
connect to the remote service via a second communication path of the multiple communication paths using the service configuration details;
validate the connection between the joining device and the remote service using the account identifier, the pairing token that is uniquely associated with the account identifier, and the list of certificates; and
obtain additional service configuration details from the remote service via the second communication path.

9. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the received service configuration details are in an encrypted format that is inaccessible by the commissioning device, the joining device being configured to decrypt the received service configuration details to access data encrypted within the service configuration details.

10. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the received service configuration details are encoded using a tag-length-value format, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, or a format that is a combination thereof.

11. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the pairing token is generated by the remote service and is used to identify a thread of communications.

12. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the additional service configuration details comprise:
user preferences for behavior of the joining device or a structure in which the joining device is to be added; and
user interface choices that control how the joining device is to interact with users within the structure.

13. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 11 , the instructions executable by the processor to configure the joining device to: receive a successful pair message from the remote service, the successful pair message indicating that:
the joining device has been authenticated to the remote service within an expected period of time; and
the remote service has added the joining device to a list of devices paired with an account that is associated with a structure in which the joining device is to be added.

14. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 13 , the instructions executable by the processor to configure the joining device to:
upon receipt of the successful pair message, store the received service configuration details in persistent memory; and
use the persistently-stored service configuration details to communicate with the remote service unless the remote service updates the persistently-stored service configuration details.

15. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 14 , the instructions executable by the processor to configure the joining device to:
after storing the service configuration details in the persistent memory:
receive other service configuration details for another remote service; and
connect to the other remote service using the other service configuration details.

16. An electronic device comprising:
a network interface;
a processor; and
memory, comprising instructions executable by the processor to configure the processor to:
connect the electronic device, using the network interface, to a commissioning device via a first c

Assignees

• Google Inc
• Google Llc

Inventors

• Logue Jay D

Classifications

• G05B2219/2642

  Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house · CPC title

• F24F11/62

  characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• G06F16/38

  Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually · CPC title

• H04L67/143

  Termination or inactivation of sessions, e.g. event-controlled end of session · CPC title