Provisioning devices using near-field communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9917619-B2
Application number	US-201615141925-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2016
Priority date	Apr 29, 2016
Publication date	Mar 13, 2018
Grant date	Mar 13, 2018

Abstract

Disclosed are various examples for provisioning a client device through near-field communication (NFC). An administrator device can provide configuration parameters to a client device in a factory-reset condition through an NFC bump. A second NFC bump can be performed that provides enrollment parameters to the client device, after which the client device can complete enrollment with an enterprise mobility management (EMM) service.

First claim

Therefore, the following is claimed:

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executed by an administrator device configured to facilitate provisioning of a client device, wherein the program is configured to cause the administrator device to at least:
obtain network configuration parameters for network accessibility of the client device;
obtain an identity of a management component for the client device, wherein the identity of the management component includes a download location of the management component;
obtain a plurality of enrollment configuration parameters associated with a user; and
initiate a plurality of near field communication (NFC) sessions, wherein the administrator device initiates transmission of the network configuration parameters, transmission of the download location of the management component, download of the management component by the client device, and transmission of the enrollment configuration parameters during the plurality of NFC sessions, wherein a second NFC session is initiated after installation of the management component on the client device in a first NFC session and the enrollment configuration parameters transmitted in the second NFC session are captured by the management component.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of enrollment configuration parameters comprise at least one of a username, a password, or an organizational group parameter.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the username and the password are associated with a staging user.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the program is further configured to cause the administrator device to at least obtain a mapping of a plurality of device identifiers to a plurality of sets of configuration parameters.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4 , wherein the program is further configured to cause the administrator device to at least:
identify a device identifier of the client device;
determine whether the device identifier is one of the plurality of device identifiers; and
determine a particular set of configuration parameters from the plurality of sets of configuration parameters that is associated with the device identifier, wherein the particular set of configuration parameters is transmitted to the client device in the second NFC session.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the network configuration parameters comprise a service set identifier (SSID) for a wireless network, a security type associated with the wireless network, and a security key associated with the wireless network.

7. A method for provisioning a client device by an administrator device, comprising:
obtaining, by the administrator device, network configuration parameters for network accessibility of the client device;
obtaining an identity of a management component, wherein the identity of the management component includes a download location of the management component;
obtaining a plurality of enrollment configuration parameters associated with a user; and
initiating a plurality of near field communication (NFC) sessions, wherein the administrator device initiates transmission of the network configuration parameters, transmission of the download location of the management component, download of the management component by the client device, and transmission of the enrollment configuration parameters during the plurality of NFC sessions, and wherein a second NFC session is initiated after installation of the management component on the client device in a first NFC session and the enrollment configuration parameters transmitted in the second NFC session are captured by the management component.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of enrollment configuration parameters comprises at least one of a username, a password, or an organizational group parameter.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the username and the password are associated with a staging user.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising obtaining a mapping of a plurality of device identifiers to a plurality of sets of configuration parameters.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
identify a device identifier of the client device;
determine whether the device identifier is one of the plurality of device identifiers;
determine a particular set of configuration parameters from the plurality of sets of configuration parameters that is associated with the device identifier, wherein the particular set of configuration parameters is transmitted to the client device in the second NFC session.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the network configuration parameters comprise a service set identifier (SSID) for a wireless network, a security type associated with the wireless network, and a security key associated with the wireless network.

13. A system comprising:
an administrator device; and
a provisioning application executable by the administrator device, wherein the provisioning application causes the at least one computing device to at least:
obtain network configuration parameters for network accessibility of a client device;
obtain an identity of a management component, wherein the identity of the management component includes a download location of the management component;
obtain a plurality of enrollment configuration parameters associated with a user; and
initiate a plurality of near field communication (NFC) sessions, wherein the administrator device initiates transmission of the network configuration parameters, transmission of the download location of the management component, download of the management component by the client device, and transmission of the enrollment configuration parameters during the plurality of NFC sessions, wherein a second NFC session is initiated after installation of the management component on the client device in a first NFC session and the enrollment configuration parameters transmitted in the second NFC session are captured by the management component.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of enrollment configuration parameters comprise at least one of a username, a password, or an organizational group parameter.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the administrator application is further configured to cause the administrator device to at least obtain a mapping of a plurality of device identifiers to a plurality of sets of configuration parameters.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the provisioning application is further configured to cause the administrator device to at least:
identify a device identifier of the client device;
determine whether the device identifier is one of the plurality of device identifiers; and
determine a particular set of configuration parameters from the plurality of sets of configuration parameters that is associated with the device identifier, wherein the particular set of configuration parameters is transmitted to the client device in the second NFC session.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the network configuration parameters comprise a service set identifier (SSID) for a wireless network, a security type associated with the wireless network, and a security key associated with the wireless network.

Assignees

• Airwatch Llc

Inventors

• Turner Stephen
• Kelley Scott

Classifications

• H04W12/06 Primary

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W8/20

  Transfer of user or subscriber data · 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

• H04W48/16

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title