Method, apparatus and system for network access

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9961553-B2
Application number	US-201615239319-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 17, 2016
Priority date	Sep 11, 2013
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method, apparatus and system for readily and conveniently getting network access for a smart device. The method for network access for a smart device includes receiving, by a server comprising a processor and a non-transitory storage medium, a first identification identifying a wireless access point and a first terminal identifier; receiving a second identification identifying a smart device and a second terminal identifier; associating the wireless access point with the smart device if the first terminal identifier corresponds to the second terminal identifier, and sending the second identification for the associated smart device to the wireless access point. The wireless access point provides network access authentication information to the smart device so that the smart device can get access to a network provided by the wireless access point with the network access authentication information.

First claim

We claim:

1. A wireless access point apparatus communicatively coupled with a server and a smart device, the wireless access point apparatus comprising:
a processor and a non-transitory storage medium accessible to the processor,
wherein the non-transitory storage medium stores instructions and the instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured to cause the processor to:
send an identification of the wireless access point apparatus to the server, so that the server is configured to:
determine whether the wireless access point apparatus is pre-registered based on the identification of the wireless access point apparatus, and
when it is determined that the wireless access point apparatus is pre-registered:
associate the identification of the wireless access point apparatus with an identification of the smart device, and
send the identification of the smart device to the wireless access point apparatus;

receive the identification of the smart device from the server; and
provide network access authentication information required by the wireless access point apparatus to the smart device according to the identification of the smart device.

2. The wireless access point apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, are further configured to cause the processor to:
establish a connection with the smart device.

3. The wireless access point apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, are further configured to cause the processor to:
broadcast a first service set identifier for establishing connection with the smart device and a second service set identifier, wherein the first service set identifier is distinct from the second service set identifier.

4. A smart device, comprising:
a processor and a non-transitory storage medium accessible to the processor, wherein the non-transitory storage medium stores instructions and the instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured to cause the processor to:
send an identification of the smart device to a terminal, so that the terminal is configured to send the identification of the smart device to a server, so that the server is configured to:
receive an identification of a wireless access point,
determine whether the wireless access point is pre-registered based on the identification of the wireless access point, and
when it is determined that the wireless access point is pre-registered:
associate the smart device with the wireless access point, and
send the identification of the smart device to the wireless access point;

receive, from the wireless access point, network access authentication information of the wireless access point; and
access a network with the received network access authentication information.

5. The smart device of claim 4 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, are further configured to cause the processor to:
establish a connection with the wireless access point according to a gateway address of the wireless access point and send the identification of the smart device to the wireless access point through the connection.

6. The smart device of claim 4 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, are further configured to cause the processor to:
establish a connection with the wireless access point by performing at least one of the following:
running an application programming interface of the smart device;
parsing a hostname of the wireless access point by a domain name server; or
broadcasting a user datagram protocol packet.

7. A method for providing network access through a wireless access point to a smart device, the method comprising:
sending, by a wireless access point comprising a memory and a processor in communication with the memory, an identification of the wireless access point to a server, so that the server is configured to:
determine whether the wireless access point is pre-registered based on the identification of the wireless access point, and
when it is determined that the wireless access point is pre-registered:
associate the identification of the wireless access point with an identification of the smart device, and
send the identification of the smart device to the wireless access point;

receiving, by the wireless access point, the identification of the smart device from the server; and
providing, by the wireless access point, network access authentication information required by the wireless access point to the smart device according to the identification of the smart device.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
establishing, by the wireless access point, a connection with the smart device.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
broadcasting, by the wireless access point, a first service set identifier for establishing connection with the smart device and a second service set identifier, wherein the first service set identifier is distinct from the second service set identifier.

10. A method for providing network access through a wireless access point to a smart device, the method comprising:
sending, by a smart device comprising a memory and a processor in communication with the memory, an identification of the smart device to a terminal, so that the terminal is configured to send the identification of the smart device to a server, so that the server is configured to:
receive an identification of the wireless access point,
determine whether the wireless access point is pre-registered based on the identification of the wireless access point, and
when it is determined that the wireless access point is pre-registered:
associate the smart device with the wireless access point, and
send the identification of the smart device to the wireless access point;

receiving, by the smart device, network access authentication information of the wireless access point; and
accessing, by the smart device, a network provided by the wireless access point with the received network access authentication information.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
establishing a connection with the wireless access point according to a gateway address of the wireless access point and sending the identification of the smart device to the wireless access point through the connection.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
establishing a connection with the wireless access point by performing at least one of the following:
running an application programming interface of the smart device;
parsing a hostname of the wireless access point by a domain name server; or
broadcasting a user datagram protocol packet.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for providing network access through a wireless access point to a smart device, the wireless access point comprising a memory and a processor in communication with the memory, wherein the instructions, when executable by the processor, are configured to cause the processor to perform steps comprising:
sending an identification of the wireless access point to a server, so that the server is configured to:
determine whether the wireless access point is pre-registered based on the identification of the wireless access point, and
when it is determined that the wireless access point is pre-registered:
associate the identification of the wireless access point with an identification of the smart device, and
send the identification of the smart device to the wireless access point;

receiving the identification of the smart device from the server; and
providing network access authentication in

Assignees

• Tencent Tech Shenzhen Co Ltd

Inventors

• Fan Liangliang
• Lin Xiangyao
• Liu Kai
• Liu Lejun

Classifications

• H04W12/08 Primary

  Access security · CPC title

• H04W76/12

  Setup of transport tunnels · CPC title

• H04L12/2803

  Home automation networks · CPC title

• H04W76/022

  Electricity · mapped topic

• 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