Patent ID: 9680646
Date: 2017-06-13
CPC Classifications: H04L,H04W

Claim:
1. A method for communicating between a first controller and an accessory via a relay service, the method comprising: assigning, by the relay service, a first operator relay alias for the first controller, the first operator relay alias being usable by the relay service to send messages to the first controller; assigning, by the relay service, an accessory relay alias for the accessory, wherein the accessory relay alias is uncorrelated with any other accessory-identifying information; receiving, by the relay service, a request to establish a relay pairing between the first operator relay alias and the accessory relay alias; responsive to the request to establish a relay pairing, generating and storing, by the relay service, a first valid access token in association with the first operator relay alias and the accessory relay alias; establishing, at the relay service, a persistent accessory connection on a socket, the persistent accessory connection being identified with the accessory relay alias and the first valid access token; receiving, by the relay service, a relay request from the first controller to relay a message to the accessory, the relay request including the first operator relay alias, the accessory relay alias, an relay request access token, and message content; and responsive to a determination that the relay request access token received with the relay request from the first controller corresponds to the first valid access token, sending the message content to the accessory via the socket.