Patent Publication Number: US-2010112979-A1

Title: Wireless access device and pairing method

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     Embodiments of the disclosure relate to network access, and particularly to a wireless access device and a pairing method. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Security is an important performance of wireless communication devices. Therefore, many wireless communication devices is operated under a wireless encryption mechanism, such as wired equivalent privacy (WEP), WI-FI protected access (WPA), or WPA2. A wireless phone need to pair with a wireless access device and obtain an encryption key of the wireless encryption mechanism. The wireless phone pairs with the wireless access device according to hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS). A user of the Wi-Fi phone presses a pairing button on the wireless phone and the wireless phone will send a pairing request with the use of HTTPS to the wireless access device. Upon receipt of the request, the wireless access device will respond with an encryption key in a XML format. Whenever the HTTPS handshake completes, the wireless device and the wireless phone will enable their wireless encryption with that encryption key. Then the wireless access device can communicate with the wireless phone under the wireless encryption mechanism. 
     In order to allow the wireless phone to connect to the wireless access device before the pairing request starts, the wireless device&#39;s encryption shall remain disabled. However, if it happens that an unauthorized wireless phone sends a pairing request earlier than an authorized wireless phone, the wireless access device will take the request from the unauthorized wireless phone and reject the one from the authorized wireless phone, which reduces satisfaction of users of the authorized wireless phone. In addition, the unauthorized wireless phone can communicate with the wireless access device and obtain the encryption key and encrypted data, which extraordinarily damages communication security. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The details of the disclosure, both as to its structure and operation, can best be understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers and designations refer to like elements. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an application environment and functional modules of a wireless access device of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a lamp-code mapping table utilized in the device of  FIG. 1  and method of  FIG. 3 ; and 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a pairing method for a wireless access device with a wireless communication device in accordance with the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an application environment and functional modules of a wireless access device  10  of the disclosure. Here, the wireless access device  10  is configured for pairing with a wireless communication device  20 . The pairing includes a plurality of actions to implement wireless communication between the wireless access device  10  and wireless communication device  20 , such as identification and encryption key exchange. The wireless access device  10  can wirelessly communicates with the wireless communication device  20  utilizing hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) after the pairing. The wireless access device  10  may be an access point (AP). The wireless communication device  20  may be a telephone or a computer. 
     Here, the wireless access device  10  includes a plurality of signal lamps  100  which can, for example, be light emitting diodes (LEDs). States of the plurality of signal lamps include lit, off, and blinking. Further, the plurality of signal lamps can include additional states such as changing color. 
     Here, the wireless access device  10  includes a storage module  101 , a preparation module  102 , a signal module  104 , a matching module  106 , a pairing module  108 , and a processor  109 . The processor  109  controls the storage module  101 , the preparation module  102 , the signal module  104 , the matching module  106 , and the pairing module  108 . 
     The storage module  101  stores a lamp-code mapping table  1010 . Here, the lamp-code mapping table  1010  may be prepared earlier and stored in the wireless access device  10 , and includes a plurality of lamp states and pairing codes corresponding thereto. The pairing codes identify whether the wireless communication device  20  is authorized. The pairing codes may be capital letters, lowercase letters, numbers, or combination thereof. Here, the storage module  101  may be a flash of the wireless access device  10 . 
       FIG. 2 , a schematic diagram of a lamp-code mapping table utilized in the disclosure, shows four signal lamps for example, a first signal lamp  1000 , a second signal lamp  1002 , a third signal lamp  1004 , and a fourth signal lamp  1006 . The lamp-code mapping table  1010  can be preset as a plurality of lamp states and corresponding pairing codes. For example, the lamp states of the first signal lamp  1000  and the fourth signal lamp  1006  can be preset as lit, the lamp states of the second signal lamp  1002  and the third signal lamp  1004  are preset as off, and the corresponding pairing code to the lamp states is preset as “a.” The lamp states of the first signal lamp  1000  and the fourth signal lamp  1006  are preset as blinking, the lamp states of the second signal lamp  1002  and the third signal lamp  1004  are preset as off, and the corresponding pairing code to the lamp states is preset as “A.” It is noted that  FIG. 2  does not indicate all possible combinations of lamp states. Additionally, the lamp-code mapping table  1010  may be printed directly on the wireless access device  10  for the convenience of authorized users. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the preparation module  102  is configured for turning off an encryption mechanism of the wireless access device  10  when receiving a pairing start signal to prepare for pairing with the wireless communication device  20 . In order to ensure that the wireless communication device  20  can associate with the wireless access device  10  before the pairing request starts, the wireless encryption on the wireless access device  10  must be turned off. 
     The signal module  104  is configured for randomly selecting one lamp state from the lamp-code mapping table  1010  and controlling states of the plurality of signal lamps  100  accordingly. For example, if the selected lamp state is the first signal lamp  1000  and the fourth signal lamp  1006  lit and the second signal lamp  1002  and the third signal lamp  1004  off, then the signal module  104  lights the first signal lamp  1000  and the fourth signal lamp  1006  and turns off the second signal lamp  1002  and the third signal lamp  1004 . Authorized users can accordingly obtain the pairing code according to the lamp states of the signal lamps  100  and the lamp-code mapping table  1010  shown on the wireless access device  10 , namely “a”. The wireless communication device  20  will send a pairing request with the use of HTTPS to the wireless access device  10  if it wishes to pair with the wireless access device  10 . The pairing request may be as follows: “https://IP_address/pair/a”, wherein the IP_address is an Internet protocol address of the wireless access device  10  and “a” is the obtained pairing code. 
     The matching module  106  is configured for receiving the pairing request from the wireless communication device  20 , obtaining the pairing code from the pairing request, and determining whether the obtained pairing code matches the pairing code corresponding to the selected lamp state. If so, the wireless communication device  20  is authorized. If not, the wireless communication device  20  is not authorized and the pairing request will be declined. 
     The pairing module  108  is configured for pairing with the wireless communication device  20  when the obtained pairing code matches the pairing code corresponding to the selected lamp state and rejecting pairing with the wireless communication device  20  when the obtained pairing code does not match the pairing code corresponding to the selected lamp state. Here, the pairing module  108  sends an extensible markup language (XML) file to the wireless communication device  20  to pair with the wireless communication device  20 . The XML file includes an encryption key. Once the HTTPS handshake completes, the wireless access device  10  will enable its wireless encryption using the encryption key, and any other wireless communication devices which does not have the key will not be able to gain the access to the wireless access device  10 , and that will greatly improves security of communication. 
     The signal module  104  is further configured for controlling states of the plurality of signal lamps  100  to indicate successful pairing when the pairing module  108  successfully pairs with the wireless communication device  20  and controlling states of the plurality of signal lamps  100  to indicate failed pairing when the pairing module  108  rejects pairing with the wireless communication device  20 . The states of the plurality of signal lamps  100  indicating success or failure are predetermined. For example, the signal module  104  may light all of the signal lamps  100  to indicate success, and turn off all of the signal lamps  100  to indicate failure. 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a pairing method of the wireless access device  10  with the wireless communication device  20  in accordance with the disclosure. Here, the pairing method is performed by the functional modules in  FIG. 1 . 
     In step S 300 , the preparation module  102  receives a pairing start signal. 
     In step S 302 , the preparation module  102  turns off an encryption mechanism of the wireless access device  10  to prepare for pairing. 
     In step S 304 , the signal module  104  randomly selects one lamp state from the lamp-code mapping table  1010 . For example, if the signal module  104  selects one lamp state from the lamp-code mapping table  1010 , which means to light the first signal lamp  1000  and the fourth signal lamp  1006  and turn off the second signal lamp  1002  and the third signal lamp  1004 . The pairing code corresponding to the selected lamp state preset in the lamp-code mapping table  1010  is “a”. 
     In step S 306 , the signal module  104  controls states of the plurality of signal lamps  100  according to the selected lamp state. For example, if the signal module  104  selects the first signal lamp  1000  and the fourth signal lamp  1006  lit and the second signal lamp  1002  and the third signal lamp  1004  off, then the signal module  104  lights the first signal lamp  1000  and the fourth signal lamp  1006  and turns off the second signal lamp  1002  and the third signal lamp  1004 . 
     In step S 308 , the matching module  106  receives the pairing request from the wireless communication device  20  and obtains the pairing code from the pairing request. For example, if the matching module  106  receives two pairing requests including “https://IP_address/pair/a” and “https://IP_address/pair/A” from two wireless communication devices  20 , then the matching module  106  obtains the pairing code “a” and “A” from the two pairing requests. 
     In step S 310 , the matching module  106  determines whether the obtained pairing code matches the pairing code corresponding to the selected lamp state. Here, the matching module  106  obtains the pairing code corresponding to the selected lamp state in the lamp-code mapping table  1010 , and then matches the pairing code obtained from the pairing request and the pairing code obtained from the lamp-code mapping table  1010 . For example, the matching module  106  may obtain the pairing code “a” corresponding to the selected lamp state in the lamp-code mapping table  1010 , and then match the pairing code “a” or “A” obtained from the pairing request and the pairing code “a” obtained from the lamp-code mapping table  1010 . Therefore, the matching module  106  determines that the pairing code “a” obtained from the pairing request matches the pairing code “a” obtained from the lamp-code mapping table  1010 , and the pairing code “A” obtained from the pairing request does not match the pairing code “a” obtained from the lamp-code mapping table  1010 . 
     If the obtained pairing code matches the pairing code corresponding to the selected lamp state, which indicates that the wireless communication device  20  is authorized, then in step S 312 , the pairing module  108  pairs with the wireless communication device  20 . Here, the pairing module  108  sends an extensible markup language (XML) file to the wireless communication device  20 . The XML file includes an encryption key, which can be used for WEP, WPA, or WPA2. 
     In step S 314 , the signal module  104  controls states of the plurality of signal lamps  100  to indicate successful pairing. 
     If the obtained pairing code does not match the pairing code corresponding to the selected lamp state, which indicates that the wireless communication device  20  is not authorized, then in step S 316 , the pairing module  108  rejects pairing with the wireless communication device  20 . 
     In step S 318 , the signal module  104  controls states of the plurality of signal lamps  100  to indicate failed pairing. 
     As such, authorized wireless communication devices can communicate with the wireless access device  10  and unauthorized wireless communication devices cannot communicate with the wireless access device  10 , which greatly improves security of communication. 
     Although the features and elements of the disclosure are described as embodiments in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone or in other various combinations within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.