Source: http://patents.com/us-9894059.html
Timestamp: 2018-11-21 14:32:44
Document Index: 269154820

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 201210585999', 'Application No. 201210585999', 'Application No. 201210597199', 'Application No. 201210597199', 'Application No. 201210597199', 'Application No. 12798499']

US Patent # 9,894,059. Device association - Patents.com
United States Patent 9,894,059
Kaufman February 13, 2018
A method of associating a first device with a second device is disclosed. The first device through a connected speaker broadcasts a request for association using an audio signal. The broadcasted audio signal is received by the second device through its microphone. The first and second devices then cooperatively verifies a security code and upon a successful verification of the security code, the first and the second devices are enabled to communicate with each other.
Kaufman; Matthew (Bonny Doon, CA)
Family ID: 1000003117877
15/449,737
US 20170180350 A1 Jun 22, 2017
13293245 Nov 10, 2011 9628514
Current CPC Class: H04L 63/083 (20130101); H04W 12/06 (20130101); H04L 63/18 (20130101)
Current International Class: H04B 7/00 (20060101); H04L 29/06 (20060101); H04W 12/06 (20090101)
Field of Search: ;455/41.1,41.2,41.3,435.1
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This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/293,245, entitled "Device Association Using an Audio Signal" filed Nov. 10, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
1. A method comprising: transmitting, by a first device, an audio signal through a speaker connected to the first device, the audio signal configured for detection by a second device and comprising a request for association with the second device; after transmitting the audio signal configured for detection by the second device, rendering, by the first device, a first security code on a display connected to the first device to enable a user of the second device to view the first security code on the display connected to the first device; receiving, by the first device, a response message from the second device, the response message including a second security code, the response message received after the first security code is rendered on the display connected to the first device; comparing, by the first device, the second security code to the first security code and verifying the second security code if the second security code corresponds to the first security code; and responsive to verifying the second security code, connecting to the second device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio signal includes an identification of the first device.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the identification is encoded in the audio signal using one of a frequency shift keying (FSK) method or a dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) method.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the verification of the second security code enables the first device to communicate with the second device through audio signals using audible frequencies.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device and the second device are connected to a communication network.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the verification of the second security code enables the first device to communicate with the second device through the communication network.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first security code comprises a text string, a numeric code, or an alpha numeric code.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein rendering the first security code comprises rendering a graphical representation of the first security code on the display of the first device.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first security code comprises a picture of an object, and wherein the second security code comprises a textual description of the object.
10. A computing device comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories having instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by the one or more processors, perform operations comprising: transmitting an audio signal through one or more speakers connected to the computing device, the audio signal configured for detection by an additional computing device and comprising a request for association with the additional computing device; after transmitting the audio signal, rendering a first security code on a display connected to the computing device to enable a user of the additional computing device to view the first security code; receiving a response message from the additional computing device, the response message including a second security code, the response message received after the first security code is rendered on the display; comparing the second security code to the first security code and verifying the second security code if the second security code corresponds to the first security code; and responsive to verifying the second security code, connecting to the additional computing device.
11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the first security code comprises a text string, a numeric code, or an alpha numeric code.
12. The computing device of claim 10, wherein rendering the first security code comprises rendering a graphical representation of the first security code on the display.
13. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the security code comprises a picture of an object, and wherein the second security code comprises a textual description of the object.
14. A computer readable storage device comprising programming instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by a processor of a device, perform operations comprising: transmitting an audio signal through a speaker connected to the device, the audio signal configured for detection by an additional device and comprising a request for association with the additional device; after transmitting the audio signal, rendering a first security code on a display connected to the device to enable a user of the additional device to view the first security code on the display of the device; receiving a response message from the additional device, the response message including a second security code, the response message received after the first security code is rendered on the display connected to the device; comparing the second security code to the first security code and verifying the second security code if the second security code corresponds to the first security code; and responsive to verifying the second security code, connecting to the additional device.
15. The computer readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the audio signal includes an identification of the device, wherein the identification of the device is encoded in the audio signal using one of a frequency shift keying (FSK) method or a dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) method.
16. The computer readable storage device of claim 14, wherein communication is enabled between the device and the additional device through audio signals using audio frequencies in response to the security code being verified by the additional device.
17. The computer readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the device and the additional device are connected to a communication network.
18. The computer readable storage device of claim 17, wherein communication is enabled between the device and the additional device through the communication network when the security code is verified by the additional device.
19. The computer readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the device is configured to decipher the data to retrieve the request for association when the data is received at the device via the audio signal.
20. The computer readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the first security code comprises a picture of an object, and wherein the second security code comprises a textual description of the object.
Typically, electronic devices are paired using the Bluetooth.TM. technology. The term "pairing" means that two devices exchange some data to agree to work together to provide a predefined function. For example, a Bluetooth.TM. enabled mobile phone may be paired with a Bluetooth.TM. headset and upon a successful pairing, the headset provides speakers and microphone to the mobile phone.
There are many issues with the above stated method of pairing or associating two or more devices. First, a special hardware is needed at both ends to effect such pairing. Second, such pairing can only be used for prewired specific functions based on configured profiles. Also, the Bluetooth.TM. signals have wider range, hence, without a proper security, unintended pairing may occur. Another issue with the Bluetooth pairing is that the paired devices must stay within a physical proximity to each other after the pairing. Moreover, having extra hardware in devices can put more stress on device batteries.
Hosei Matsuoka, Yusuke Nakashima, Takeshi Yoshimura, and Tashiro Kawahara. 2008. Acoustic OFDM: embedding high bit-rate data in audio. In Proceedings of the 14th international conference on Advances in multimedia modeling (MMM'08), Shin'ichi Satoh, Frank Nack, and Minoru Etoh (Eds.). Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 498-507 ("Acoustic OFDM") discloses a method of aerial acoustic communication in which data is modulated using OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) and embedded in regular audio material without significantly degrading the quality of the original sound. It can provide data transmission of several hundred bps, which is much higher than is possible with other audio data hiding techniques. The proposed method replaces the high frequency band of the audio signal with OFDM carriers, each of which is power-controlled according to the spectrum envelope of the original audio signal. The implemented system enables the transmission of short text messages from loudspeakers to mobile handheld devices at a distance of around 3 m.
Reference throughout this disclosure to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
Audio FSK is a modulation technique by which digital data is represented by changes in the frequency and an audio tone, yielding an encoded signal suitable for transmission via radio. Normally, the transmitted audio alternates between two tones, one represents a binary one and the other represents a binary zero. There are some other types of special FSK techniques based on the basic FSK principles. The Dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (D.TM.F) modulation techniques may also be used instead of or in conjunction with the FSK techniques. D.TM.F is typically used for telecommunication signaling over analog telephone lines in the voice-frequency band between telephone handsets and other communications devices and the switching center.
Typically, the process of pairing of two devices using the Bluetooth protocol initiates with a discovery process, which involves one device broadcasting the device identity using a low powered signal transmission. The other device then contacts the first device using the broadcasted information and the devices typically synchronize frequency and clocks and a communication channel is established between the two devices. Subsequently, typically upon entering a security key for the first device in the second device, the pairing is confirmed. The Bluetooth standard defines a certain number of application profiles in order to define which kinds of services are offered by a Bluetooth device. Even though one device can support multiple applications, these applications must be prewired and preconfigured in the device. For example, a Bluetooth.TM. wireless headset may only act as a headset because the device is prewired with a particular type of Bluetooth profile.
The OS 106 is a general purpose operating system such as Android.TM., iOS.TM., Windows.TM. Mobile, WebOS.TM., Linux.TM., Windows.TM., etc. Although it is not shown, the OS 106 may include necessary drivers for network interface, sound, and other hardware such as FM modulator/demodulator, and other hardware components that are necessary to operate the device 102 and the device 120.
As noted above, a typical mobile device or computing device may not need any extra hardware (such as FM modulator, FM demodulator, D/A converter, etc.) in order to practice the embodiments as described herein because such functionality may be implemented in software itself For example, if a device wish to associated with another device through the methods described herein, an application (e.g., the application 110) may be installed on the device. Software or hardware implementations of FM modulators, FM demodulator, D/A converter, etc. are well known in the art. Hence, such details are being omitted.
In one embodiment, the FM modulator and demodulator may be tuned to use above audible frequencies. If frequencies above (or below) audible frequencies are used, the choice of frequencies may on the speaker and microphone configurations because the device 102 and device 120 may have filtered installed to filter out the out of range frequencies. Further, RF frequencies may not be used because a RF signal may not be able to drive an audio speaker. Audible frequencies (including slightly higher frequencies, e.g., ultrasonic frequencies) may always be used because microphones and speakers are typically configured to work in these audible frequencies. In yet another embodiment, one set of frequencies may be used during the initial association and another set of frequencies may be used for subsequent data communication between the devices. It may be noted that even though FIG. 1 shows two devices, more than two devices may participate in the process of association of devices. In one embodiment, one device may act as a master device and all other associated devices will act as ancillary or add-on devices.
The broadcasted audio signal is received at the speakers of all other devices in the vicinity. The receiving devices may have an "always active" listener module to capture these broadcasted audio signals. Alternatively, the listener module may be turned on or off as and when desired. The listener module (which may be a part of the FM demodulator 116 module of the application 110) may include programming to distinguish broadcast audio signals for device association from other audio signals. For example, the broadcasted signal may include a flag or code to inform the receiving devices that the audio signal contains pertains to device association. In one embodiment, the strength of the audio signals is configured to have a short range. For example, the range may be limited to the dimensions of a typical office conference room.
At step 308, the first and the second devices negotiate distribution of desired functions between them. A user may also participate in the selection of desired functions for each of the two devices after the device association process. At optional step 310, a communication channel may be established between the two devices.
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