Patent ID: 7957534

Claim:
A wireless home network comprising: a plurality of hardware devices configured to communicate with each other within the wireless network, wherein each one of the plurality of devices is configured to: initiate a secure communication link with at least one other device within the wireless home network without requiring a secure channel; exchange public keys with the at least one other device using a first plurality of messages, wherein each of the first plurality of messages includes at least a portion of a public key of message sending device, wherein exchanging public keys between the first and second devices further comprises: sending a first message of the first plurality of messages from the first device to the second device, wherein the first message includes a first portion of the public key of the first device; receiving at the first device an acknowledgment of receipt of the first message from the second device; sending a second message of the first plurality of messages from the second device to the first device in response to the first message received from the first device, wherein the second message includes a first portion of the public key of the second device; receiving at the second device an acknowledgment of receipt of the second message from the first device sending a third message of the first plurality of messages from the first device to the second device only after the corresponding acknowledgment for the first message is received by the first device, wherein the third message includes a second portion of the public key of the first device; receiving at the first device an acknowledgment of receipt of the third message from the second device; sending a fourth message of the first plurality of messages from the second device to the first device only after the corresponding acknowledgment for the second message is received by the second device in response to the third message received from the first device, wherein the fourth message includes a second portion of the public key of the second device; receiving at the second device an acknowledgment of receipt of the fourth message from the first device; verify correct reception of the public keys; and generate a shared symmetric master key for the secure communication link using the public key, the private key and a random number.