Cloud-based proximity pairing and switching for peer-to-peer devices

Abstract

To provide electronic devices, including establishment of and switching between pairing sessions between an accessory device and two or more electronic devices.SOLUTION: A first wireless communication device associated with a user may establish a first communication link with an accessory device according to a short-range radio access technology, and transmit link information associated with the first communication link to a server, such as a cloud-based server. The server may share the link information with other UE associated with the same user. Link information associated with the other UE devices may equally be shared with the accessory device, and the other UE devices and accessory device may use the first link information and second link information in establishing respective communication links between any of the other UE devices and the accessory device without having to undergo a pairing procedure.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present application relates to electronic devices, including the establishment and switching of pairing sessions between accessory devices and two or more electronic devices. [Description of Related Art]

[0002] In recent years, electronic devices have become increasingly sophisticated. Electronic devices, including smartphones, smart watches, smart glasses, tablet computers, and notebook computers, are often capable of communicating with numerous types of auxiliary or accessory devices, such as keyboards, mice, trackpads, headsets, speakers, remote controllers, video game controllers, and the like. Such accessory devices can support one or more of a variety of communication technologies, including wired and wireless technologies, for connection or pairing with the electronic devices. In particular, these devices often utilize short-range wireless communication technologies and standards, such as IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), or BLUETOOTH (BT) or BLUETOOTH Low Energy (BTLE), among others.

[0003] Short-range wireless communication technologies are often used to establish wireless personal area networks (WPANs). WPANs can be used for communication between electronic devices (intrapersonal communication), for connection to higher-level networks and the Internet (uplink), or for connecting accessory devices to electronic devices (pairing). Other short-range wireless communication technologies used in establishing WPANs include Wireless USB™, INSTEON™, IrDA™, etc. The range of a WPAN can vary from a few centimeters to a few meters. One basic concept of a WPAN is called "plugging in." For example, when any two WPAN-enabled devices are in close proximity (within a few meters of each other), the devices can establish communication with each other as if they were connected by a cable. Another feature associated with WPAN-enabled devices and / or WPAN-enabled accessories is the ability of each device / accessory to selectively lock out other devices / accessories to prevent unwanted interference or unauthorized access to information.

[0004] As mentioned above, electronic devices are often capable of pairing with one or more accessory devices to enable direct peer-to-peer communication between the paired devices. Pairing an accessory device with an electronic device often requires certain procedures and / or actions to establish a functional connection. Therefore, further improvements in this area are desirable. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Presented herein are, among other things, embodiments of improved systems and methods for sharing accessory devices among multiple electronic devices such that the electronic devices can efficiently transition into and out of a paired state with the accessory devices.

[0006] In some scenarios, a user may wish to utilize one accessory device across multiple other electronic devices as needed. For example, a user may wish to use a BLUETOOTH® (BT) headset with a mobile phone, e.g., an iPhone®, during one period of time, and then use the same headset with a tablet computer (e.g., an iPad®) at another time, and possibly with a wearable electronic device (e.g., an Apple Watch®) at yet another time. However, transitioning an accessory device from being paired with (and therefore usable by) a first electronic device to being paired with a second electronic device and a third electronic device (and so on) may present inefficiencies.

[0007] In some embodiments, a first user equipment (UE) device associated with a particular user (or included within a designated set / group of UE devices) may establish a first communication link with an accessory device and transmit linking (pairing) information associated with this communication link to a server, such as a cloud server. The server may share this (first) linking information with other UEs associated with the same user as the first UE (or belonging to the same designated group of UE devices as the first UE device). Linking information associated with these other UE devices (i.e., second linking information) may also be shared with the accessory device in a similar manner, and the first and second linking information may then be available to those other UE devices and accessory devices when establishing corresponding communication links between any of those other UE devices and the accessory device.

[0008] Some embodiments may be implemented in a device that includes at least one antenna, one or more radios implementing one or more wireless access technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi or Bluetooth), and a processing element coupled to the at least one antenna. The device may communicate with one or more other accessory devices. It should be noted that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with many different types of devices, including, but not limited to, computer systems, access points, cellular telephones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, and a variety of other computing devices.

[0009] Proximity can be used to trigger pairing of devices through a short-range wireless communication protocol, e.g., BLUETOOTH (BT) Low Energy (BTLE). If several hosts are in the vicinity, a user interface (UI) for proximity pairing may appear only on the host with which the accessory is attempting to pair. Cloud-based proximity pairing / switching helps to limit pairing options for the accessory to a specified or selected group of devices, e.g., the user's iCloud® registered devices. When an accessory device is paired to one of a set of devices, the accessory, e.g., a BT stack, can send link information associated with the pairing and the first device to other devices in the set. Link keys and / or other connection information associated with other devices in the set can also be shared with the accessory device by the currently connected device. That is, link keys and / or other connection information associated with other devices in the set can also be provided to the accessory device by the currently connected device. If the accessory device is within a certain proximity range of another user device from the set of user devices, a disconnect message can be sent, e.g., via the cloud, to the currently connected device to enable proximity-based switching of the accessory device to another device in the set of devices.

[0010] In addition to the above, simple pairing between an accessory device and a user device can be performed according to various different scenarios. In a first embodiment, the user device and the accessory (or accessory device) can be connected via a secure transport, such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) or secure Wi-Fi, and can use the existing transport to exchange link information, such as security authentication information. In a second embodiment, when a short-range wireless communication connection, such as a BLUETOOTH connection, is desired between three or more devices, a device that has connections with two other devices can establish a third connection without the need to go through a pairing procedure by acting as a repeater to transfer link information, such as BLUETOOTH security authentication information, via an existing BLUETOOTH connection.

[0011] This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. It will therefore be understood that the features described above are merely examples and should not be construed in any way as limiting the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is an exemplary wireless communication system in which a first device connects to various other devices via BLUETOOTH and Wi-Fi, according to some embodiments. [Diagram 2] 1 is an exemplary wireless communication system in which a first computer system connects to various other devices via BLUETOOTH and Wi-Fi, according to some embodiments. [Diagram 3]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary user device, according to some embodiments. [Figure 4] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for an accessory device to switch from a pairing state with a first device to a pairing state with a second device, according to some embodiments. [Diagram 5] 1 is an exemplary communication system in which an accessory device is wirelessly connected to a first user device, according to some embodiments. [Figure 6] 6 is the communication system from FIG. 5, where the accessory device is disconnected from the first user device and wirelessly connected to the second user device, according to some embodiments. [Figure 7] 1 is an exemplary communication system in which various devices are interconnected through wired and wireless connections, according to some embodiments.

[0013] While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but rather, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] acronym

[0015] Various acronyms are used throughout this application. Definitions of the most prominently used acronyms that may appear throughout this application are provided below. UE: User Equipment RF: High frequency AP: Access Point BT: Bluetooth BTLE: Bluetooth Low Energy BTLEA: Bluetooth Low Energy for Audio TDD: Time Division Duplexing Tx: Transmission / Transmit Rx: reception / Receive LAN: Local Area Network WLAN: Wireless LAN, also known as Wi-Fi RAT: Radio Access Technology RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indicator Wi-Fi: A wireless local area network (WLAN) RAT based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard. term Below is a glossary of terms that may appear in this application.

[0016] Storage medium - any of various types of memory or storage devices. The term "storage medium" is intended to include installation media, e.g., CD-ROM, floppy disk 104, or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory, such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM; non-volatile memory, such as flash, magnetic media, e.g., hard drives, or optical storage devices; registers, or other similar types of storage elements; and the like. The storage medium may also include other types of memory, as well as combinations thereof. Furthermore, the storage medium may be located in a first computer system where the program is executed, or may be located in a second, different computer system that connects to the first computer system via a network, such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide the first computer system with program instructions to execute. The term "storage medium" may encompass two or more storage media that may reside in different locations, e.g., in different computer systems connected via a network. The storage medium may store program instructions (eg, embodied as a computer program) that may be executed by one or more processors and / or processing elements.

[0017] Carrier Medium - storage media as described above, as well as physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and / or other physical transmission medium that conveys signals, such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

[0018] Computer System (or Computer) - any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or other device or combination of devices. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a storage medium.

[0019] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or handheld and perform wireless communication. Also referred to as wireless communication devices. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone, Android-based phones), tablet computers such as iPads, Samsung Galaxy, portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Gameboy Advance, iPod), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., Apple Watch, Google Glass), PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices. Various other types of devices would also be included within this category if they include Wi-Fi communication capabilities, or both cellular and Wi-Fi communication capabilities, and / or other wireless communication capabilities, such as via short-range radio access technologies (SRATs) such as BLUETOOTH. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and / or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is easily carried by a user and capable of wireless communication.

[0020] Base Station (BS) - The term "base station" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed at a fixed location and used for communication as part of a wireless telephone or wireless system.

[0021] Processing Element - refers to various elements or combinations of elements capable of performing functions within a device, e.g., within a user equipment device or within a cellular network device. Processing elements may include, for example, a processor and associated memory, portions or circuitry of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, arrays of processors, circuits such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), programmable hardware elements such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and any of various combinations of the above.

[0022] Wireless Device (or Wireless Communication Device) - Any of various types of computer system devices that perform wireless communication using WLAN, SRAT, Wi-Fi, etc. As used herein, the term "wireless device" may refer to a UE device as defined above, or a stationary device, such as a stationary wireless client or a wireless base station. For example, a wireless device may be any type of wireless station of an 802.11 system, such as an access point (AP) or a client station (UE), or any type of wireless station of a cellular communication system, such as a base station or a cellular phone, that communicates according to a cellular wireless access technology (e.g., LTE, CDMA, GSM).

[0023] Wi-Fi - The term "Wi-Fi" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication network or RAT that is served by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provides connectivity to the Internet through these access points. Modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi." Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0024] BLUETOOTH® - The term "BLUETOOTH®" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least any of the various implementations of the Bluetooth standard, including Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) and Bluetooth Low Energy for Audio (BTLEA), among other implementations, including future implementations of the Bluetooth standard.

[0025] Personal Area Network - The term "personal area network" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and encompasses at least any of the various types of computer networks used for data transmission between devices such as computers, phones, tablets, and / or input / output devices. Bluetooth is an example of a personal area network. PAN is an example of a short-range wireless communication technology.

[0026] Automatically - refers to an action or operation being performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or device (e.g., circuitry, programmable hardware element, ASIC, etc.) without user input directly specifying or executing the action or operation. Thus, the term "automatically" is in contrast to an operation being performed or specified manually by a user, where the user directly performs the operation by providing input. An automatic procedure may be initiated by input provided by a user, but subsequent actions that are performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually," with the user specifying each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting checkboxes, selecting radios, etc.) is manual form filling, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user actions. The form may be filled out automatically by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the form fields and fills out the form without any user input specifying answers for the fields. As described above, a user can invoke automatic filling of a form, but is not involved in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers for fields, but rather, those answers are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples in which operations are performed automatically in response to actions taken by a user.

[0027] Configured to - Various components may be described as "configured to" perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, "configured to" is a broad description that generally means "having a structure" that, when operational, performs the task or tasks. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even if the component is not currently performing that task (e.g., a set of conductors may be configured to electrically connect one module to another module even if the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured to" may be a broad description of structure that generally means "having circuitry" that, when operational, performs the task or tasks. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even if the component is not currently operating. In general, the circuitry forming the structure corresponding to "configured to" may include hardware circuits.

[0028] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing a certain task or tasks. Such descriptions should be construed as including the phrase "configured to." The description of a component as configured to perform one or more tasks expressly intends that 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, not be invoked to interpret the component. FIG. 1 - An exemplary first device connecting to a BT device

[0029] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary first device 106 that may be owned and / or operated by a first user. The first device 106 may selectively connect to various devices, such as a tablet computer 114, one or more smartphones 116, a computer 118, a remote control 120, a keyboard 122, a headset or speakers 124, and / or remote game controllers (GCs) 126 and 128, via a wireless connection, such as BLUETOOTH (registered trademark) (BT). In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the first device 106 is shown as possibly connecting to several BT devices, but the first device 106 may connect to any of a variety of types of devices. In this exemplary embodiment, the first device may be any of a variety of types of devices, such as a computer, a tablet, a smartphone, a wearable device, etc.

[0030] The first device 106 is also shown connected to a server computer 110 through a wide area network 108. The server computer 110 can store information about other devices associated with the first user or owned by the first user, for example, as indicated by a first user account. For example, the server 110 can be a cloud-based server that stores information about other devices owned by the first user. The first device 106 can connect to the server 110 through the network 108 via a Wi-Fi network, for example, through a Wi-Fi access point for Internet connection. Alternatively, or in addition, the first device 106 can connect to the server 110 through the network 108 via a cellular connection. As discussed further below, the first device 106 can operate to create pairings (establish short-range wireless communication) with wireless devices, and in the process, create and store link information. This link information may include any data, security credentials (e.g., security keys), link keys, long-term keys, OOB keys, etc., depending on the short-range wireless communication protocol used when the first device 106 is paired with the wireless device.

[0031] As mentioned above, the introduction of proximity pairing also introduces several challenges, including but not limited to host-to-host calibration differences, environmental variations, and the impact of Wi-Fi when associated with a 2.4 GHz network. Some host systems are more susceptible to these factors than others. For example, if several hosts are in the vicinity, the user interface (UI) for proximity pairing (PP) should only be displayed on the host device with which pairing is intended, and not on any other hosts in the vicinity. To mitigate some of these issues, proximity pairing / switching can be based on limiting pairing to a specified or selected set of devices. For example, in some embodiments, cloud-based proximity pairing / switching between devices (e.g., between an accessory device and an electronic / user device) can help to limit access to the user's cloud-based devices. This can provide a seamless experience for the user to help use the accessory device with the intended (correct) electronic / user device at the intended time. The first device 106 can then be configured to provide linking information (or other connection information) to the server 110 so that this linking information can be shared with other devices associated with or owned by the first user. These other devices can be considered a designated or selected (set of) devices with which the first device 106 can pair. FIG. 2 - An exemplary first computer system connecting to a BT device

[0032] FIG. 2 illustrates an example where the first device 106 can be a computer system. Thus, FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a first computer system 106A connected to one or more of various types of wireless devices. In this exemplary embodiment, the first computer system 106A can be connected to a wireless mouse 130, a wireless keyboard 122, a wireless trackpad 132, and / or a wireless headphone / earphone / speaker 124. Furthermore, the first computer system 106A can establish communication over a wide area network 108, such as the Internet, using any of a variety of communication technologies, such as Wi-Fi, cellular, or wired connections, and can also communicate with a remote device / server 110 (for example) over the network 108. Furthermore, the computer system 106A can wirelessly connect to a streaming device 138 (e.g., AppleTV®) and can connect to various mobile devices, such as a tablet 114 and a cellular phone 116. In general, it should be noted that the first device 106 (such as computing device 106A) can connect via a WPAN to any one or more of the devices listed above, as well as any other similar devices that have, for example, a short-range wireless communication interface, such as BT. Figure 3 - Exemplary block diagram of a device

[0033] 3 illustrates an example block diagram of a device 106, such as the first device 106 in FIG. 1 and / or the computing device 106A in FIG. 2. As illustrated, the device 106 may include a processor(s) 302 capable of executing program instructions for the device 106, and may include display circuitry 304 capable of performing graphic processing and providing display signals to a display 340. The processor(s) 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) 302 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, flash memory 310), and / or may be coupled to other circuits or other devices, such as the display circuitry 304, the radio 330, the connector I / F 320, and / or the display 342. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor(s) 302.

[0034] As shown, the processor 302 can be coupled to various other circuits of the device 106. For example, the device 106 can include various types of memory, a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system), a display 342, and wireless communication circuitry (e.g., for Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH, LTE, LTE-A, GPS, etc.). The device 106 can include at least one antenna (e.g., 335a) and possibly multiple antennas (e.g., as shown by antenna 335a and antenna 335b) to perform wireless communication with base stations and / or other devices. The antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and the UE device 106 may include more antennas. In general, the one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antenna 335. For example, the device 106 can use antenna 335 to perform wireless communication with the radio 330. As mentioned above, the UE can be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards in some embodiments.

[0035] As will continue to be described further herein, the device 106 may include hardware and software components for performing improved methods of pairing and connecting with accessory devices. For example, a user's device may store and execute a wireless software driver (e.g., a BLUETOOTH protocol stack) or other software for providing a server with link information associated with the accessory device to be shared with other devices associated with the user. The device 106 may be configured to perform some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) and / or through the operation of hardware or firmware. In other embodiments, the methods described herein may be implemented at least in part by programmable hardware elements such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and / or as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Thus, the device 106 may be configured to perform a method according to any of the various embodiments described herein.

[0036] In some embodiments, the radio 330 may include separate controllers dedicated to controlling communications for the various supported RAT standards. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the radio 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 350 and a BLUETOOTH controller 354, and may also include a cellular controller (e.g., an LTE controller) 352. In some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or some combination thereof. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio 330, other embodiments may have fewer controllers, more controllers, and / or different controllers for the various different RATs that may be implemented by the device 106.

[0037] It should also be noted that any of the accessory devices illustrated in Figure 2 may include certain components described in Figure 3 as components of first device 106. For example, a headset accessory device (e.g., 124 in Figure 2) may include radio circuitry for near-field wireless communication, e.g., a BLUETOOTH controller such as controller 354 shown in Figure 3, in addition to various other components (e.g., speakers, transducers, etc.) specific to the functionality and purpose of that accessory device. Figure 4 - Sharing an Accessory Device

[0038] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of an exemplary method by which an accessory device may transition from a connection with a first device to a connection with a second device, according to some embodiments. The first device and the second device may be any of the various devices listed and / or described above, such as device 106, and in some scenarios may belong to different classes of devices. In some embodiments, the first device and the second device may also be included in a designated group of devices or a designated set of devices, for example, they may be associated with a common user account of a user (e.g., a cloud-based account such as an iCloud® account), which may be maintained by a cloud-based server. In other embodiments, the devices may be grouped and / or designated as belonging to a group of devices based on another criterion. In general, the devices may be considered part of a group of devices, for example, part of a group of trusted devices. The accessory device may be any of the various devices described above in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2, such as a headset, game controller, mouse, keyboard, wearable device, or other similar device that includes at least one component that facilitates and enables near-field wireless communication for pairing with a first device and a second device.

[0039] At 402, the first device may pair with the accessory device. In some embodiments, pairing may be initiated by a user input on the first device or the accessory device, or pairing may be performed automatically. For example, the first device may exchange a pairing request with the accessory device to establish a connection between the devices. The accessory device may be capable of connecting with the first device by one or more of a variety of means, including a wired connection or a wireless connection. For example, the accessory device may be a BLUETOOTH (BT) device operable to wirelessly connect to the first device using BT technology. In general, the accessory device may be operable to wirelessly connect to the first device using any of a variety of available WPAN or near field communication technologies.

[0040] At 404, the first device may communicate information associated with this first pairing (or with the first pairing request) to a server, e.g., a central location, such as a cloud-based server. This cloud-based server may store corresponding information associated with various other devices that belong to a designated group of devices to which the first device also belongs, e.g., devices that all belong to the user of the first device or devices designated as being used by the first user. For example, if a user owns a portable computer, a tablet device, and a smartphone, the server (central location) may store corresponding information associated with each of these three devices. This server may also have the ability to communicate data, e.g., push data, to each of these three devices. The information (associated with the first pairing) communicated by the first device to the cloud-based server may include various items related to and / or related to establishing a connection with the accessory device, such as link keys, addresses, and / or other information. This information may be communicated automatically as a result of pairing between the first device and the accessory device, or communication of this information may be triggered by user input on the first device or by a request for the information by a cloud-based server. If the first device connects to the accessory device using BT, the BT software stack may operate to communicate the information to the cloud-based server. The first device may communicate with the cloud-based server by various means, such as a wired or wireless connection to the Internet, for example, using Wi-Fi, LTE, wired Internet, or related technologies.The cloud-based server can store this information and / or distribute the received information among one or more (or all other) devices associated / belonging to a specified (or indicated) group of devices, e.g., devices associated with a user account of a user of the first device. Thus, as shown at 406, information associated with the accessory device (and the first pairing request) can be propagated from the first device to other devices in the specified group, e.g., other devices associated with the same user, such as the second device. In some embodiments, this second device can then store the information.

[0041] Information associated with a pairing (request) between an accessory device and a first device may also be referred to as linking information associated with the pairing, and thus may include information about both the accessory device and the first device as being associated with the first pairing. Thus, the linking information may include a first portion related to the first device and a second portion related to the accessory device. For example, the first portion of the linking information may include security authentication information of the first device, and the second portion of the linking information may include security authentication information of the accessory device. Furthermore, the first device may also transmit linking information (also referred to as second linking information) associated with one or more other user devices to the accessory device. By providing this (second) linking information to the accessory device, the accessory device may automatically (without having to go through a pairing procedure, which may or may not require user intervention) connect with a second of the other designated user devices using the first linking information previously stored in the second user device and the second linking information previously stored in the accessory device.

[0042] As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the first device establishes what information about the other device is stored on the server by connecting with the server (or, more generally, with an external device capable of receiving, storing, and sharing information, including link information, about the other device) (404). Note, however, that at some point in time, the first device may have already previously received the second link information, in which case the first device does not need to connect to the server, since it may already have stored this information. In other words, the first device may already have stored link information associated with (or corresponding to) one or more other user devices, and may use this locally stored history to create connection authentication information for the one or more other devices. Thus, 404 does not need to be performed in such a scenario and may be omitted.

[0043] At 410, certain conditions and / or actions may trigger an indication for the second user device to pair with the accessory device. For example, in some embodiments, the second device may determine its proximity to the accessory device. The proximity between the second device and the accessory device may be calculated using various metrics, such as signal strength, and may be compared to a threshold to determine whether to initiate proximity-based pairing. In the case of proximity-based pairing, if it is determined that the accessory device is at least within a specified proximity range of the accessory device, then at 412 the second device may automatically connect to the accessory device (without requiring a pairing procedure) or, if desired, present the user with the option to pair the second device to the accessory device, for example, by prompting the user with a pop-up UI asking whether to connect to the accessory device. The distance used to trigger pairing or connection may be set as any desired or specified distance. In some implementations, the proximity may be set to a distance determined to be the distance at which pairing / connection is expected. User input on the second device, for example via user interaction with buttons and / or a display, can indicate a desire to pair with the accessory device, or the second user device can simply connect with the accessory device using previously stored linking information (on both the second user device and the accessory device, as described above) without the need for any user interaction and / or without the need for any multi-step pairing procedure.

[0044] As described above, at 412, the second user device may operate to pair with the accessory device in response to the instruction received at 410. Since the accessory device may already be actively paired with the first device, the second device may communicate a disconnect message (e.g., over the Internet or through a cloud-based server) to the first device to transition the accessory device from the first user device to the second user device. In some implementations, the accessory may alternatively communicate this disconnect message. The second user device may use the information received at 404 / 406, such as the link key information associated with the accessory device, to connect with the accessory device. Similarly, the accessory device may use the information received at 408, such as the link key information associated with the second user device, to connect with the second user device. This allows the second user device and the accessory device to more easily and efficiently connect to each other without the need for a pairing procedure. Thus, the accessory device may be disconnected from the first user device and may establish a new connection with the second user device.

[0045] 5 and 6 present a diagram of how the pairing process described in FIG. 4 can be used to connect a user device to an accessory device via near field communication, according to a set of embodiments. As shown in FIG. 5, when a user pairs an accessory device 508, shown here as a headset, via BLUETOOTH (BT) to any one of the user's registered devices, shown here as a computer 504, e.g., an iMac, the device can choose to send link information associated with the pairing (between the user device 504 and the accessory device 508) via the cloud 502, e.g., through a BT stack, to other devices in the user's registered account. As an example, a second user device 506 is shown in FIG. 5 as a smartphone. If any of those other user devices, e.g., the user device 506, intends to use the accessory device 508, the link information, e.g., a link key, can be relayed from the currently connected device 504 to the accessory device 508. 6, when the accessory device 508 is moved within pairing proximity range of the second user device 506, a disconnect message can be sent to the currently connected device 504 via the cloud 502 to enable proximity switching. Thus, the accessory device 508 can be connected with the second user device 506 using the link information provided to the accessory device 508 associated with the second user device 506 and the link information provided to the second user device 506 associated with the accessory device 508. This technique therefore eliminates the need for a more lengthy pairing process, either automatic or manual, that requires the exchange (one-way or two-way) of link information (e.g., keys).

[0046] 7 illustrates a communication system with devices connected and paired according to some other embodiments. More specifically, FIG. 7 presents a diagram of types of wired and wireless connections that can be established to allow user devices and accessory devices to easily connect and / or pair with each other, respectively. User device 702 and accessory device 708 can be connected via a secure transport, such as USB 714 (as shown) or secure Wi-Fi (more generally, a secure wired or wireless connection), and the existing transport can be used between device 702 and device 708 to exchange Bluetooth security authentication information (more generally, link information corresponding to the establishment of pairing between devices according to a non-secure and / or short-range wireless communication protocol). If a BLUETOOTH® connection (or, more generally, a connection or pairing according to a non-secure and / or short-range wireless communication protocol) is desired between three or more devices, device 702, having a connection with device 704 and device 706, can act as a repeater to transfer BLUETOOTH® security authentication information (or, more generally, link information corresponding to the establishment of pairing between devices according to a non-secure and / or short-range wireless communication protocol) via an existing BLUETOOTH® (or, more generally, a non-secure and / or short-range wireless communication protocol) connection, thereby effecting a third connection between device 704 and device 706 without device 704 and device 706 having to go through a pairing procedure.

[0047] Some embodiments of the system shown in FIG. 7 may include a handheld device 702 connected to both a first type accessory device 704 and a second type device 706, e.g., a wearable device 706. Existing BLUETOOTH® (BT) connections 710 and 712 may be used to exchange BT security credentials of the first type accessory device 704 and the wearable device 706 between the first type accessory device 704 and the wearable device 706. The devices 704 and 706 may then connect to each other under certain conditions without requiring a pairing procedure. In another example, the handheld device 702 may connect to a display device 708 (e.g., a CarPlay® device) via USB using the iAP™ protocol. This existing USB connection may be used to exchange BT security credentials and automatically connect the handheld device 702 and the display device 708. In yet another example, the handheld device may connect to the second type accessory device via a secure Wi-Fi connection. This existing Wi-Fi connection can be used to exchange BT security credentials and automatically connect the handheld device with the second type of accessory device. Simple pairing procedure

[0048] In accordance with the above, to facilitate pairing, for example as described in Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7, the following may be performed: First, a type of pairing may be determined. Based on the type and use of the devices, one of several different types of pairing may be selected / specified. A first type of pairing may be pairing using a link key. This pairing method may be used for classic pairing between BR / EDR (Basic Rate / Enhanced Data Rate) or dual mode devices, where a link key is generated on one device and sent to the other device for simple pairing. A second type of pairing may be pairing using a long term key. This pairing method may be used for LE (Low Energy) pairing between two dual mode or LE devices, where a Long Term Key (LTK) and other LE pairing related keys are generated on both devices and then exchanged with each other. A third type of pairing may be pairing using OOB (Out of Band) data. This pairing method can be used when none of the above methods can be selected for application specific reasons. If this pairing type is selected, OOB keys (e.g., as defined by the OOB Association Model in the BLUETOOTH Core Specification 2.1 or later) can be generated and exchanged over the OOB transport.

[0049] Second, device information discovery can be performed. Using the OOB transport, device specific information about the device with which BT pairing is desired can be read. Thus, the following data can be obtained via the OOB transport: the BT address of the device, the BT device name of the device, and the class of device (COD) of the device (if the device is a BR / EDR device or a dual mode device). Third, a link key can be generated. An application running on the user device side can provide its remote device information and pairing type to the BT stack, and can request to generate a security key for that particular pairing type. Fourth, those link keys can be exchanged. The generated security keys can be exchanged via existing non-BT transport and stored in the respective security databases.

[0050] Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, in some embodiments, the present invention may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the present invention may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices, such as an ASIC. In other embodiments, the present invention may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as an FPGA.

[0051] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory storage element) can be configured to store program instructions and / or data that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0052] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or set of processors) and a storage medium (or storage element), where the storage medium stores program instructions and the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the storage medium, and where the program instructions are executable to perform any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets). This device may be realized in any of a variety of forms.

[0053] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated, and it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. an interface configured to receive and provide signals; a processing circuit coupled to the interface and operable with the interface to: a processing circuit configured to cause an accessory device to, in response to the accessory device coming within a predetermined range of a wireless device with which the accessory device has not previously been paired, establish a direct wireless connection with the wireless device without engaging in a pairing procedure with the wireless device by using a first item of linking information associated with the wireless device, the first item of linking information having been previously received by the accessory device from a second device different from the wireless device; Equipped with A processor, wherein the accessory device, the wireless device and the second device are included in a set of devices associated with a common user, and the accessory device is a different type of device than both the wireless device and the second device.

2. The processing circuitry may include: and further configured to disconnect from the wireless device when the accessory device is within at least a specified proximity range of the third device to allow the accessory device to connect to a third device. The processor of claim 1 .

3. The first item of link information is Security credentials, Link key, Long-term key, or Out-of-band keys, at least one of The processor of claim 1 .

4. The processor of claim 3 , wherein coming within the predetermined range of the wireless device comprises coming within an effective communication range of the wireless device.

5. The processor of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to determine that the accessory device is within the predetermined range of the wireless device based on at least one or more signal metrics.

6. The processor of claim 5 , wherein the one or more signal metrics include signal strength, and falling within the predetermined range is detected by comparing the signal strength to a threshold.

7. 1. An accessory device, comprising: a wireless interface configured to enable wireless communication by the accessory device with one or more wireless devices according to a specified wireless protocol; a processor communicatively coupled to the wireless interface and configured to interoperate with the wireless interface, a processor configured to, in response to the accessory device coming within a threshold range of a wireless device with which the accessory device has not previously been paired, establish a direct wireless connection between the accessory device and the wireless device without engaging in a pairing procedure using a first item of linking information associated with the wireless device, the first item of linking information having been previously received by the accessory device from a second device different from the wireless device; Equipped with An accessory device, wherein the accessory device, the wireless device and the second device are included in a set of devices associated with a common user, and the accessory device is a different type of device than both the wireless device and the second device.

8. The processor, and further configured to disconnect the accessory device from the wireless device when the accessory device is within a threshold proximity range of the third device to allow the accessory device to connect to a third device.

8. The wireless device of claim 7.

9. The first item of link information is Security credentials, Link key, Long-term key, or Out-of-band keys, at least one of 8. The wireless device of claim 7.

10. The wireless device of claim 7 , wherein entering the threshold range of the wireless device comprises entering within an effective communication range of the wireless device.

11. The wireless device of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the accessory device is within the threshold range of the wireless device based on at least one or more signal metrics.

12. The wireless device of claim 11 , wherein the one or more signal metrics include a signal strength metric, and wherein falling within the threshold range is determined by comparing the signal strength metric to a threshold.

13. A non-transient memory element, comprising: causing an accessory device, in response to the accessory device coming within a threshold range of a wireless device with which the accessory device has not previously been paired, to establish a direct wireless connection with the wireless device without engaging in a pairing procedure with the wireless device using a first item of linking information associated with the wireless device, the first item of linking information having been previously received by the accessory device from a second device different from the wireless device; storing instructions executable by a processor; A non-transitory memory element, wherein the accessory device, the wireless device and the second device are included in a set of devices associated with a common user, and the accessory device is a different type of device than both the wireless device and the second device.

14. The instruction: and further executable by the processor to cause the accessory device to disconnect from the wireless device when the accessory device is within a threshold proximity range of the third device to allow the accessory device to connect to a third device. The non-transitory memory element of claim 13.

15. The first item of link information is Security credentials, Link key, Long-term key, or Out-of-band keys, at least one of The non-transitory memory element of claim 13.

16. The non-transitory memory element of claim 13 , wherein coming within the threshold range of the wireless device comprises coming within an effective communication range of the wireless device.

17. The non-transitory memory element of claim 13 , wherein a determination that the accessory device is within the threshold range of the wireless device is based on a proximity calculation performed using one or more signal metrics.

18. 20. The non-transitory memory element of claim 17, wherein a determination that the accessory device is within the threshold range of the wireless device is based on a comparison of a result of the proximity calculation to a threshold.

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