Hierarchical API Scopes for Controlled Smart Home Device Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing smart home systems face challenges in allowing third-party access to electronic devices while maintaining user experience and preventing undesirable behavior, requiring restrictions to ensure operational stability.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a device service that allows third-party applications to access smart home devices through an API, using a subscription-based model where updates are sent based on operation status parameters, enabling controlled interaction without direct communication with the device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If third-party applications are allowed to directly access smart home devices, then adaptability and functionality are improved, but device reliability and operational stability deteriorate due to potential undesirable behavior
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a device service as an intermediary layer between third-party applications and smart home devices. This service receives requests from applications, validates them against predefined criteria, and forwards approved requests to the target devices. This mediator architecture enables third-party integration while maintaining device stability by filtering out potentially harmful operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the access control mechanism into multiple independent components: application registration, permission granting, request validation, and device communication. Each component operates independently with specific responsibilities, allowing fine-grained control over third-party access while maintaining overall system reliability.
2Reliability
If restrictions are placed on third-party access to prevent device malfunction, then device reliability is improved, but adaptability and user experience deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The access control system implements dynamic permission management where third-party applications can be granted specific, time-limited permissions based on their needs and trust level. The device service can adjust access rights in real-time, enabling more permissive access for verified applications while maintaining restrictive access for unverified ones, thus balancing reliability and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of access control from a static binary state (allowed/not allowed) to a multi-dimensional parameter space including permission scope, time limits, and operational constraints. This allows the system to provide differentiated access levels that maintain device reliability while enabling diverse third-party functionalities.
3Ease of operation
If direct communication between applications and devices is enabled, then ease of operation is improved, but the risk of harmful factors increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device service acts as a protective intermediary that simplifies application-development by providing standardized communication interfaces while simultaneously protecting devices from harmful operations. Applications interact with the service using simple, well-defined APIs, and the service handles the complexity of safety validation and device-specific protocols.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media stores computer instructions. The computer instructions, when executed by a processor, are configured to send one or more requests including an access token to retrieve, access, view, subscribe, or modify data elements of a data model representative of one or more smart environments. The access token is associated with at least an application programming interface (API) client or API client device and one or more scopes granted to the API client or API client device. The one or more scopes provide one or more access rights to one or more of the data elements of the data model defined by a hierarchical position of the data elements in the data model represented by a respective path to the data elements.