Apparatus and method for reduced latency IOT device control

1 . A method comprising:

associating a control device with a plurality of internet of things (IoT) devices to be directly controlled by the control device via an advertising packet broadcast over a wireless advertising channel, the control device including a wireless interface to broadcast the advertising packet over the advertising channel and the plurality of IoT devices including wireless interfaces to listen over the advertising channel and to receive the advertising packet broadcast over the advertising channel;

generating the advertising packet including an indication of a control operation to be performed by the plurality of IoT devices and a signature generated over the advertising packet or a portion thereof with a control device key;

receiving the advertising packet at an IoT device of the plurality of IoT devices listening over the advertising channel;

validating the signature using an IoT device key corresponding to the control device key; and

performing the control operation by the IoT device.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the signature is to be generated over a payload of the advertising packet.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein the payload of the advertising packet comprises metadata associated with the control device and/or control data indicating the control operation to be performed.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein associating the control device with the plurality of IoT devices comprises:

registering the control device and the plurality of IoT devices with a user account on an IoT service;

receiving input from the user via an IoT app or other client software associating the plurality of IoT devices with the control device; and

transmitting data indicating the association to the plurality of IoT devices to configure the plurality of IoT devices to determine the control operation to be performed based on the indication included in the advertising packet.

5 . The method of claim 4 wherein the data indicating the association includes the IoT device key.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the IoT device key comprises a public key and the control device key comprises a corresponding private key.

7 . The method of claim 5 wherein the IoT device key comprises a symmetric key corresponding to the control device key.

8 . The method of claim 1 wherein the control device is to generate the advertising packet in response to user selection of a switch or other input element on the control device, or in response to a threshold value measured from a sensor.

9 . A system comprising:

a control device associated with a user account on an IoT service;

a plurality of internet of things (IoT) devices associated with the user account, the one or more IoT devices to be directly controlled by the control device via an advertising packet broadcast over a wireless advertising channel;

wherein the control device includes a wireless interface to broadcast the advertising packet over the advertising channel and each IoT device of the plurality of IoT devices includes a wireless interface to listen over the advertising channel and to receive the advertising packet broadcast over the advertising channels;

wherein the control device is to generate the advertising packet including an indication of a control operation to be performed by the plurality of IoT devices and a signature generated over the advertising packet or a portion thereof with a control device key;

wherein an IoT device of the plurality of IoT devices listening over the advertising channel is to receive the advertising packet, validate the signature using an IoT device key corresponding to the control device key, and, if the signature is validated, perform the control operation.

10 . The system of claim 9 wherein the signature is to be generated over a payload of the advertising packet.

11 . The system of claim 10 wherein the payload of the advertising packet comprises metadata associated with the control device and/or control data indicating the control operation to be performed.

12 . The system of claim 9 further comprising an IoT service to:

register the control device and the plurality of IoT devices with a user account;

receive input from the user via an IoT app or other client software associating the plurality of IoT devices with the control device; and

transmit data indicating the association to the plurality of IoT devices to configure the plurality of IoT devices to respond to the indication of the control operation to be performed.

13 . The system of claim 12 wherein the data indicating the association includes the IoT device key.

14 . The system of claim 13 wherein the IoT device key comprises a public key and the control device key comprises a corresponding private key.

15 . The system of claim 13 wherein the IoT device key comprises a symmetric key corresponding to the control device key.

16 . The system of claim 9 wherein the control device is to generate the advertising packet in response to user selection of a switch or other input element on the control device, or in response to a threshold value measured from a sensor.

17 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon which, when executed by a plurality of electronic devices, causes the plurality of electronic devices to perform operations comprising:

associating a control device with the plurality of internet of things (IoT) devices to be directly controlled by the control device via an advertising packet broadcast over a wireless advertising channel, the control device including a wireless interface to broadcast the advertising packet over the advertising channel and the plurality of IoT devices including wireless interfaces to listen over the advertising channel and to receive the broadcast packet over the advertising channel;

generating the advertising packet including an indication of a control operation to be performed by the plurality of IoT devices and a signature generated over the advertising packet or a portion thereof with a control device key;

receiving the advertising packet at an IoT device of the plurality of IoT devices listening over the advertising channel;

validating the signature using an IoT device key corresponding to the control device key; and

performing the control operation by the IoT device.

18 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the signature is to be generated over a payload of the advertising packet.

19 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the payload of the advertising packet comprises metadata associated with the control device and/or control data indicating the control operation to be performed.

20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 wherein associating the control device with the plurality of IoT devices comprises:

registering the control device and the plurality of IoT devices with a user account on an IoT service;

receiving input from the user via an IoT app or other client software associating the plurality of IoT devices with the control device; and

transmitting data indicating the association to the plurality of IoT devices to configure the plurality of IoT devices to respond to the indication of the control operation to be performed.

21 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the data indicating the association includes the IoT device key.

22 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the IoT device key comprises a public key and the control device key comprises a corresponding private key.

23 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the IoT device key comprises a symmetric key corresponding to the control device key.

24 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the control device is to generate the advertising packet in response to user selection of a switch or other input element on the control device, or in response to a threshold value measured from a sensor.