Establishing a secure wireless network with minimum human intervention
View Patent ↗Systems, methods and apparatus to join a network are disclosed. An example method includes receiving a manual user action at a zone player that is unconfigured for a first network, the action initiating automatic establishment of a connection to the first network by the zone player; transmitting, by the zone player responsive to the manual user action, a first message over a second network to be received by a device configured for the first network, wherein the first message indicating that the zone player is available to join the first network; receiving, over the second network by the zone player, a second message from the device, the second message generated responsive to receipt of the first message and including a security parameter to join the first network; and establishing a connection to the first network by the zone player using the security parameter without further input by any user via either the zone player or the device.
1. A method of connecting a device to a first network for one or more playback devices, the method comprising:
activating, at a zone player in a default mode and unconfigured for the first network, an (a) await registration mode and (b) a not registered indicator at the zone player;
receiving a manual user input at the zone player in the await registration mode, wherein the manual user input initiates an automatic establishment of a connection to the first network by the zone player;
transmitting, by the zone player responsive to the manual user input, a first message over a second network to be received by a device configured for the first network, wherein the first message indicates that the zone player is available to join the first network;
receiving, over the second network by the zone player, a second message from the device, wherein the second message is generated responsive to receipt of the first message and wherein the second message includes a security parameter to be used by the zone player to join the first network;
establishing a connection to the first network by the zone player using the security parameter;
deactivating, at the zone player, the not registered indicator;
after deactivating the not registered indicator, activating, at the zone player, (a) a registered mode and (b) a registered indicator at the zone player;
receiving, from the device, a name assigned to the zone player; and
storing the received name.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving audio content by the zone player over the first network and playing back the audio content via the zone player.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security parameter is generated by the device.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security parameter comprises a wired equivalent privacy (WEP) key.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security parameter comprises a household identifier (HHID).
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, over the second network by the zone player, a request from the device to the zone player to respond with the zone player's current network configuration information.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second network is an unsecure network.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second message comprises a command message from the device to the zone player to reconfigure the zone player's network configuration information.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions for execution by a processor, the set of instructions, when executed, facilitating connection of a device to a first network via a method comprising:
activating, at a zone player in a default mode and unconfigured for the first network, an (a) await registration mode and (b) a not registered indicator at the zone player;
receiving a manual user input at the zone player in the await registration mode, wherein the manual user input initiates an automatic establishment of a connection to the first network by the zone player;
transmitting, by the zone player responsive to the manual user input, a first message over a second network to be received by a device configured for the first network, wherein the first message indicates that the zone player is available to join the first network;
receiving, over the second network by the zone player, a second message from the device, wherein the second message is generated responsive to receipt of the first message and wherein the second message includes a security parameter to be used by the zone player to join the first network;
establishing a connection to the first network by the zone player using the security parameter;
deactivating, at the zone player, the not registered indicator;
after deactivating the not registered indicator, activating, at the zone player, (a) a registered mode and (b) a registered indicator at the zone player;
receiving, from the device, a name assigned to the zone player; and
storing the received name.
10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the security parameter is generated by the device.
11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the security parameter comprises a wired equivalent privacy (WEP) key.
12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the security parameter comprises a household identifier (HHID).
13. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises receiving, over the second network by the zone player, a request from the device to the zone player to respond with the zone player's current network configuration information.
14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises transmitting, over the second network by the zone player, a response to the device by the zone player including the zone player's network configuration information.
15. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the second network is an unsecure network.
16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises transmitting, by the zone player, a third message including a response indicating that the zone player's network configuration information has been changed according to the command message from the device.
17. A multimedia device for multimedia playback in a first network, the device comprising:
a memory to store data and instructions; a processor to execute the instructions in the memory; and
a network interface to facilitate a data flow between the first network and the multimedia device, wherein the processor and the network interface are to facilitate:
activating, at the multimedia device in a default mode and unconfigured for the first network, an (a) await registration mode and (b) a not registered indicator at the multimedia device;
receiving a manual user input at the multimedia device in the await registration mode, wherein the manual user input initiates an automatic establishment of a connection to the first network by the multimedia device;
transmitting, by the multimedia device responsive to the manual user input, a first message over a second network to be received by a second device configured for the first network, wherein the first message indicates that the multimedia device is available to join the first network;
receiving, over the second network by the zone player, a second message from the second device, wherein the second message is generated responsive to receipt of the first message and wherein the second message includes a security parameter to be used by the multimedia device to join the first network;
establishing a connection to the first network by the multimedia device using the security parameter;
deactivating, at the multimedia device, the not registered indicator;
after deactivating the not registered indicator, activating, at the multimedia device, (a) a registered mode and (b) a registered indicator at the multimedia device;
receiving, from the second device, a name assigned to the multimedia device; and
storing the received name.
18. The multimedia device of claim 17 , further comprising an audio processing circuit to receive audio content over the first network and to play back the audio content.
19. The multimedia of claim 17 , wherein the network interface is to receive, over the second network, a request from the second device to the multimedia device to respond with the multimedia device's current network configuration information.
20. The multimedia device of claim 17 , wherein the second network is an unsecure network.
21. The multimedia device of claim 17 , wherein the not registered indicator comprises a first light indicator.
22. The multimedia device of claim 21 , wherein the registered indicator comprises a second light indicator.
23. The multimedia device of claim 17 , wherein the not registered indicator comprises a first light indication provided by a light indicator, and wherein the registered indicator comprises a second light indication provided by the light indicator.
24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the not registered indicator comprises a first light indicator.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the registered indicator comprises a second light indicator.
26. The method of claim 1 , wherein the not registered indicator comprises a first light indication provided by a light indicator, and wherein the registered indicator comprises a second light indication provided by the light indicator.
27. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the not registered indicator comprises a first light indicator.
28. The computer-readable medium of claim 27 , wherein the registered indicator comprises a second light indicator.
29. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the not registered indicator comprises a first light indication provided by a light indicator, and wherein the registered indicator comprises a second light indication provided by the light indicator.