Granted Patent B2

US 12,506,656 · App. 18/587,751 · Granted Dec 23, 2025

Inventors: William Shoesmith (Arlington, MA); Ted Lin (Ayer, MA); Jeffrey M. Peters (Cambridge, MA); Cameron Scott (Seattle, WA); James Babu (Seattle, WA); Andi Rusu (Seattle, WA); Bryan Cox (Edmonds, WA)

Assignee: Sonos, Inc.

H04L41/0813H04L41/0879H04W12/102H04W12/50H04W84/10

Abstract

Claims (76)

1 . A first playback device comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium; and

program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to:

determine that the first playback device has lost a connection to a first secure wireless network;

transmit at least one message that indicates that the first playback device is available for setup, wherein the at least one message comprises an indication of a network connection capability of the first playback device;

establish a first direct communication path with a computing device configured to operate on a second secure wireless network;

receive, from the computing device over the first direct communication path, network configuration parameters for connecting to the second secure wireless network;

establish a connection to the second secure wireless network based on the network configuration parameters;

receive, from a second playback device of a media playback system that includes the first playback device, a message indicating that the second playback device has lost a second connection to the first secure wireless network;

establish a second direct communication path with the second playback device; and

transmit, via the second direct communication path to the second playback device, the network configuration parameters for connecting to the second secure wireless network.

2 . The first playback device of claim 1 , further comprising program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to:

receive, from the computing device, a command to:

temporarily disconnect from the second secure wireless network for a given period of time;

while temporarily disconnected from the second secure wireless network, (i) scan for messages from other playback devices on a default wireless channel and (ii) respond to messages from other playback devices on the default wireless channel with instructions to scan for messages from other playback devices on the default wireless channel; and

after the given period of time, reconnect to the second secure wireless network; and

based on the command:

temporarily disconnect from the second secure wireless network for the given period of time;

while temporarily disconnected from the second secure wireless network, scan for messages from other playback devices on the default wireless channel; and

after the given period of time, reconnect to the second secure wireless network.

3 . The first playback device of claim 2 , wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to receive the message indicating that the second playback device has lost the second connection to the first secure wireless network comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to receive the message while temporarily disconnected from the second secure wireless network, and wherein the first playback device further comprises program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to:

based on receiving the message indicating that the second playback device has lost the second connection to the first secure wireless network, transmit instructions to the second playback device to scan for messages from other playback devices on the default wireless channel.

4 . The first playback device of claim 1 , further comprising program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to:

transmit authentication information to the computing device; and

receive, via the first direct communication path, the authentication information from the computing device.

5 . The first playback device of claim 4 , wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to transmit authentication information to the computing device comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to:

pass a PIN code to the computing device via audio modulation.

6 . The first playback device of claim 4 , wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to transmit authentication information to the computing device comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to:

pass a PIN code to the computing device via near-field communication (NFC).

7 . The first playback device of claim 1 , further comprising program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first playback device is configured to:

after determining that the first playback device has lost the connection to the first secure wireless network, detect that a button on the first playback device has been pressed; and

based on detecting that the button has been pressed, begin operating in an open access point (AP) mode to allow the first direct communication path with the computing device to be established.

8 . The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one message that indicates that the first playback device is available for setup is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon.

9 . The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein the first direct communication path comprises a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connection.

10 . The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one message that indicates that the first playback device is available for setup further comprises a serial number of the first playback device.

11 . The first playback device of claim 1 , wherein the second secure wireless network is the first secure wireless network, and wherein the network configuration parameters are updated network configuration parameters that are different from previous network configuration parameters for connecting to the first secure wireless network.

12 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is provisioned with program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a first playback device of a media playback system to:

determine that the first playback device has lost a connection to a first secure wireless network;

transmit at least one message that indicates that the first playback device is available for setup, wherein the at least one message comprises an indication of a network connection capability of the first playback device;

establish a first direct communication path with a computing device configured to operate on a second secure wireless network;

receive, from the computing device over the first direct communication path, network configuration parameters for connecting to the second secure wireless network;

establish a connection to the second secure wireless network based on the network configuration parameters;

receive, from a second playback device of the media playback system, a message indicating that the second playback device has lost a second connection to the first secure wireless network;

establish a second direct communication path with the second playback device; and

transmit, via the second direct communication path to the second playback device, the network configuration parameters for connecting to the second secure wireless network.

13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is also provisioned with program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the first playback device to:

receive, from the computing device, a command to:

temporarily disconnect from the second secure wireless network for a given period of time;

while temporarily disconnected from the second secure wireless network, (i) scan for messages from other playback devices on a default wireless channel and (ii) respond to messages from other playback devices on the default wireless channel with instructions to scan for messages from other playback devices on the default wireless channel; and

after the given period of time, reconnect to the second secure wireless network; and

based on the command:

temporarily disconnect from the second secure wireless network for the given period of time;

while temporarily disconnected from the second secure wireless network, scan for messages from other playback devices on the default wireless channel; and

after the given period of time, reconnect to the second secure wireless network.

14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first playback device to receive the message indicating that the second playback device has lost the second connection to the first secure wireless network comprise program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first playback device to receive the message while temporarily disconnected from the second secure wireless network, and wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is also provisioned with program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first playback device to:

based on receiving the message indicating that the second playback device has lost the second connection to the first secure wireless network, transmit instructions to the second playback device to scan for messages from other playback devices on the default wireless channel.

15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is also provisioned with program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the first playback device to:

transmit authentication information to the computing device; and

receive, via the first direct communication path, the authentication information from the computing device.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first playback device to transmit authentication information to the computing device comprise program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first playback device to:

pass a PIN code to the computing device via audio modulation.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first playback device to transmit authentication information to the computing device comprise program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first playback device to:

pass a PIN code to the computing device via near-field communication (NFC).

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is also provisioned with program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the first playback device to:

after determining that the first playback device has lost the connection to the first secure wireless network, detect that a button on the first playback device has been pressed; and

based on detecting that the button has been pressed, begin operating in an open access point (AP) mode to allow the first direct communication path with the computing device to be established.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the at least one message that indicates that the first playback device is available for setup is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon.

20 . A method carried out by a first playback device of a media playback system, the method comprising:

determining that the first playback device has lost a connection to a first secure wireless network;

transmitting at least one message that indicates that the first playback device is available for setup, wherein the at least one message comprises an indication of a network connection capability of the first playback device;

establishing a first direct communication path with a computing device configured to operate on a second secure wireless network;

receiving, from the computing device over the first direct communication path, network configuration parameters for connecting to the second secure wireless network;

establishing a connection to the second secure wireless network based on the network configuration parameters;

receiving, from a second playback device of the media playback system, a message indicating that the second playback device has lost a second connection to the first secure wireless network;

establishing a second direct communication path with the second playback device; and transmitting, via the second direct communication path to the second playback device, the network configuration parameters for connecting to the second secure wireless network.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (78)