Smart-home device facilitating convenient setup of plural instances thereof in the smart home
View Patent ↗include using an application on a mobile device to establish first wireless communications with a first smart-home device that was previously paired with the user account. The method may also include transmitting, to the first smart-home device and using the first wireless protocol, a transmission that instructs the first smart-home device to establish second wireless communications with a second smart-home device, where the second wireless communications use a second wireless protocol. The method may additionally include transmitting network credentials to the first smart-home device using the first wireless protocol, where the credentials are then sent from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol, such that the second smart-home device can pair with the user account using the first wireless protocol.
1. A method for pairing two or more smart-home devices with a user account, comprising:
establishing first wireless communications with a first smart-home device, wherein the first wireless communications use a first wireless protocol, and wherein the first smart-home device has previously been paired with the user account;
transmitting, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol, a transmission that instructs the first smart-home device to establish second wireless communication between the first smart-home device and a second smart-home device, wherein the second wireless communication established between the first smart-home device and the second smart-home device uses a second wireless protocol; and
transmitting, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol, network credentials for the second smart-home device to join a first wireless protocol network, wherein the credentials are sent from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol;
whereby a new pairing between the second smart-home device and the user account is established using the first wireless protocol.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless protocol is 802.11 Wi-Fi compliant and the second wireless protocol is IEEE 802.15.4 compliant.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising establishing a pairing between the first smart-home device and the user account by establishing wireless communication between the first smart-home device and a computing device via a network provided by the first smart-home device, wherein the network is provided using the first wireless protocol.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network credentials are provided by an application operating on a mobile computing device.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a language for the second smart-home device based on a geographic location of the second smart-home device.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first smart-home device creates a data tunnel between a computing device using the first wireless protocol and the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first smart-home device passes data between the computing device and the second smart-home device through the data tunnel.
8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving, by the computing device, a device code for the second smart-home device; and
authenticating the computing device with the second smart-home device by sending the device code to the second smart-home device through the data tunnel.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a pairing code from an account server; and
transmitting, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol pairing code for the second smart-home device, wherein the pairing code is sent from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol; and wherein the pairing code allows the second smart-home device to pair with the user account at the account server.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to transmitting the network credentials to the first smart-home device, receiving the network credentials from the first smart-home device.
11. A system for pairing two or more smart-home devices with a user account, comprising:
an application operating on a mobile computing device, wherein the application is designed for configuration and control of the two or more smart-home devices, said application establishing communication over the Internet with a central server that includes the user account, wherein the application is configured to:
establish first wireless communications with a first smart-home device, wherein the first wireless communications use a first wireless protocol, and wherein the first smart-home device has previously been paired with the user account;
transmit, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol, a transmission that instructs the first smart-home device to establish second wireless communication between the first smart-home device and a second smart-home device, wherein the second wireless communication established between the first smart-home device and the second smart-home device uses a second wireless protocol; and
transmit, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol, network credentials for the second smart-home device to join a first wireless protocol network, wherein the credentials are sent from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol;
whereby a new pairing between the second smart-home device and the user account is established using the first wireless protocol.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first wireless protocol is 802.11 Wi-Fi compliant and the second wireless protocol is IEEE 802.15.4 compliant.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the application is further configured to establish a pairing between the first smart-home device and the user account by establishing wireless communication between the first smart-home device and a computing device via a network provided by the first smart-home device, wherein the network is provided using the first wireless protocol.
14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the network credentials are provided by an application operating on a mobile computing device.
15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the application is further configured to determine a language for the second smart-home device based on a geographic location of the second smart-home device.
16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first smart-home device creates a data tunnel between a computing device using the first wireless protocol and the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the first smart-home device passes data between the computing device and the second smart-home device through the data tunnel.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the application is further configured to:
receive a device code for the second smart-home device; and
authenticate with the second smart-home device by sending the device code to the second smart-home device through the data tunnel.
19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the application is further configured to:
receive a pairing code from an account server; and
transmit, to the first smart-home device, using the first wireless protocol pairing code for the second smart-home device, wherein the pairing code is sent from the first smart-home device to the second smart-home device using the second wireless protocol; and wherein the pairing code allows the second smart-home device to pair with the user account at the account server.
20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the application is further configured to, prior to transmitting the network credentials to the first smart-home device, receive the network credentials from the first smart-home device.