Abstract: An apparatus and method are described for securely providing a User ID and/or password to an IoT device. For example, one embodiment of a method comprises: receiving at an Internet of Things (IoT) service a request from a mobile device over a first communication channel to transmit credentials for a particular online service to an IoT device, responsively encrypting the credentials to generate encrypted credentials and transmitting the encrypted credentials to the IoT device over a second communication channel, decrypting the encrypted credentials at the IoT device, and providing the credentials by the IoT device to a computer over a third communication channel, the computer causing the credentials to be provided to the online service to authenticate the user.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
October 2, 2019
Date of Patent:
November 17, 2020
Assignee:
Afero, Inc.
Inventors:
Scott Bartlett, Scott Zimmerman, Joe Britt
Abstract: An apparatus and method are described for obscuring wireless communication patterns. For example, one embodiment of a system comprises: an Internet of Things (IoT) device comprising a wireless communication interface to establish communication with an IoT service; the IoT device including an application to execute commands received from the IoT service and to responsively generate a response; and messaging obfuscation logic to modify timing for transmitting the response to the IoT service.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 14, 2015
Date of Patent:
October 13, 2020
Assignee:
AFERO, INC.
Inventors:
Joe Britt, Scott Zimmerman, Omar Zakaria
Abstract: A system and method are described for accurately detecting a location of a wireless device. For example, one embodiment of a method comprises: collecting signal strength data indicating signal strength between a wireless device and a plurality of IoT devices and/or IoT hubs in a user's home; associating the signal strength data with locations in the user's home and storing the association in a location database; and determining a current location of the wireless device by comparing the signal strength data in the database with current signal strength data indicating current signal strength between the wireless device and the plurality of IoT devices and/or IoT hubs.
Abstract: A system and method are described for an Internet of Things (IoT) gas pump or charging station implementation. For example, one embodiment of a system comprises: an automotive IoT device to be integrated within a vehicle of a user; an IoT service comprising IoT device authentication and management logic to authenticate the identity of the automotive IoT device integrated within the vehicle; an Internet of Things (IoT) hub to be communicatively coupled to a gas pump or charging station, the IoT hub to establish a communication channel with the IoT service, the IoT hub further comprising a local wireless communication interface to establish a local wireless communication channel with the automotive IoT device, the automotive IoT device to establish a secure communication channel with the IoT service through the IoT hub; the IoT service to authenticate the automotive IoT device and responsively transmit a command to the IoT hub authorizing use of the gas pump or charging station.
Abstract: A system, apparatus, and method for intelligent selection of a communication channel. One embodiment of an IoT device comprises: a first set of one or more communication interfaces having first power consumption characteristics; a second set of one or more communication interfaces having second power consumption characteristics, the second power consumption characteristics comprising lower power requirements than the first power consumption characteristics; a connection manager to determine whether to transmit a message over a communication interface from the first set of one or more communication interfaces when an interface from the second set of one or more communication interfaces is unavailable and in accordance with a priority associated with the message.
Abstract: An apparatus and method are described for integration of an RF antenna in an appliance. For example, one embodiment of an apparatus includes: a dielectric having a specified length and width defining an area; a ground plane made of conductive material directly adjacent to the dielectric, the ground plane formed from one or more components of a handle or a door of a heating device; an antenna element made of conductive material forming a plane adjacent to the dielectric and parallel to the ground plane, the antenna having a first dimension defining a first end and a second end, the first end electrically coupled to the ground plane; and an antenna feed electrically coupled to the antenna element at specified distance from the first end, the distance from the first end selected in accordance with a wavelength of a radio frequency (RF) signal to be transmitted and/or received by the antenna.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
February 12, 2018
Date of Patent:
August 4, 2020
Assignee:
Afero, Inc.
Inventors:
Scott Bartlett, Doug Kough, Joe Britt, Nam La
Abstract: A system, apparatus, and method are described for a secure IoT wireless network configuration. For example, one embodiment of an Internet of Things (IoT) hub comprises: a local wireless communication interface to establish local wireless connections with one or more IoT devices and/or IoT extender hubs; a network router to establish network connections over the Internet on behalf of the IoT devices and/or IoT extender hubs; an authentication module pre-configured with a passphrase and a hidden service set identifier (SSID), the authentication module to receive a connection requests from the IoT devices and/or an IoT extender hubs and to grant the connection requests when the IoT devices and/or IoT extender hubs use the pre-configured passphrase and hidden SSID; and a firewall of the IoT hub to block all outgoing and incoming connection requests other than those directed to designated servers of an IoT service with known host names.
Abstract: A method and system for connecting an Internet of Things (IoT) hub to a wireless network. One embodiment of the method includes establishing a secure communication channel between an IoT hub and an IoT service through a client device using a first secret; generating a second secret on the client device and transmitting it to the IoT hub; encrypting a wireless key using the second secret to generate a first-encrypted key and transmitting it to the IoT service; encrypting the first-encrypted key using the first secret to generate a twice-encrypted key and transmitting it to the IoT hub over the secure communication channel; decrypting the twice-encrypted key at the IoT hub using the first secret to generate the first-encrypted key and decrypting it using the second secret to generate the wireless key usable to establish a secure wireless connection between the IoT hub and the local wireless network.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 4, 2018
Date of Patent:
May 19, 2020
Assignee:
Afero, Inc.
Inventors:
Scott Zimmerman, Evan Jeng, Shannon Holland, Clif Liu, Chris Aiuto
Abstract: A system, apparatus, and method for sharing network credentials. One embodiment of a method comprises: establishing a Bluetooth connection between a first Internet of Things (IoT) device and a mobile device of a first user having an IoT app installed, the mobile device to couple the first IoT device to an IoT service; receiving a request from a user from the mobile device to configure the first IoT device using network credentials from a second IoT device, the second IoT device registered with an account of the user on the IoT service and configured to connect to a secure network of the user with the network credentials; establishing a communication channel between the first IoT device and the second IoT device through the IoT service and the mobile device to obtain the network credentials; and using the network credentials at the first IoT device to securely connect to the secure network.
Abstract: Embodiments comprise: a plurality of channel filters, each channel filter to remove all but a specified portion of a wireless network spectrum; a plurality of radios each configured to receive one of the specified portions of the wireless network spectrum associated with one of the channels; wireless device identification logic to analyze the digital data stream for each channel to identify wireless devices and to packetize the transmissions using the identity of the sender and/or recipient; a plurality of wireless networking stacks each associated with one of the wireless devices identified by the wireless device identification logic; stack forwarding logic to receive packets from the wireless device identification logic and to forward the packets to wireless networking; and a communication feature extraction module to extract a specified set of features from the digital data stream generated by the radios.
Abstract: A system and method are described for performing flow control in an IoT system. For example, one embodiment of a system comprises: a plurality of IoT devices; an IoT hub to establish local wireless connections with the plurality of IoT devices to communicatively couple the plurality of IoT devices to an IoT service; the IoT hub to store flow control parameters for each of the plurality of IoT devices, the flow control parameters determined based on data communication requirements of each of the IoT devices and indicating one or more data communication thresholds for each of the IoT devices; the IoT hub to monitor data communication with each of the IoT devices to determine whether one of the IoT devices has reached a data communication threshold specified by the flow control parameters, wherein in response to a first IoT device reaching its data communication threshold, the IoT hub temporarily preventing communication between the first IoT device and the IoT service.