US-12621216-B2 - Method of configuring a device that is to be added to a wireless network system

US12621216B2US 12621216 B2US12621216 B2US 12621216B2US-12621216-B2

Abstract

A method ( 500 ) of configuring a device that is to be added to a wireless network system is disclosed. The method ( 500 ) comprises: receiving ( 502 ) a signal indicative of that the device has been ordered by a user, receiving ( 504 ) device information about the ordered device, wherein the device information comprises at least information indicative of a type of the ordered device, generating ( 506 ) a virtual counterpart of the ordered device based on the device information, storing ( 508 ) the virtual counterpart in a memory, receiving ( 510 ), at a system controller of the wireless network system, one or more wireless signals from a newly added device that has been added to the wireless network system, wherein the one or more wireless signals are indicative of device information of the newly added device, wherein the device information of the newly added device comprises at least information indicative of a type of the newly added device, comparing ( 512 ) the device information of the newly added device with the device information of the ordered device to determine if the device information of the newly added device corresponds with the device information of the ordered device, and, if the device information of the newly added device corresponds with the device information of the ordered device, associating ( 514 ) the virtual counterpart with the newly added device.

Inventors

Jochen Renaat Van Gheluwe
Bartel Marinus Van De Sluis
DIRK VALENTINUS RENE' ENGELEN
Anthonie Hendrik Bergman
Berent Willem Meerbeek

Assignees

SIGNIFY HOLDING B.V.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20190827
Priority Date: 20180830

Claims (9)

1 . A method of configuring an ordered device that is to be added to a wireless network lighting system, wherein the ordered device is a light emitting device, the method comprising: receiving, by a receiver, a signal indicative of that the ordered device has been ordered by a user, receiving, by a processor, device information about the ordered device, wherein the device information comprises at least information indicative of a type of the ordered device, generating, by the processor, a virtual counterpart of the ordered device based on the device information, generating a pseudo-identifier for the ordered device, storing, by the processor, the virtual counterpart in a memory, downloading, installing and/or updating software for preexisting devices on the wireless network system associated with the ordered device in response to the signal indicating that the ordered device has been ordered by the user; receiving, at a system controller of the wireless network system, one or more wireless signals from a newly added device that has been added to the wireless network system, wherein the one or more wireless signals are indicative of device information of the newly added device, and the device information of the newly added device comprises at least information indicative of a type of the newly added device and an identifier of the newly added device, comparing, by the processor, the device information of the newly added device with the device information of the ordered device to determine if the device information of the newly added device corresponds with the device information of the ordered device, requesting, by the processor, a user to confirm that the newly added device corresponds with the ordered device after comparing the device information, and associating, by the processor, the virtual counterpart with the newly added device if the confirmation is positive, if the device information of the newly added device corresponds with the device information of the ordered device and if the confirmation is positive, associating, by the processor, the virtual counterpart with the newly added device, replacing, by the processor, the pseudo-identifier of the ordered device with the identifier of the newly added device, and associating, by the processor and before the newly added device has been added to the wireless network, (i) the virtual counterpart of the ordered device with an area based on the device information of the ordered device and/or based on a user input received via a user interface, and storing an association of the virtual counterpart of the ordered device with the area in the memory, and/or associating, by the processor and before the newly added device has been added to the wireless network, (ii) the virtual counterpart of the ordered device with a device control setting based on the device information of the ordered device and/or based on a user input received via a user interface, wherein the device control setting is a lighting control setting, and storing an association of the virtual counterpart with the device control setting in the memory.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the device information of the ordered device comprises an identifier of the ordered device, and wherein the step of generating the virtual counterpart of the ordered device further comprises associating the identifier of the device with the virtual counterpart of the ordered device, and wherein the device information of the newly added device comprises an identifier of the newly added device, and wherein the step of comparing the device information of the newly added device with the device information of the ordered device comprises comparing the identifier of the ordered device with the identifier of the newly added device to determine if the identifier of the ordered device corresponds with the identifier of the newly added device.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: rendering, on a display, a list of devices, the list comprising one or more already installed devices and the ordered device.
4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising rendering an indicator on the display for indicating that the ordered device has not been added to the wireless network system, and after the step of associating the virtual counterpart with the newly added device, ceasing rendering the virtual indicator.
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of downloading, installing and/or updating software associated with the virtual counterpart of the ordered device.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the newly added device and/or an already installed device comprises a light source, wherein the method further comprises controlling the light output of the light source to indicate that the virtual counterpart has been associated with the newly added device.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal is received from a device ordering service.
8 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer program code to perform the method of claim 1 when the computer program code is run on one or more processors.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving a user input indicative of a renaming of the virtual counterpart of the ordered device, and renaming the virtual counterpart of the ordered device based on the user input.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATION This application is the U.S. National Phase application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2019/072820, filed on Aug. 27, 2019, which claims the benefit of European Patent Application No. 18191704.8, filed on Aug. 30, 2018. This application is hereby incorporated by reference herein. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a method of configuring a device that is to be added to a wireless network system, and to a computer program product for executing the method. The invention further relates to a wireless network system for configuring a device that is to be added to the wireless network system. BACKGROUND With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) the number of smart home systems is increasing. These (wireless) smart home systems enable users to control devices with their smartphones, based on their position in the home, based on sensor inputs, etc. Examples of these devices include connected lighting devices, home assistant devices, sensor devices such as cameras, presence sensors and temperature/light sensors, connected door locks, connected thermostats, etc. If a user decides to expand his or her smart home system with one or more new devices, these devices need to be added to the wireless network system, and they need to be configured/commissioned. Typically, this commissioning and/or configuration is performed by means of a personal device of the user, such as a smartphone or a tablet pc. An application that runs on the personal device communicates with the newly added device (either directly or indirectly via a hub, router or bridge), and configures/commissions the device accordingly. This can be a cumbersome step for the user, as it is desired that the newly added device immediately works without delay. US 20140282937 A1 discloses that a device newly introduced to a network is automatically credentialed to be able to communicate over a network before the device first communicates with the network. For example, at a point of purchase, a user can provide network identification information to a merchant computing device that effects transfer of that information to the new device such that the new device can communicate directly with the net-work without initial credentialing directly between the unique device and the local network. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION When a user orders a new device online or in a (physical) store, the user has to add the device to his or her home system and configure it. The user can only configure the (pre-)ordered device once it has been added to/installed in the wireless (home) network. The inventors have realized that it may be desirable that a virtual version of a to-be-installed device is already added to the wireless (home) network before it has been received or installed by the user. This enable a user to configure/commission the new device before installation. This may further improve the process of the installation of the new device, as the wireless (home) system can take the necessary preparations for the new device (e.g. updating/downloading/installing software or firmware associated with the device). It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve the installation of a device in a wireless (home) network system. According to a first aspect of the present invention, the object is achieved by a method of configuring a device that is to be added to a wireless network system, the method comprising: receiving a signal indicative of that the device has been ordered by a user,receiving device information about the ordered device, wherein the device information comprises at least information indicative of a type of the ordered device,generating a virtual counterpart of the ordered device based on the device information,storing the virtual counterpart in a memory,receiving, at a system controller of the wireless network system, one or more wireless signals from a newly added device that has been added to the wireless network system, wherein the one or more wireless signals are indicative of device information of the newly added device, wherein the device information of the newly added device comprises at least information indicative of a type of the newly added device,comparing the device information of the newly added device with the device information of the ordered device to determine if the device information of the newly added device corresponds with the device information of the ordered device, andif the device information of the newly added device corresponds with the device information of the ordered device, associating the virtual counterpart with the newly added device. By generating a virtual counterpart of a device that has been (pre-)ordered by a user, but not yet delivered and/or installed, and storing that virtual counterpart in a memory of the wireless network system, a virtual version of the ordered device is already present in the system. Upon receiving one or more