Apple Inc.

Dennis Mathews

Anush G Nadathur

Kevin P McLaughlin

Srinivas Rama

Matthew C Lucas

Yong Liu

Syed Aon Mujtaba

Wen Zhao

Sriram Hariharan

Ajoy K Singh

Craig P Dooley

Paul V Flynn

Matthew L Semersky

Anjali S Sandesara

Joe S Abuan

Shyam S Toprani

Andrew W Burks

Carmen A Bovalino, Iii

George Lin

Yin Shun Osborn Chan

Andrew Burks

Kevin P Mclaughlin

An accessory communication control protocol can facilitate faster and more secure transmission of status updates from an accessory to a controller (or network base station). An accessory can register with a controller, where the controller can provide some subscription and key generation information to the accessory. The accessory can detect changes to characteristics of the accessory and generate a broadcast notification that includes updates to the state of the characteristic. The broadcast notification can also include a counter, a device identifier, and a key. According to timing or rules, the accessory can transmit the broadcast notification to the controller without the need to establish a secure session with the controller.

Accessory communication control

A client device can be configured to identify data to be communicated with a network. In some examples, the client device can determine one or more transient properties of the client device and/or receive a connection request from a host device that is connected to the network, where the connection request comprises one or more connection properties of the host device. In some instances, the client device can also be configured to determine whether the host device is capable of transmitting the data to the network based at least in part on the one or more transient properties of the client device and the one or more connection properties of the host device and/or establish a connection with the host device in accordance with determining that the host device is capable of transmitting the data to the network.

Determining when to establish connection between mobile client and proxy devices

An authentication process for an endpoint device uses a pair of tokens. Tokens are generated at an authentication server that maintains a data store of token states, where the states are defined to include a 'normal' state sequence along which a token is expected to advance. The endpoint device can store a token pair in non-volatile local storage. To authenticate, the endpoint device can provide its stored token pair to the authentication server, which can determine whether authentication succeeds based on the states of the tokens in the token pair. After successful authentication, the authentication server can provide a new token pair to the endpoint device and advance the token states along the normal sequence. When the endpoint device confirms receipt of the new token pair, which replaces the previous token pair, the authentication server can advance the state of the tokens again.

Dual-token authentication for electronic devices

A controller and an accessory controllable by the controller can communicate using secure read and write procedures. The procedures can include encrypting identifiers of accessory characteristics targeted by a read or write operation as well as any data being read or written. The procedures can also include the accessory returning a cryptographically signed response verifying receipt and execution of the read or write instruction. In some instances, a write procedure can be implemented as a timed write in which a first instruction containing the write data is sent separately from a second instruction to execute the write operation; the accessory can disregard the write data if the second instruction is not received within a timeout period after receiving the first instruction.

Secure wireless communication between controllers and accessories

Controllers can communicate with accessories using various paths, such as a wireless communication path. A controller can maintain reachability information for each accessory indicating the path(s) via which the accessory is currently reachable. Maintaining the reachability information can include scanning to detect broadcasts from the accessories and updating the reachability information based on the results of scanning. Scanning parameters such as scan interval and scan duration can be selected dynamically based on the current operating context of the controller (e.g., where the controller is located, what processes are active on the controller, what other devices have been detected within communication range of the controller).

Dynamic connection path detection and selection for wireless controllers and accessories

Controllers can be used to control the operation of various accessories. Controllers with access to a particular accessory (or group of accessories) can be organized into a controller network to facilitate control. The controller network can include various proxy devices including bridge and tunnel proxies that can relay messages to and from accessories, perform protocol translations, and/or provide communication security. Some proxy devices can include decision logic to enable coordinated control over one or more accessories by the controllers in the controller network.

Controller networks for an accessory management system

A client device and a host device may create a local connection for providing wide area network access, such as Internet access, to the client device. In some embodiments, the client device may have limited network capabilities and may not be able to access the Internet without the host device. The client device may provide its speed and direction in a message to potential host devices. A host device may calculate a suitability metric, based on the speed and direction of the client as well as connection properties of the networks, which indicates an ability for the host device to connect the client device to the Internet. The host device may provide the suitability metric within a connection request to the client device. Based on the suitability metric and/or other factors, the client device and the host device may establish the local connection.

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Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Dennis Mathews