Remotely granting access to a smart environment

The method of step 1, further comprising the steps of:

• (iv) the controlling terminal sending the access authorization to the appliance;
• (v) the controlling terminal sending a control command to the appliance;
• and
• (vi) the appliance performing the requested control command.

A method of verifying a recipient of a set of access rights using public key, private key encryption, comprising the steps of:

• (i) a first terminal hashing data corresponding to a definition of access rights associated with a second terminal;
• (ii) the first terminal encrypting the hash created in step (i) and the second terminal's public key, using the first terminal's private key;
• (iii) an appliance receiving the encrypted hash and public key with the data corresponding to the definition of access rights;
• (iv) the appliance decrypting, using the first terminal's public key, the received encrypted hash and public key;
• (v) comparing the decrypted public key to a trusted copy of the second terminal's public key, and
• (vi) the appliance hashing the data;
• and
• (vii) comparing the hash of step (vi) with the decrypted hash of step (iv).

A method of remotely granting access to an appliance, comprising the steps of:

• (i) prohibiting access to an appliance by a controlling terminal;
• (ii) sending an access request originating from the controlling terminal to an administrator terminal through a network;
• (iii) a server receiving an authorization for access from said administrator terminal, wherein said authorization comprises modified access rights for the controlling terminal;
• (iv) updating a central authorization database in the server with information from said modified access rights;
• (v) synchronizing a remote authorization database in the controlling terminal with the central authorization database;
• (vi) sending authorization information in the remote authorization database to the appliance;
• and
• (vii) granting control of the appliance by the controlling terminal based on the authorization information.

A method of remotely granting access to appliances, comprising the steps of:

• (i) prohibiting access to an appliance by a controlling terminal;
• (ii) the controlling terminal sending an access request to an administrator terminal through a network;
• (iii) the controlling terminal receiving an authorization for access from the administrator terminal, wherein the authorization comprises access right information corresponding to the controlling terminal;
• (iv) sending the access rights to the appliance;
• (v) granting control of the appliance to the controlling terminal;
• and
• (vi) synchronizing the access rights with a central authorization database.

A method of remotely granting access to an appliance, comprising the steps of:

• (i) prohibiting access to an appliance by a controlling terminal;
• (ii) the controlling terminal sending an access request to an administrator terminal through a network;
• (iii) a server receiving an authorization for access from said administrator terminal, wherein said authorization comprises access rights information corresponding to the controlling terminal;
• (iv) updating a central authorization database in the server with the access rights information;
• (v) synchronizing a remote authorization database with the central authorization database;
• (vi) sending authorization information in the remote authorization database to the appliance;
• and
• (vii) granting the controlling terminal control of the appliance based on the authorization information.

A device for use in a smart environment, comprising:

• a processing unit;
• a transceiver;
• a memory comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the device to perform the steps of:
• (i) sending a first control request to an appliance;
• (ii) receiving an authorization template from the appliance;
• (iii) sending an authorization request to an administrator terminal;
• (iv) receiving authorization rights from the administrator terminal;
• (v) sending a second control request to the appliance, wherein the second control request comprises the received authorization rights and a control command.

An appliance for use in a smart environment, comprising:

• a transceiver;
• a processing unit;
• a memory comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the appliance to perform the steps of:
• (i) receiving a first control request from a control terminal;
• (ii) sending an authorization ticket to the control terminal;
• (iii) receiving authorization information from the control terminal, wherein the authorization information comprises authentication information and a modified authorization ticket comprising authorization rights;
• (iv) using the authentication information to verify that the authorization rights were granted by an administrator terminal to the control terminal;
• (v) receiving a control command from the control terminal;
• and
• (vi) when the authorization rights were granted by the administrator terminal, performing the received control command.

A method of granting access rights to a terminal, comprising the steps of:

• (i) a user terminal receiving a definition of rights from an appliance;
• (ii) the user terminal sending the definition of rights to an administrator terminal;
• (iii) the administrator terminal modifying the definition of rights to include access rights associated with the user terminal;
• (iv) the administrator terminal sending the modified definition of rights to the user terminal;
• (v) the user terminal sending the modified definition of rights to the appliance;
• (vi) the user terminal sending a control command to the appliance;
• and
• (vii) the appliance executing the control command.