# US 2017/0288786 A1 · On-boarding and provisioning devices using ultrasonic wave communications > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2017/0288786 A1 - Document ID: US20170288786A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/086,785 - Filed: 2016-03-31 - Published: 2017-10-05 - Earliest claimed: 2016-03-31 - Assignees: Intel Corporation - Inventors: Yamin S. Al-Mousa; Assaf Mevorach; Vijay Sarathi Kesavan - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170288786A1 ## CPC - H04B 11/00: Transmission systems employing ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves - H04M 1/72415: for remote control of appliances - H04W 12/50: Secure pairing of devices - H04M 1/72409: by interfacing with external accessories (hands-free H04M1/60) - H04M 1/72412: using two-way short-range wireless interfaces - H04W 48/16: Discovering, processing access restriction or access information - H04B: TRANSMISSION - H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Techniques for communicating configuration information with remote devices using ultrasonic audio are disclosed. In an example, provisioning and device onboarding operations are initiated by a configuration computing device to a plurality of configurable devices, through operations that encode configuration data into an ultrasonic audio signal (e.g., emitted at 18 kHz or greater) and broadcast this ultrasonic audio signal with a speaker. The respective configurable devices may then perform operations to receive the ultrasonic audio signal with a microphone, decode the configuration data from the ultrasonic audio signal, and configure settings based on the configuration data. This configuration data may include network connection information to onboard the respective configurable devices to connection with a wireless local area network (e.g., a Wi-Fi network). This configuration data may also communicate information to enable the respective configurable device to access a provisioning server, used to obtain additional network or configuration settings. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A configuration computing device, comprising: a speaker; and processing circuitry to perform operations that: process configuration data for a plurality of configurable devices; encode the configuration data into an ultrasonic audio signal; and output the ultrasonic audio signal with the speaker; wherein the ultrasonic audio signal is emitted by the speaker to be received by the plurality of configurable devices, to cause the plurality of the configurable devices to implement a configuration based on the configuration data. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The configuration computing device of claim 1, wherein the operations to process the configuration data for the plurality of configurable devices include operations to obtain the configuration data, and wherein the configuration data includes network connection information, the network connection information used to configure the plurality of configurable devices to connect to a network. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The configuration computing device of claim 2, wherein the network is a wireless local area network, wherein the network connection information includes an SSID name and pre-shared security key, wherein the SSID name and the pre-shared security key is used to configure the plurality of configurable devices to establish a connection with the wireless local area network, and wherein the wireless local area network operates according to a standard from an IEEE 802.11 standards family. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The configuration computing device of claim 2, wherein the network is a wireless network that operates according to a defined wireless local area network (WLAN) or wireless personal area network (WPAN) standard, wherein the configuration data includes a reference to a provisioning server, the reference including a network address of the provisioning server, wherein the network connection information is used by the plurality of configurable devices to connect to the provisioning server via the wireless network, and wherein the provisioning server provides to the plurality of configurable devices, in response to access via the reference, a second set of network connection information, wherein the second set of network connection information is used by the plurality of configurable devices to connect to a second wireless local area network. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The configuration computing device of claim 1, wherein the operations to output the ultrasonic audio signal with the speaker include operations to emit the ultrasonic audio signal for a plurality of defined times. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The configuration computing device of claim 1, further comprising a microphone, wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations that: capture a response ultrasonic audio signal with the microphone, in response to the output of the ultrasonic audio signal with the speaker; wherein the response ultrasonic audio signal is emitted by a particular device of the plurality of configurable devices, and wherein the response ultrasonic audio signal indicates that the particular device has received and implemented the configuration data. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The configuration computing device of claim 6, further comprising a wireless transceiver communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations that: receive the configuration data from a remote computing device via the wireless transceiver; and transmit a configuration status message to the remote computing device, wherein the configuration status message indicates that the particular device has received and implemented the configuration data. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The configuration computing device of claim 1, further comprising a display screen, wherein the processing circuitry includes a processor and a memory, and wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations that: generate a graphical user interface to output with the display screen, wherein the operations to encode the configuration data and to output the ultrasonic audio signal occur in response to input received with the graphical user interface. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The configuration computing device of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations that: monitor a configuration status of respective devices of the plurality of configurable devices; wherein an indication of the configuration status of the respective devices is displayed within the graphical user interface, and wherein the indication of the configuration status indicates whether the respective devices have received and implemented the configuration data. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The configuration computing device of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic audio signal is emitted by the speaker in a frequency approximately at or above 18 kHz. ### Claim 11 At least one device readable storage medium, comprising a plurality of instructions that, responsive to being executed with processing circuitry of a configuration computing device, cause the configuration computing device to perform operations that: process configuration data for a plurality of configurable devices; encode the configuration data into an ultrasonic audio signal; and output the ultrasonic audio signal with a speaker; wherein the ultrasonic audio signal is to be received by the plurality of configurable devices, to cause the plurality of the configurable devices to implement a configuration based on the configuration data. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The device readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations to process the configuration data for the plurality of configurable devices include operations to obtain the configuration data, and wherein the configuration data includes network connection information, the network connection information used to configure the plurality of configurable devices to connect to a network. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The device readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the network is a wireless local area network, wherein the network connection information includes an SSID name and pre-shared security key, wherein the SSID name and the pre-shared security key is used to configure the plurality of configurable devices to establish a connection with the wireless local area network, and wherein the wireless local area network operates according to a standard from an IEEE 802.11 standards family. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The device readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the network is a wireless network that operates according to a defined wireless local area network (WLAN) or wireless personal area network (WPAN) standard, wherein the configuration data includes a reference to a provisioning server, the reference including a network address of the provisioning server, wherein the network connection information is used by the plurality of configurable devices to connect to the provisioning server via the wireless network, and wherein the provisioning server provides to the plurality of configurable devices, in response to access via the reference, a second set of network connection information, wherein the second set of network connection information is used by the plurality of configurable devices to connect to a second wireless local area network. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The device readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations to output the ultrasonic audio signal with the speaker include operations to emit the ultrasonic audio signal for a plurality of defined times. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The device readable storage medium of claim 11, the instructions to further cause the configuration computing device to perform operations that: capture a response ultrasonic audio signal with a microphone, in response to the output of the ultrasonic audio signal with the speaker; wherein the response ultrasonic audio signal is emitted by a particular device of the plurality of configurable devices, and wherein the response ultrasonic audio signal indicates that the particular device has received and implemented the configuration data. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The device readable storage medium of claim 16, the instructions to further cause the configuration computing device to perform operations that: receive the configuration data from a remote computing device via a wireless transceiver; and transmit a configuration status message to the remote computing device, wherein the configuration status message indicates that the particular device has received and implemented the configuration data. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The device readable storage medium of claim 11, the instructions to further cause the configuration computing device to perform operations that: generate a graphical user interface to output, wherein the operations to encode the configuration data and to output the ultrasonic audio signal occur in response to input received with the graphical user interface. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The device readable storage medium of claim 18, the instructions to further cause the configuration computing device to perform operations that: monitor a configuration status of respective devices of the plurality of configurable devices; wherein an indication of the configuration status of the respective devices is displayed within the graphical user interface, and wherein the indication of the configuration status indicates whether the respective devices have received and implemented the configuration data. ### Claim 20 (depends on 11) The device readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the ultrasonic audio signal is emitted by the speaker in a frequency approximately at or above 18 kHz. ### Claim 21 A method comprising electronic operations, which when performed by circuitry of a configuration computing device, causes the configuration computing device to perform the electronic operations including: processing configuration data for a plurality of configurable devices; encoding the configuration data into an ultrasonic audio signal; and outputting the ultrasonic audio signal with a speaker; wherein the ultrasonic audio signal is to be received by the plurality of configurable devices, to cause the plurality of the configurable devices to implement a configuration based on the configuration data. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21, wherein the operations to process the configuration data for the plurality of configurable devices include operations to obtain the configuration data, and wherein the configuration data includes network connection information, the network connection information used to configure the plurality of configurable devices to connect to a network. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the network is a wireless local area network, wherein the network connection information includes an SSID name and pre-shared security key, wherein the SSID name and the pre-shared security key is used to configure the plurality of configurable devices to establish a connection with the wireless local area network, and wherein the wireless local area network operates according to a standard from an IEEE 802.11 standards family. ### Claim 24 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the network is a wireless network that operates according to a defined wireless local area network (WLAN) or wireless personal area network (WPAN) standard, wherein the configuration data includes a reference to a provisioning server, the reference including a network address of the provisioning server, wherein the network connection information is used by the plurality of configurable devices to connect to the provisioning server via the wireless network, and wherein the provisioning server provides to the plurality of configurable devices, in response to access via the reference, a second set of network connection information, wherein the second set of network connection information is used by the plurality of configurable devices to connect to a second wireless local area network. ### Claim 25 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21, wherein the operations to output the ultrasonic audio signal with the speaker include operations to emit the ultrasonic audio signal for a plurality of defined times.