How to quickly perform wireless debugging for smart home

Commissioning is one of the first steps in the lifecycle of an IoT device and can be completed within the first few minutes of using your newly purchased smart home device. The first step is to unbox the device and the second is to pair it with your home network. From a consumer perspective, this pairing step needs to be very simple. The worst user experience is to be faced with a complicated pairing device and no consumer wants to read a product catalog or delve into the technical details of pairing a smart home product. They just want to open the box, press a button or two, swipe two or three times, and have the device work.

However, what actually happens during the pairing process has a significant impact on the reliability of the device lifecycle. Pairing involves configuring the wireless device to its environment to obtain parameters such as adjusting power levels, synchronizing, and configuring the device. This article will summarize the process of how to quickly commission wireless devices for smart homes.

Configuration using NFC

Provisioning, or authentication, is the process of verifying the identity of a device. Provisioning is critical to protecting users from counterfeit devices—not to mention that every network must have a solid provisioning protocol to protect itself from intruders and hackers who might try to establish a pairing with the network to gain access to sensitive information.

So when you think about commissioning, you have to think about unboxing, installation, connection, and configuration. These four steps should be completed securely, seamlessly, and quickly. However, consumers seek a simple and intuitive process. So, what technologies are available today for wireless commissioning? How do they work? The most intuitive commissioning technology currently available is Near Field Communication (NFC).

But NFC tags don’t scale well to larger node counts. In a smart home scenario, this might not be too much of an issue; but in a smart building environment, where installers need to commission thousands of nodes at once, it’s a much bigger challenge. Scanning each node with a smartphone could take days. Delegating the use of smart home products can also make a big difference if they’re installed in hard-to-reach places, such as a maintenance sensor network mounted on an air conditioning unit. Users will be happy to see a way to commission such nodes remotely and securely.

Many wireless technologies offer remote commissioning capabilities for smart home setups. Remote Commissioning Technology So, is there a technology that is remote, scalable, and doesn't add extra costs? While remote commissioning is still in its early stages, there are actually a range of technologies in development. This includes Bluetooth authentication and pairing, Z-Wave Smart Start, and Zigbee Direct. What all three have in common is that they enable users to remotely commission devices without adding costs, because they all use the same underlying radio technology to commission their end devices. Therefore, smart device manufacturers can avoid integrating additional radios or circuits just to achieve remote commissioning. Remote commissioning technology also enables continuous authentication of devices in use. Because the configuration is done remotely, it can be repeated throughout the device life cycle to confirm its identity and check its health. Finally, remote commissioning makes adaptability possible. With remote commissioning technology, it is possible to commission thousands of nodes in the future without spending time and effort.

Zigbee Direct, currently under development, allows users to seamlessly interact with Zigbee networks through smartphones, tablets and other Bluetooth devices, helping to simplify the commissioning process.

So, what do these technologies offer? Let's explore one of the most widely used connection mechanisms: Bluetooth. The most basic form of Bluetooth pairing is called "Just Works," and it provides the simplest path for pairing two Bluetooth devices. However, it does not provide a way to verify that a device is part of the connection, leaving the network vulnerable to attack.

For example, a man-in-the-middle attack occurs when a third device (the malicious device) impersonates one or both of the two compliant devices. Here, the malicious device bridges the communications between the other two devices, and when their connection is compromised, it gives the compliant devices the illusion that they are directly connected to each other. This setup not only allows the malicious device to intercept all data being sent, but it also allows it to inject false data into the communication or delete data before it reaches its intended recipient.

To counter this threat, Just Works can be improved using digital comparison pairing, but it adds another step at the end, defeating the purpose of simple Bluetooth pairing. The market needs an automated and simple remote debugging process, but unfortunately, we are not there yet. We do not see a protocol that can simplify debugging and make it a zero-touch experience. However, we are close to solving this problem. With the right vision, the consumer experience of wireless debugging will be more perfect in the future.