A novel three stage network joining protocol for internet of things based home automation systems

Abstract: with the rapid progress of the Internet of Things (IoT) home automation has acquired more people's attention. The IoT push has reduced the costs and power requirements of devices which means that Wi-Fi based home automation will become more attractive. However, current home automation systems have several drawbacks including high cost, not being of a Do It Yourself (DIY) nature, and there is currently no safe way for a simple IoT device to join a LAN without the addition of extra user interface hardware. The simplest IoT devices, for example a mains power switch, could contain just a cheap Wi-Fi interface and very limited computing capability. Such devices are already available for under US23 but are not usable in the IoT context as they lack the ability to join a Wi-Fi network in a secure DIY manner. This paper describes a novel three stage network joining protocol which allows such IoT devices to securely join a Wi-Fi network even if they completely lack a user interface. The protocol is implemented using a WPA2 based LAN, an Android phone and a Raspberry Pi which represents an IoT device lacking any form of keyboard and display. The method allows cost reductions for simple IoT devices and is suitable for immediate adoption by manufacturers of IoT devices.