Smart card battery charging during card use

• US 10,103,767 B2
• Filed: 04/11/2017
• Issued: 10/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pahuja, Anupam
• Primary Examiner(s): Mizrahi, Diane
• Application Number:
  US15/485,123
• Publication Number:
  US 20170222679A1
• Time in Patent Office: 553 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3883 Arrangements for mounting batteries or battery chargers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0261 managing power supply demand, e.g. depending on battery level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0267 by controlling user interface components
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer program products are disclosed for dynamically charging an internal battery of a smart card from an interface device (such as a terminal) so that the battery life may be extended. A smart card device detects that it has interfaced with an interface device and that voltage is now being provided to the smart card device. The smart card device may divert some or most of the current being provided with the voltage to charge an internal battery of the smart card device, either concurrent to other communications between the smart card device and the interface device or before/after relevant communications are completed. As a result, the use of a smart card device contributes to the charge of the smart card device'"'"'s internal battery, instead of draining it.

Claims

1. A portable transaction device, comprising:

an internal battery configured to provide power to the portable transaction device;

a plurality of interface contacts;

an electrical switch;

a non-transitory memory; and

one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory, the plurality of interface contacts, the electrical switch, and the internal battery, the one or more hardware processors configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the portable transaction device to perform operations comprising;

detecting an input voltage provided via a particular one of the plurality of interface contacts;

in response to detecting the input voltage, determining whether a charge amount remaining in the internal battery indicates that the internal battery requires further charging; and

in response to determining that the internal battery requires further charging, automatically changing an operating state of the electrical switch to divert a first portion of supplied power received from the particular one of the plurality of interface contacts to the internal battery while a second portion of the supplied power is provided to the one or more hardware processors.

2. The portable transaction device of claim 1, further comprising a battery charging device configured to supply charging power to the internal battery, wherein the battery charging device comprises a DC/DC converter, a current limiter, and a second switch.

3. The portable transaction device of claim 2, wherein the input voltage is directed to the battery charging device, via the particular one of the plurality of interface contacts, before reaching the internal battery or the one or more hardware processors.

4. The portable transaction device of claim 1, further comprising a magnetic stripe emulator configured to emulate a functionality of a magnetic stripe.

5. The portable transaction device of claim 1, wherein the portable transaction device has stored therein account information corresponding to a payment account.

6. The portable transaction device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise powering down the portable transaction device in response to detecting that the input voltage is outside of a first range of voltages.

7. The portable transaction device of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of different electrical pathways to the internal battery, wherein each of the plurality of different electrical pathways is configured to provide a charging current to the internal battery.

8. The portable transaction device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise detecting an assertion signal via a second one of the plurality of interface contacts indicating that the input voltage is within a first range of voltages, wherein the operating state of the electrical switch is changed in response to detecting the assertion signal.

9. The portable transaction device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

deactivating the portable transaction device in response to detecting that the portable transaction device is inserted into an interface device while the internal battery is being charged; and

reactivating the portable transaction device to complete a data exchange with the interface device in response to detecting a completion of charging the internal battery.

10. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a portable transaction device to perform operations comprising:

detecting an input voltage provided to the portable transaction device via a particular one of a plurality of interface contacts of the portable transaction device;

in response to detecting the input voltage, determining whether a charge amount remaining in a battery of the portable transaction device indicates that the battery requires further charging; and

in response to determining that the battery requires further charging, automatically changing an operating state of a switch of the portable transaction device to divert a first portion of supplied power received from the particular one of the plurality of interface contacts to the battery while a second portion of the supplied power is provided to one or more hardware processors of the portable transaction device.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise conducting a transaction with an external device using an account associated with the portable transaction device while the battery is being charged.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the portable transaction device includes a plurality of different electrical pathways to the battery, wherein each of the plurality of different electrical pathways is configured to provide a charging current to the battery, and wherein the first portion of the supplied power is diverted to the battery via one of the plurality of different electrical pathways.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the input voltage is directed to a battery charging device, via the particular one of the plurality of interface contacts, before reaching the battery or the one or more hardware processors.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

deactivating the portable transaction device in response to detecting that the portable transaction device is inserted into an interface device while the battery is charged; and

reactivating the portable transaction device to complete a data exchange with the interface device in response to detecting a completion of charging the battery.

15. A method, comprising:

detecting, by a portable transaction device comprising a battery, one or more hardware processors, a switch, and a plurality of interface contacts, an input voltage provided via a particular one of the plurality of interface contacts;

in response to detecting the input voltage, determining, by the portable transaction device, whether a charge amount remaining in the battery indicates that the battery requires further charging; and

in response to determining that the battery requires further charging, automatically changing, by the portable transaction device, an operating state of the switch to divert a first portion of supplied power received from the particular one of the plurality of interface contacts to the battery while a second portion of the supplied power is provided to the one or more hardware processors.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising conducting a transaction with an external device using an account associated with the portable transaction device while the battery is being charged.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the input voltage is directed to a battery charging device of the portable transaction device, via the particular one of the plurality of interface contacts, before reaching the battery or the one or more hardware processors.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

deactivating, by the portable transaction device, the one or more hardware processors in response to detecting that the portable transaction device is inserted into an interface device while the battery is charged; and

reactivating, by the portable transaction device, the one or more hardware processors to complete a data exchange with the interface device in response to detecting a completion of charging the battery.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising powering down the one or more hardware processors to prevent component damage in response to detecting that the input voltage is outside of a first range of voltages.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the portable transaction device further comprises a magnetic stripe emulator configured to emulate a functionality of a magnetic stripe.