Near field communications device

• US 10,187,122 B2
• Filed: 08/02/2017
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Myoung, Seong Sik, Kim, Jun Ho, Lee, Sang Hyo, Song, Il Jong
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thanh
• Application Number:
  US15/666,914
• Publication Number:
  US 20180241440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 538 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/04 by static converters
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 1/0238 using supply converters
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/19 with semiconductor devices only
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/21 with semiconductor devices only H03F3/245 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/245 with semiconductor devices only
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/3036 in high-frequency amplifiers or in frequency-changers H03G3/3052, H03G3/32, H03G3/34 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/48 Transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/77 for interrogation

Abstract

A near field communications (NFC) device includes a receiving module and a transmitting module. The receiving module includes a receiver receiving an analog signal that includes a carrier signal and data, an analog-to-digital converter converting the analog signal to a digital signal, and a filter filtering the digital signal. The transmitting module includes a direct current-direct current (DC-DC) converter having an operating frequency belonging to a stop band of the filter, and a transmitter receiving power from the DC-DC converter and receiving a system clock signal.

Claims

1. A near field communication (NFC) device comprising:

a receiving module comprising a receiver configured to receive an analog signal comprising a carrier signal and data, an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the analog signal to a digital signal, and a filter configured to filter the digital signal; and

a transmitting module comprising a direct current-direct current (DC-DC) converter having an operating frequency belonging to a stop band of the filter, and a transmitter configured to receive power from the DC-DC converter and configured to receive a system clock signal.

2. The NFC device of claim 1, wherein the transmitting module comprises a divider configured to divide the system clock signal to generate a divided signal having a frequency different from a frequency of the system clock signal, and a DC-DC control circuit configured to generate a control signal for adjusting an output of the DC-DC converter, using the divided signal.

3. The NFC device of claim 2, wherein a frequency of the control signal is the operating frequency that is equal to the frequency of the divided signal or an integer multiple of the frequency of the divided signal.

4. The NFC device of claim 2, wherein the DC-DC control circuit is configured to control the DC-DC converter, depending on any one of a pulse-width modulation mode and a pulse-frequency modulation mode, according to load conditions.

5. The NFC device of claim 1, wherein the receiving module comprises an attenuator configured to attenuate the analog signal, a mixer configured to down-convert an output of the attenuator in a frequency band, and a variable-gain amplifier configured to amplify an output of the mixer and configured to input the amplified output to the analog-to-digital converter.

6. The NFC device of claim 5, further comprising a gain control circuit configured to adjust at least one of an attenuation amount of the attenuator and a gain of the variable-gain amplifier.

7. The NFC device of claim 6, wherein the gain control circuit is configured to detect an output of the attenuation amount to adjust the attenuation amount and is configured to detect an output of the analog-to-digital converter and an output of the filter to adjust the gain of the variable-gain amplifier.

8. The NFC device of claim 7, wherein the gain control circuit is configured to lower the gain of the variable-gain amplifier when a signal-to-noise ratio calculated from the output of the filter is less than a reference value, and the output of the analog-to-digital converter is saturated.

9. The NFC device of claim 7, wherein the gain control circuit is configured to raise the gain of the variable-gain amplifier when a signal-to-noise ratio calculated from the output of the filter is less than a reference value, and the output of the analog-to-digital converter is not saturated.

10. The NFC device of claim 1, wherein a sampling frequency of the analog-to-digital converter is equal to a frequency of the system clock signal.

11. The NFC device of claim 1, wherein the transmitter comprises a power amplifier configured to receive the system clock signal to generate the carrier signal, and the DC-DC converter is configured to supply power to the power amplifier.

12. The NFC device of claim 1, wherein the stop band comprises a plurality of frequency bands separated from each other, and the operating frequency is included in at least one of the plurality of frequency bands.

13. The NFC device of claim 1, wherein the filter includes a notch filter configured to remove at least a portion of the digital signal in a frequency band.

14. The NFC device of claim 13, wherein the notch filter is configured to remove the operating frequency and/or harmonics of the operating frequency from the digital signal.

15. A near field communication (NFC) device comprising:

a receiver configured to receive an analog signal comprising a carrier signal and data;

an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the analog signal into a digital signal;

a digital filter configured to filter the digital signal in a stop band that comprises a frequency of a signal generated by dividing the carrier signal and comprises harmonic components of the frequency.

16. The NFC device of claim 15, further comprising an analog filter connected between the receiver and the analog-to-digital converter and configured to filter the analog signal in a frequency band different from the stop band of the digital filter.

17. The NFC device of claim 15, further comprising:

an amplifier connected between the receiver and the analog-to-digital converter and configured to amplify the analog signal input to the analog-to-digital converter by a predetermined gain; and

a gain control circuit configured to adjust a gain of the amplifier.

18. The NFC device of claim 17, wherein the gain control circuit is configured to adjust the gain of the amplifier such that an output of the analog-to-digital converter is not saturated.

19. The NFC device of claim 17, wherein the gain control circuit is configured to detect the digital signal output by the analog-to-digital converter and an output of the digital filter to adjust the gain of the amplifier.

20. A near field communication (NFC) device comprising:

a clock generating circuit configured to generate a system clock signal;

a transmitter configured to amplify the system clock signal to generate a carrier signal;

a direct current-direct current (DC-DC) converter configured to supply a power supply voltage; and

a DC-DC control circuit configured to determine a control method of the DC-DC converter depending on whether an NFC tag receiving the carrier signal is present,

wherein the DC-DC control circuit is configured to control the DC-DC converter according to a pulse-width modulation mode in response to detecting that the NFC tag receiving the carrier signal is present and is configured to control the DC-DC converter according to a pulse-frequency modulation mode in response to detecting that the NFC tag receiving the carrier signal is absent.