METHOD FOR ROUTING INCOMING AND OUTGOING DATA IN AN NFC CHIPSET

• US 20070263596A1
• Filed: 05/10/2007
• Published: 11/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verimatrix Incorporated (Verimatrix SA)
• Original Assignee: INSIDE Contactless
• Inventors: CHARRAT, Bruno
• Granted Patent: US 7,954,723 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/351
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/54 Organization of routing tables

Abstract

A method for routing data in a chipset comprising at least two host processors and one RFID-type contactless data send/receive interface configurable according to several operating modes and according to several contactless communication protocols includes routing, to at least one of the host processors, data received by the contactless data send/receive interface via a contactless data transmission channel. The method further includes determining a destination point of the data in a host processor using as criteria to determine the destination point the operating mode and the contactless communication protocol used by the contactless data send/receive interface to create the contactless data transmission channel through which the data are received.

Claims

1. A method for routing data in a chipset comprising at least two host processors and an RFID-type contactless data send/receive interface configurable according to several operating modes and according to several contactless communication protocols, the method comprising:

routing, to at least one of the host processors, data received by the contactless data send/receive interface via a contactless data transmission channel; and

determining a destination point of the data in a host processor, using as criteria to determine the destination point the operating mode and the contactless communication protocol used by the contactless data send/receive interface to create the contactless data transmission channel through which the data is received.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

pre-saving in a routing table data paths each comprising an identifier of a destination point, an operating mode parameter of the contactless data send/receive interface, and a contactless communication protocol parameter; and

when data are received by the contactless data send/receive interface via a contactless data transmission channel, determining at least one destination point of the data by searching in the routing table for a data path having an operating mode parameter and a contactless communication protocol parameter corresponding to the operating mode and contactless communication protocol parameters used by the contactless data send/receive interface to create the contactless data transmission channel through which the data is received.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to a command for opening a data path sent by a source point located in the host processor and designating a destination point located in the contactless data send/receive interface, defining a data path linking the source point to the destination point by allocating to the data path a routing channel number and by saving in a routing table the routing channel number and routing parameters comprising at least one identifier of the source point and one identifier of the destination point;

sending to the destination point data supplied by the source point by encapsulating the data in a frame having a header field comprising the routing channel number; and

upon receiving data encapsulated in a frame having a header field comprising the routing channel number, searching for a destination point of the data in the routing table using the routing channel number as index to select the destination point.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

in response to a command for opening a data path sent by a source point located in the host processor and designating a destination point located in the contactless data send/receive interface, opening a data path between the source point and the destination point by allocating to the data path a routing channel number and by saving in the routing table the routing channel number and routing parameters comprising an operating mode parameter of the contactless data send/receive interface and a contactless communication protocol parameter; and

configuring the contactless data send/receive interface to send data in a contactless data transmission channel using the operating mode and contactless communication protocol parameters contained in the routing table for the data path through which the data to be sent has been received.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the routing table is also used to open a data path between two host processors.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing commands for creating data paths comprising routing parameters and configuration parameters for configuring the contactless data send/receive interface to be saved in the routing table.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing table is dynamically filled or emptied when data paths having a source point located in a host processor are created or closed.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising pre-saving in the routing table data paths having a source point located in a host processor.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein source points or destination points saved in the routing table are services executed by a host processor.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing parameters stored in the routing table also comprise an identifier of a point of notification that must receive a copy of the data sent to the destination point.

11. The method of claim 1, implemented in a chipset in which a host processor is a secure circuit such as a SIM card integrated circuit.

12. A device for sending/receiving data comprising an RFID-type contactless data send/receive interface configurable according to several operating modes and according to several contactless communication protocols, a controller and at least two input/output ports to link the contactless data send/receive interface to at least two host processors,

the controller being configured to, when data is received by the contactless data send/receive interface via a contactless data transmission channel, determine at least one destination point of the data in a host processor, using as criteria to determine the destination point the operating mode and the contactless communication protocol used by the contactless data send/receive interface to create the contactless data transmission channel through which the data is received.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to:

pre-save in a routing table data paths having a source point located in the contactless data send/receive interface, and for each of these data paths, at least one identifier of a destination point, one operating mode parameter of the contactless data send/receive interface and one contactless communication protocol parameter; and

when data is received by the contactless data send/receive interface via a contactless data transmission channel, determine at least one destination point of the data by searching in the routing table for a data path having an operating mode parameter and a contactless communication protocol parameter corresponding to the operating mode and contactless communication protocol parameters used by the contactless data send/receive interface to create the contactless data transmission channel through which the data is received.

14. The device of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to:

in response to a command for opening a data path sent by a source point located in the host processor and designating a destination point located in the contactless data send/receive interface, open a data path between the source point and the destination point by allocating to the data path a routing channel number and by saving in a routing table the routing channel number and routing parameters comprising at least one identifier of the source point and one identifier of the destination point; and

upon receiving data encapsulated in a frame having a header field comprising the routing channel number, search for a destination point of the data in the routing table using the routing channel number as index to select the destination point.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein:

the controller is configured to, in response to a command for opening a data path sent by a source point located in a host processor and designating a destination point located in the contactless data send/receive interface, open a data path between the source point and the destination point by allocating to the data path a routing channel number and by saving in the routing table the routing channel number and routing parameters comprising an operating mode parameter of the contactless data send/receive interface and a contactless communication protocol parameter; and

the contactless data send/receive interface is configured to send data in a contactless data transmission channel using the operating mode and contactless communication protocol parameters contained in the routing table for the data path through which the data to be sent have been received.

16. The device of claim 14, wherein the controller also uses the routing table to open a data path between two host processors.

17. The device of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to decode commands for creating data paths comprising routing parameters and configuration parameters for configuring the contactless data send/receive interface, and for saving in the routing table the routing and configuration parameters present in the commands.

18. The device of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to dynamically fill or empty the routing table when data paths having a source point located in a host processor are created or closed.

19. The device of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to pre-save in the routing table data paths having a source point located in a host processor.

20. The device of claim 14, wherein source points or destination points saved in the routing table are services executed by a host processor.

21. The device of claim 14, wherein the routing parameters stored in the routing table further comprise an identifier of a point of notification that must receive a copy of the data sent to the destination point.